Funding of elitist art

A more or less dated opinion on funding of the arts, written by Allan Gregg, one of Canada’s most recognized and respected senior research professionals and social commentators.

The author argues that art is for everyone and therefore elitist art should not be funded by the government but support ventures that unite audiences.

The whole article can be found here:
http://allangregg.com/?p=22

However, I don't think that his ideas would offer a long-term solution but rather decrease people's understanding of the arts in general.

Exploit your audience honestly...

Exploitation films used to give audiences things they could never get from mainstream cinema. (That's not the case these days, as most of today's blockbusters are little more than B-movies with wads of cash thrown at them and all the fun sucked out.) It's a shame that the art of selling these movies didn't also make the jump to the multiplexes. Modern trailers are constructed to show you a truncated version of the film they're hawking...

To read the whole article, click here:
http://arts.guardian.co.uk/filmandmusic/story/0,,2173126,00.html

Sales Promotions

After further research, I found that sales promotions are an important aspect to public relations as they augment the product and create more value for the customer. The audience feel they get 'something for nothing' which again takes the risk off the purchase (for instance of a theatre ticket), especially for those visitors with lower incomes. This is a short term tactical tool that plays an important role in long term promotional strategy.

Sales promotions encourage trial, attract new customers and disseminate information. Again, sales promotions have to be communicated with the media in order for them to be succesful. With the right tactics, such as reduced price offers, contests or cross promotions, it is easy to target possible audiences and unsavy audiences (who assume that an art institution and its existing members are elitist)

Here is a link to the V&A's promotional strategy for the current year:
http://www.vam.ac.uk/about_va/marketing/index.html

Press Coverage for Unilever Series

For all of you who did not manage do see last years fantastic Unilever Series by Carsten Höller, check out the video and coverage:



http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/markets/europe/article1288772.ece

Here is some press coverage for the current exhibition:

http://arts.guardian.co.uk/art/visualart/story/0,,2186965,00.html

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/visual_arts/article2615055.ece

Unilever Series

The Tate Modern exhibition `Unilever Series` by Carsten Höller managed to get extensive press coverage. The Museum enhanced its popularity even more by showing that visitors actually can have fun in a museum and that being in a gallery with impressive external and internal architecture does not necessarily mean that strict rituals of museum behaviour have to be obeyed. As a result of publicity and increased awareness, these exhibitions are a step towards gaining a broader audience and widening accessibility by demonstrating that there is nothing elitist about the arts organisation.

Recently, the museum unveiled a new project to this series, Doris Salcedo's Shibboleth, the first work to intervene directly in the fabric of the Turbine Hall. Rather than fill this iconic space with a conventional sculpture or installation, Salcedo has created a subterranean chasm that stretches the length of the Turbine Hall. In particular, Salcedo is addressing a long legacy of racism and colonialism that underlies the modern world. With this exhibition, again, the Tate Modern succeeds in targeting a broader audience, especially ethnic minorities and gained extensive press coverage.

The exhibition is on until the 6th April, I definitely recommend it to everyone

http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/exhibitions/dorissalcedo/default.shtm

Celebrity Endorsement

PR is about maintaining a favourable public image and is essential to image building and image management. Good public relations manage to get targeted press coverage about performances and exhibitions, bring people together on special occasions and bond them to the arts organisation. Public relations often use opinion formers and celebrity endorsers to change attitudes and perceptions of audiences. If an arts institution can be linked with an appropriate celebrity, the effects on the new targeted audience can be immense.

The art experience

To my opinion, one possibility to change people's perceptions is to shift the art experience in Maslow's hierarchy of needs (http://www.businessballs.com/maslow.htm) from art being a need for self actualisation to a social need, so the artistic product is perceived as vital to social live.

As mentioned in a previous post, blockbuster exhibitions help to achieve this as they are very popular with the general public and people simply have to see it in order to be able to participate in social discourses.

It should be also made clear, that art and cultural experiences are not premium priced, but affordable nowadays and the organisations' PR departments simply must communicate about various discounts and special offers. Transport for London (http://www.tfl.gov.uk/) works together closely with various museums, galleries and West End shows and offers great discounts.

To check out current oyster card promotions to current attractions, click here:
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/microsites/oysteroffers/