Time to amplify arts marketers

Pinning down the current mood of the sector feels a bit like trying to decipher where you are while gazing out of the window of a fast-moving train. You’ve got a rough idea, but the specifics are blurry. At the Arts Marketing Association, that’s what we’re trying to establish all the time. 

When we began planning our summer conference, selecting the theme that would give a coherent framework for the discussions was the first step. The theme needed to reflect either the current state of play or else an aim, an aspiration.

But what to do when the prevailing mood is one of uncertainty and overwhelm? Uncertainty about how to get through this precarious time, and about what the future has in store. Overwhelm at the amount and scope of work to be done. 

Anxieties playing out

In a climate of public sector funding cuts, rolling back of the rights of those who most need protecting, technology advancing at an impossible-to-keep-up-with pace, and post-Covid audience behaviour still challenging, our members – arts and heritage marketers – find themselves being data analysts, technologists, creatives, copywriters, politicians and activists all at once.

Of course, in this sector we’ve always had to wear lots of different hats and deal with uncomfortable pressures on our time. And, for as long as I can remember, we’ve talked about having to do more with less – none of that’s new.

What does seem new though is the level of anxiety these stresses are causing, and how those anxieties are playing out with sickness, burnout and people leaving the sector. 

Shining a light

So how to reflect all this in a conference theme without losing the will to live? Luckily, we work in the most creative of sectors so over lots of conversations with our members backed by a brilliant and proactive board, we struck on the theme of Amplify.

It works because it captures a sense of hope and power; of movement, growth and campaigning; of lifting others up when that’s what is most needed.  And wow, there are people doing some amazing work out there. 

Some of it is big and bold, but most often it’s quietly wrapped up in the day to day. Yet it’s no less transformative for that, which is why it’s so important to shine a light on it. And that’s what we – the AMA – do at our conference. 

A shift towards meeting audiences where they are

Recognising the importance of community and then building it into the approach to work is something that many organisations are doing brilliantly. Just look at how Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama (RWCMD) are prioritising a culture of belonging by creating a direct line between audiences and students, connecting them to the work that’s being created.  

And Edinburgh’s Peer Grooving Dance Collective, with a grassroots ethos at its core – seeing no difference between its community of dancers and its audiences; chipping away at that barrier that might keep people from ever discovering that they like dance.  

And what about Historic Royal Palaces choosing to hang a major brand campaign on the importance of wellbeing? Or the Princess Theatre in Torquay making the decision to reframe late bookers as a distinct audience segment, rather than a problem pattern of behaviour?

These actions represent a shift in the way organisations are seeing the world; a shift towards meeting audiences where they are and adapting to what they need and want. 

Choosing to step back from the social media cacophony to think about who you want to reach and what you really want to say, is something that both dance company New Adventures and performance venue, the Roundhouse, are doing. New Adventures by rethinking their approach to social media strategy, eschewing trend chasing and instead focusing on the connection between brand and audience. And the Roundhouse, by their bold mission to better serve young and diverse female audiences. 

A window on inspiring work

Being able to amplify something or someone else has to begin by doing something that can feel strangely difficult: stopping. Stopping, looking at ourselves, asking a few probing questions, and answering them, honestly.

We have to do it personally and as organisations. And that’s what all these examples (and so many more) have in common – they’re lucky enough to have individuals and teams who have taken the time to stop and assess what they’re doing (or not doing). And then make a change. 

So, despite all the challenges, there’s a wealth of genuinely inspiring work taking place behind the scenes in organisations large and small, up and down the country, that either amplifies others, or deserves itself to be amplified.

The conference will offer a window into some of that work, which I hope will have a ripple effect, inspire others and positively impact the mood of the sector.

AMA Conference runs from 9 – 11 July in Edinburgh and Online. You can find out more here.