How cultural institutions can win, engage and diversify audiences
Audience research in Germany shows that nowadays, only very few people participate in publicly financed art and culture. However, no matter if financed publicly or privately, art and culture need an audience, today and in the future. A great challenge of cultural institutions.
But what to do if the traditional audience gradually ages, while younger audiences fail to thrive? How to attract people from other social segments, countries or cultures that haven’t engaged in an institution’s programme so far? What to do in order to reach a larger audience, regionally, nationally or even internationally? How can the audience be placed at the centre of a cultural institution’s activity, enabling a user experience that makes the audience happy and loyal, in a highly competitive market? How to provide for more relevance and legitimation of a cultural institution in society, and thus to make it better prepared for the future?
Having constantly increased importance over the years, Audience Development is a strategic management task in cultural institutions to make audiences happy and loyal, and cultural institutions more competitive and resilient.
I provide leaders of cultural institutions with strategic consulting in non-digital and digital marketing and communications to develop new and engage existing audiences. I contribute my vast international work experience including highly the competitive sectors of manufacturing and trade.
Contact me for further information and a free-of-charge consultation, learn more in my audience development interview (German only) or read my “Dossier Audience Development und Diversität” (PDF, German only), written for Zukunftsakademie NRW.
The services I offer:
- Audience research (market research design, analysis of results)
- Strategy development (vision, mission and purpose definition, target group segmentation, programme creation and prototyping, planning)
- Creation of marketing and communications programmes to develop and engage audiences by creating engaging visitor experience
- Internal process guidance (facilitation, inhouse-consulting, auditing)
- Interim management (internal project lead)
- External project lead
- Leadership and team coaching
- Evaluation and controlling
Image: Bayerische Schlösserverwaltung