Marketing motivation - by Hannah

Having spent the last ten months writing papers for a Marketing degree, it is refreshing to be able to write freely about what motivates me in arts marketing without the footnotes.

Perhaps not the part of theatre most associate with high levels of emotion, but for me, I started this degree in the hope of learning how I could be useful to an industry whose currency is more than just monetary. There is little literature which shows a deep concern for the academic consideration of arts marketing. But I think there is constructive mileage here. This is an industry where ideas are given space to develop freely and the usual restrictions of our day-to-day existence are temporary disregarded in favour of something more significant. This creativity can and should be extended into every part of the theatre’s business practice, especially the marketing.

Not being an actor, I do not presume to understand the motivation behind a desire to act. However, I am an artist. For me the most gratifying part of creating a new piece of work was when I managed to translate an emotion into an image which was appreciated by others. Some use words. Others act.

Market experience has led me to believe that being able to share these experiences, these moments of exploration on stage, is incredibly important. Theatre companies are disillusioned by small audiences or the absence of an influential person in their lives. I believe it is the marketing team’s job to package their product creatively to match production with audience in order to make the most impact, not the highest revenue.

Using marketing models is a useful place to start. I would never disregard the fundamental lessons of marketing moguls. However, it requires a further leap from technical know-how into developing real consumer relationships.

This is where the arts industry must surely have the competitive edge. This is an industry about communities, connections, creativity and communication. I want to see arts marketers push forward with the same freedom as the actors to develop meaningful communities where courage, openness and a willingness to enter into debate are the true currencies.