Programming will always be at the heart of any arts brand. It’s what sustains the arts organization, provides its reason for being, is the focal point for its vision, and provides the platform for the organization to live up to the promise of its brand. The Los Angeles Times reported this past week that the...
Sometimes when we receive an RFP from a potential client or conduct a new business presentation, a cultural organization will tell us that they want a new logo, but what they really need more, or before that, is positioning. I’ve described in a previous essay the differences among an arts brand, arts branding, and arts...
I was presenting my company’s credentials recently and afterwards the potential client, a performing arts administrator, asked, “what’s the return on investment for branding? Part of me was incredulous that he would ask this. Weren’t our amazing services and sparkling case studies alone enough to warrant the investment? Another part of me was glad he...
As the annual American Association of Museums Conference gets under way in Houston I thought it might be fun to riff off of their theme for this year’s conference: The Museum of Tomorrow. Having grown up in southern California, when I hear “tomorrow” I always think of Disneyland’s Tomorrowland and its promise of a different...
When you saw this essay’s title and saw the accompanying image, did you immediately know what I meant by brand champion? I chose Steve Jobs because he is probably the most recognized brand champion in the world. Could anyone embody the Apple brand more or better than him? As I head off to the American...
A while back I posted an essay on Name changes: the real process. I based it on the merger of the Bill T. Jones / Arnie Zane Dance Company with Dance Theater Workshop, a groundbreaking event in the performing arts and dance world. No one had done anything like this in the U.S., although London...
When we started these essays we thought branding was pretty much a well-understood, accepted concept within the cultural arts field. But then we got this response to one of our new business letters sent to a marketing director regarding our brand strategy consulting services: “At this time, we focus our energy on creating provocative and...
The New York Times Museums Special Section article, “In a Bigger Pond, and Looking to Make Ripples” is about Julian Zugazagoitia, the new director of the Nelson-Atkins Museum in Kansas City, and his hope to broaden the Museum’s appeal. He’s started a conversation series called, “Art Tasting with Julian” and says he has been “using...
In general , consultants are collegial, but they don’t usually comment on each other’s work. It’s that whole competitive thing. But this exception is worth making because I’m an alumnus of the consulting firm that initiated this research study, respect their work, was involved in the inception of the study in its early iterations—and most...
While listening to panelists at the Crain’s Arts and Culture Breakfast titled Board Games: How to Build and Keep a Strong Board, I was struck by what was not mentioned as pivotal in building strong boards: functional expertise. But first what was mentioned. Panelists included Alan Fishman, chairman, Brooklyn Academy of Music; George Steel, general...
Earlier this month I attended New York City’s Alliance for the Arts presentation of The Arts Forum at The New York Times on Cultural Diplomacy: Engaging a Changing World. Panelists included Maura M. Pally, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Professional and Cultural Exchanges at the U.S. State Department’s Educational and Cultural Affairs Bureau; Margaret C. Ayers,...
In the back of my mind I recall Philippe de Montebello’s impassioned speech some years ago on “The Changing Landscape of Museums.” In it he said, “ . . . it is by clearly differentiating ourselves [museums] from all manner of entertainment that we maintain our integrity, that we remain not only useful but essential....
