The importance of family entertainment

I used to think of concerts, shows and other programs billed as "family entertainment" as a way of differentiating them from more adult-oriented programs, but having "family entertainment" is more essential to the success of the arts industry than some of us may realize. After all, it's another way to educate the future generations on the importance and excitement of the arts.

It is our job as theatre administrators to fill the gap left by education cuts.

Educating students on the arts

An addendum on yesterday's post:

It may seem like education is a completely different department from marketing or public relations, and, in many cases, it is, but when you educate others for the sake of your product, you are essentially performing marketing and public relations.

The Metropolitan Opera is a great example of this. They have several education programs, and they have taken their HD movie theater broadcasts to junior highs and high schools. I remember watching a behind-the-scenes clip on this when I attended one of their HD broadcasts a few years ago. They had interviews with students who originally thought opera boring, but found themselves more attracted when they saw a giant poster of a beautiful Juliet promoting the "Romeo and Juliet" opera the Met was bringing to their school.

Arts marketing and education cuts

I just started reading "Arts Marketing Insights" by Joanne Scheff Bernstein. I'm finding a lot of interesting tidbits in addition to the larger picture presented by Bernstein, and I want to share some of these marketing tidbits and my thoughts on them over the future weeks as I read this book. Here's the first:

"The lack of arts education in the schools in recent decades has created at least one generation of young adults who feel that the arts are not for them, that the arts are elitist and something not easily accessed or appreciated." (page 13)

Educational program cuts seems to be an increasingly controversial topic, and here we find its consequence in the arts industry. Younger people don't feel like they can be a part of the arts because they don't spend as much time around the arts as they grow up. The media portrays the arts like opera as a high and mighty thing not to be shared with the casual, average people.

The problem presents arts marketers with new opportunities, however. It is our job to fill the gaps left by a lack of arts education. Thus, many arts organizations are offering new educational opportunities to parents, schools and their children. Some companies are also focusing on reaching out to the more casual person who would not dress up for a concert.

It's time to adapt.

How are you adapting to the modern trends? How can marketers educate and reach a younger audience?