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Entrepreneurship
and Leadership in
Marketing the Arts
François Colbert
E
ntrepreneurship and leadership are
interconnected. To be successful, an
entrepreneur must possess leader-
ship skills. Leadership suggests an ability I ndividual art forms or arts events might
be described as on a continuum, with high
art at one end and popular art at the other
to guide the way and have others follow.
Entrepreneurship implies an ability, having (Fitzhugh, 1983), or as a dichotomy between
audiences for two distinct forms of entertain-
chosen a goal, to find or assemble the resources
ment. It is said that high art has a product focus
necessary to achieve it; it may require one to
and popular art a market focus. An example
be innovative and to go beyond or even against of a product-oriented enterprise would be a
the usual ways of doing things (Schumpeter, chamber music ensemble, a modern dance
1934). What does this mean in the arts? What company or a museum of contemporary art.
does it mean for marketing, particularly for An example of a market-oriented enterprise
organizations such as symphony orchestras, would be a commercial undertaking such as a
theatres or museums? Hollywood film. Between these two extremes
It is around the particularities of cultural lie a vast range of possibilities. Our discussion
marketing that entrepreneurship and leader- will focus on organizations in the high art
ship in marketing the arts must be articulated. sector and the challenges they face in terms of François Colbert is full pro-
What are these particularities and what do market development. fessor of marketing at HEC
they imply for other aspects of marketing? Marketing is both an art and a science Montréal, Montreal, Quebec,
This article will address these questions. First, (Hunt, 1991; Bass, 1993). Its fundamental Canada, where he holds the
purpose is to link the organization with its chair in Arts Management
marketing in the arts will be defined. Then, and heads the Graduate
market. Marketing tools are intended to meet
specific aspects of consumer behaviour in the Diploma Program in Arts
the objectives of both the organization and the Management. He is Editor of
field of culture will be analysed. The results of consumer. However, an enterprise at the high the International Journal of
this analysis will lead to suggestions for entre- art end of the continuum is unique in that it Arts Management. In 2002
preneurship and leadership action in the area is a mission-oriented entity and the role of its he was awarded the Order of
of branding and positioning. It will conclude marketing manager is to help it fulfil that mis- Canada for his many achieve-
ments and his unique con-
with a discussion of elements related to tech- sion; more importantly, the product follows tributions in developing the
nology and information systems. from this mission and the choice of product is field of arts management.
Price
5 Promotion 6
Place Place agents
ABSTRACT It is around the particularities of cultural marketing that entrepreneurship and leadership in marketing the arts
must be articulated. The marketing process in the arts starts with the creative work; the manager cannot modify
this core product. Thus the marketing process in the arts is conceptually different from that in other fields. At the
same time, because the cultural sector features a very fragmented and competitive market, comprising different
categories of consumer, the potential client is faced with an overwhelming number and diversity of choices. If
the market is to be extended beyond its current limits, firms in the high art sector will have to increase their
knowledge of the who and why of consumer behaviour. They will also have to engage in stronger branding and
positioning efforts and make better use of information technology for marketing purposes.
KEYWORDS Leadership, arts marketing, audience profile, consumer behaviour, branding, positioning
RÉSUMÉ C’est en fonction des particularités du marketing culturel que doivent s’exercer l’entrepreneuriat et le leadership dans ce
domaine. Le processus de marketing des arts commence par l’œuvre de création; le gestionnaire ne peut modifier ce produit de
base. Dans les arts, le marketing est donc conceptuellement différent de ce qu’il est dans d’autres domaines. De même, parce
que le marché du secteur culturel est très fragmenté et concurrentiel, et comprend diverses catégories de consommateurs, des
choix extrêmement nombreux et variés s’offrent au client éventuel. Pour élargir leur marché actuel, les entreprises culturelles
devront mieux cerner la personnalité du consommateur et les motifs de son comportement. Elles devront aussi accentuer leurs
efforts de branding et de positionnement et mieux utiliser la technologie de l’information à des fins de marketing.
MOTS CLÉS Leadership, marketing des arts, profil de l’audience, comportement du consommateur, branding, positionnement
Classical
museum
Historic
Musical
Ballet
music
dance
Opera
Other
park
Jazz
Play
Art
All adults 11.9% 15.6% 4.7% 24.5% 15.8% 5.8% 12.4% 34.9% 46.9%
Sex
• Male 13.2 14.2 4.0 22.3 14.6 4.1 11.7 34.3 48.2
• Female 10.6 16.8 5.2 26.7 16.8 7.5 12.9 35.5 45.8
Race
• Hispanic 6.8 8.4 3.1 15.7 9.7 4.5 14.6 29.4 32.7
• White 12.1 17.5 5.2 26.5 16.6 6.5 11.9 36.1 50.8
• African American 15.6 9.6 2.1 22.4 16.4 3.9 13.4 31.1 36.5
• American Indian 11.0 8.9 5.1 15.4 5.0 1.2 10.6 21.8 41.9
• Asian 10.3 16.2 6.9 20.4 18.1 4.3 14.5 41.7 43.6
Age
• 18–24 15.1 16.4 5.4 26.0 20.2 6.9 14.7 38.3 46.3
• 25–34 12.7 11.4 4.0 22.5 13.3 4.7 11.1 36.5 49.4
• 35–44 14.3 14.3 4.4 25.8 14.7 6.6 13.6 37.3 52.3
Education
• Grade school 1.8 2.1 .02 6.0 3.1 1.5 7.3 6.0 12.7
• Some high school 3.4 3.9 1.5 12.6 7.2 1.8 6.6 14.4 26.6
• High-school graduate 6.8 8.3 1.7 15.7 9.1 3.6 9.2 24.6 40.5
• Some college 15.4 18.1 5.2 28.4 18.9 6.5 13.7 43.2 56.3
• College graduate 21.3 28.0 10.2 43.6 27.7 10.8 17.8 57.7 66.6
• Graduate school 27.7 44.5 14.3 50.3 37.2 14.4 24.7 69.8 72.7
RESUMEN La habilidad empresaria y el liderazgo en la comercialización de las artes sólo pueden articularse sobre la base de las peculiari-
dades del mercadeo cultural. El proceso de comercialización en el campo de las artes se inicia con el trabajo creativo: el empre-
sario no tiene poder alguno para modificar este producto de base. De allí que el proceso de comercialización de las artes difiera
conceptualmente del que se da en otros campos. Al mismo tiempo, el sector cultural exhibe un mercado altamente fragmentado
y competitivo donde coexisten diferentes categorías de consumidores, lo que hace que el cliente potencial se encuentre ante una
abrumadora cantidad y diversidad de opciones. Si es que habremos de ampliar el mercado más allá de sus límites actuales, es
preciso que las firmas que actúan en el campo de las artes profundicen su comprensión del “quién” y el “por qué” en el compor-
tamiento del consumidor. Será también necesario que redoblen sus esfuerzos de afianzamiento de marcas y posicionamiento y que
utilicen más a fondo la tecnología de la información en las actividades de mercadeo.
PALABRAS CLAVE Liderazgo, mercadeo de las artes, perfil de audiencias, comportamiento del consumidor, afianzamiento de marcas, posicionamiento