Think-Jam Presentation

Engage 2020 Research & Think Jam

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Attendance

Participation

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Fads vs. Trends

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James Gordon Bennett

1835

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Read Only Culture

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1980

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+ High broadband penetration + Cheap storage + Powerful computers = Social Production

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Social Production radically redistributes power

(A trend, not a fad)

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• 51% consume content created by others

• 40% make their own content • 32% think of themselves as broadcasters 10

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Semiotic Democracy

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The core competency of successful web 2.0 companies is database management.

Perpetual beta.

Fail fast, learn fast, fix fast.

Know thy audience.

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What We Did: 12 Focus Groups

Cultural Engagement

Enthusiasts

Movable Middle

Rejectors

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Convergent Inquiry Context, Values

Convergent

Emotional Bonds & Barriers Functional Desires, Behaviors

Divergent Ideas

Ideas

Ideas

Ideas

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How do you spend your spare time?

Eat

DVDs

Movies

Facebook

Casinos

Read

Museums

Volunteer

Sleep

Time with Kids

Watch TV

Shopping Surf the Web

Restaurants Twitter Talk on the Phone Dancing

Travel Attend sports events

Work Out

Gardening

Hobbies

Walking

Time with Grandkids

Bars, hanging out with friends Clubs

Sports on TV

Cook

Play an instrument 16

Values that Drive Leisure Behavior Me

Me

De-Stress

Recharge

Me

Inert Home based Solitary

Me!

Active Hobbies Solitary or group

We Me

Me

Connect

Become

Me

Me

Social Intimate or Mass Participatory

Personal growth Societal Improvement Challenge, Discovery 17

Arts & Culture: Off the Radar for Most Bad News: • Late mentions, except for older respondents

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Good News: • A & C delivers on 3 of the 4 Leisure values • Posturing & Bragging

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Defining Arts & Culture: Card Sort Exercise Bars, Clubs, Restaurants

Historic Sites

Comedy, Open Mic

Cultural Exhibit Concert Theatre

Zoo, Aquarium

Movies

Art Museum

Ethnic Festival Dance Performance 19

Defining Arts & Culture

Bars

Sports

Clubs

Rock Concerts

Movies

Chuck E Cheese

Museums, Orchestra Opera, Theatre, Dance, Historic Sites

Comedy Club Open Mic Jazz

Travel Ethnic Festival

Exhibits

Zoo, Aquarium

Dancing Ethnic Restaurants Please Touch

Arts & Culture is more edu than tainment.

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Smack Down: Arts & Culture vs. Sports Sports are more fantastic than the arts.

It’s more interactive.

People care more about sports.

0 Sports are family and arts have age brackets.

The arts are when you want to be in solitude and calm and sports are when you want to wow out and drink a beer.

[With sports I feel] way more comfortable.

The 76ers are playing the Magic. You’re in at the ground level.

The game starts with the 1st quarter, 1st tip off and everyone is there at once seeing what happens at the same time.

You all know when to root and when to boo.

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Smack Down: Arts & Culture vs. Bars You’re way more able to find people to go to a bar with you than a play.

At a bar you’re interacting throughout.

There’s no gamble. You find a place you like so you’re going to go back. With a play, you may see it and hate it and think if was a waste of time.

If I were going with my friends I’d rather be in a bar where I can talk and interact and catch up.

When you’re at a play you’re sitting side-by-side and there’s no interaction with the people you’re with.

When I talk with people who have engaged in all types of plays and museums, I don’t feel as educated or cultured. When I see a play I can talk about it with people who have also seen it. It’s a different experience that you can discuss with people besides going to a bar.

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How about the feeling that you’re kind of exposed because you don’t know what everybody else knows? …and everyone looks at you… …and you’re feeling like an outsider.

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Summary: The Barriers

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Risk, reward & relevance

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Product; boring, hard to access/understand

Effort Group dynamics (kids of different ages, friends with different preferences)

Attitude: snooty, overly intellectual, serious Can make me feel stupid

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Mapping the Bonds

Out of the Immersive Ordinary

Memories

An event

Live energy

Lose track of time

Transcendence, Becoming Spiritual Renewal

A more tolerant society

Raise wellwell-rounded kids

Learning

Opens your mind

Escape, Oasis

Being Transported

Food

MultiMultisensory

Satisfy Curiosity

More engaging world

My place in the world

Makes you more engaging

My identity

Connecting

Different cultures Legacy

Buzz Family Code Language

Focus on why & how, not just what Challenge My Views Universal themes

Intimacy, bonding Shared cultural reference points 38

Knitting It Together Leisure Values

Arts & Culture

Barriers

Bonds

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• Awareness is low for most • Imagery is rooted in more traditional forms of culture

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De-stress Recharge Connect Become

Risk/Reward Ratio Expensive Effort Group dynamics Elitist, snooty Hard to understand Boring

High social value Well-rounded kids Oasis Learning Connecting Transcendence, becoming

We need to temper the most spiritual benefits of arts & culture with the lighter side, or we risk reinforcing some of our biggest barriers.

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Mentors

Mom Leisure

Mom & Dad Grandparents

Teachers, Schools

Friends

Mom was far and away the most commonly mentioned mentor.

Over the long term, women are disproportionately valuable customers.

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How Do You Hear About Cultural Events?

Inquirer Word of Mouth

PFG Google

Comcast

Ticketmaster

Banners

TV

GoPhila

Fandango

Venues

CityGuide.com

VisitPA.com

Member Newsletters

UrbanPhilly.com

Philly Magazine Craigslist Philly Weekly

WHYY

Daily News KYW

AOL

City Paper

Transit Posters Philly Gay Calendar

WRTI

WDAS

Wild Postings

Yelp 41

What Do You Hear About Cultural Events?

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What Do You Hear About Cultural Events?

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Arts & Culture Experience Parameters Product ARTISTRY

Logistics COMPETENCE

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Lives up to expectations Talent, quality Looking forward to it Deeply engaging Audience energy Surprises Talking about it afterward

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Affordable Not too crowded Good pacing, little waiting Good seats, acoustics, sightlines Stress-free logistics; parking, ingress, egress, wayfinding Gesture of gratitude Genuinely welcoming service

Everyone has fun Multi-sensory, interactive Creates a memory

Extremely predictable list; Similar to most retail categories

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Let’s talk about the day I nearly killed my mother-in-law.

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Increasing Attendance • • • • • • • •

Free Parking, discounts, gestures of gratitude Pre-show information (online like a movie trailer) Socializing Opportunities Targeted scheduling Behind the Music/Meet the Maker Mini-season subscriptions, more flexible ticketing options More variety—and more knowledge of what’s already available Blend participation & attendance

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Participation makes art accessible

Attendance Inspires Participation

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Participation Self-Expression

Pride, Accomplishment, Mastery

Self-Actualize It makes you feel a little less ordinary.

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Attending & Participating •

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Participation trumps attendance for solid majority

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Expertise Masculinity

Barriers to Participation were relatively few

Motivation

Time

Fear

Money

Participation can help chip away at the elitist image of the arts.

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Leisure Values

African Americans

A&C Barriers

Hispanics

A&C Bonds

Asians

Mentors

History Buffs

Media

Implications

Attendance

Ideas

Participation

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What’s It Like Being African American in Philly?

It’s still hard for a black man to get a cab sometimes.

I go out culturally so late at night I’m not getting on SEPTA—I’m getting a cab.

I’ve had good and bad experiences with cabbies.

We’ve all experienced racism.

It’s a blue collar town and I think that has a lot to do with it.

Television makes it a dividing line.

For example, the news. I cringe every time somebody gets shot.

They pick the worst (black bystander) to interview. A person with poor dentition, scars, they don’t speak well… …It’s offensive. They just took us back another 400 years with that kind of thing.

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Arts & Culture Bonds: African Americans Raising Our Sights

Art addresses root causes of racism

Finding my place

African Americans often spoke of culture as a pathway toward a more tolerant, open society. The stakes are high.

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Arts & Culture Barriers: African Americans

Sell out, bougie

Self-limiting

Feeling unwelcome

Safe product

Poor Service

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African Americans: Summary •

They see themselves as a flesh and blood link between the past and future

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Arts & Culture defines their place in society, reinforces their identity, helps foster understanding

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Sharing culture is a conscious act; they are intentional mentors Appetite far exceeds the available product They feel unwelcome in many arts venues Community-based outreach, invitations

Based on these groups, the African American market represents significant untapped, under-served demand.

But we need to address service issues first.

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What’s it Like Being Hispanic in Philadelphia?

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What’s it Like Being Hispanic in Philadelphia?

I was born in East L.A. I hesitate to say because I’ve only been here two years.

It’s too sparse.

We don’t have political representation on the scale that other groups have.

You would also think with Hispanics being the number one minority that it would no longer be a minority.

You would think you would have more representation. Another problem is the representation you have is inadequate and incompetent.

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Hispanics: Summary •

Based on this one group, Philly’s Hispanic community isn’t very cohesive

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Small in number, dispersed geographically, not culturally homogenous An internal, political power struggle; ‘old school vs. new school’ Not the dominant ethnic force in Philly that African Americans are

That said, these respondents…

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Often spoke about “seeing things through their children’s eyes”

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Many had not been exposed to admission-based culture as kids None of them spoke of wanting to leave the kids at home

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Appreciated the “special” nature of the arts

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Dancing & food are potentially powerful in-roads 64

Hispanics: Summary •

These respondents did NOT refer to specifically Hispanic experiences as their core ‘cultural diet’ (unlike the two African American groups)

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Perhaps because there isn’t much Hispanic product to choose from

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They did NOT evidence dissatisfaction with service/treatment

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They DID evidence a strong preference outdoor culture; zoos, festivals, parades, Unity Day, etc.

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Unmet demand: They wanted more ways to immerse themselves and their children in their own ethnic culture

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We’re in the shadow of Spanish Harlem and the Puerto Rican Parade

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What’s it Like Being Asian in Philly?

I’m not immersed in Asian culture.

I’m from the DC area and I’ve been here 10 years.

I didn’t seek out an Asian community so I don’t know how it is in Philadelphia. There is a mini Koreatown in Upper Darby where I’ve been able to find an Asian market and a Korean restaurant.

I would like my daughter to learn the language. We didn’t learn it and we’re not fluent in it ourselves. That’s the art of being a parent— being a hypocrite.

For myself, growing up I was very Americanized. …Sometimes I actually thought I was Caucasian because all my friends were and I was immersed in American Culture. It was only as I got older and started respecting my background, my culture and my parents and where they came from. I wanted to be a part of that and make that connection for my children.

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Asians: Summary •

Emphasis on self-improvement and learning that stood out from the other groups (candidates for Participation?)

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Our most educated group

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Very highly assimilated—even more than the Hispanic group

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Food—specifically restaurants and to a lesser degree, Asian markets— was the pillar of their Asian cultural identity

Lunar New Year is a chance to connect with their own culture and share it with others. For the rest of the year, their cultural consumption patterns were not distinct from the general market groups.

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History

Love History

Hate History

Curious Drama Compelling Narrative Connects Me to We Verbs

Boring Dry Cramming Facts Irrelevant Nouns

We have an opportunity to expand the appeal of history through more compelling narrative and more participatory experiences.

There is a LOT of headroom for growth here.

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12 Things We’ve Learned 1. We’re not yet a player in the attention economy

2. We can create an arts ecosystem where attending and participating are mutually reinforcing, not just co-existing

3. Time & money are alibis for non-attendance; the real issue is relevance 69

12 Things We’ve Learned 4. Arts imagery is dominated by the most traditional experiences; we need to open it up, democratize access

5. The Arts Oasis may be a Mirage

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6. The imagery surrounding travel is ours for the taking; adventurous and active, not ponderous and ethereal 71

12 Things We’ve Learned 7. Think about curating the experience, not just housing the event

8. Mentors—predominantly Moms—play a powerful role; we need to empower and thank them

9. We lose teens without putting up enough of a fight

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12 Things We’ve Learned 10. African Americans are ready to buy; we need to invite them in and serve them better

11. Food is an untapped asset

12. Our historic interpretation needs to get ready for primetime

What is OUR narrative as a sector?

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Content Opportunities in the Arts Sector Outdoor Events, Festivals, Happenings

Parent Targeted, Teen-Inclusive

Intentional migratory path from Zoo & TFI to other venues

Sampling Opportunities Better storytelling at cultural exhibits, historic sites

Multi-Generational Appeal (Legacy Building) Connections to Food

Participatory Experiences

Overt connections to ethnicity

Hands on History

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Ideas •

Entire 8th grade goes free all year

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Web

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Mood-o-meter on the PFG website Streamlined process & resource for producing theatre ‘trailers’ PhillyStudio.com Reciprocity, reviews, rankings Target and develop our own citizen experts

Stages in City Squares

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Program the Nights & Weekends, culture sampling, open mic, etc DramaCam; a citywide video storytelling event

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Ideas •

Experience Audit to address curation and service issues*

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Art Car: dress a SEPTA train like a stage and provide on-train entertainment

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iPhone App

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Urban Stage, Drama Queen

Encourage individual orgs to develop more participatory events

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Valley Forge Super-Soaker battle Paints and canvas at the Museum Topiary event in Fairmount Park

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* Shameless self-promotion

Ideas •

Travel/tourism ideas (OPM)

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Host with the Most: show an out of towner’s airline ticket and get a discount on cultural attractions

Drive social connections, empower our best advocates & mentors

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Monitors or kiosks at the airport; promote PFG to incoming travelers

Frequent flyer program Buy 3, get 1 free City Subscriptions

Grandparent pricing, timing, opportunities to capture, package intergenerational experiences 78

Ideas •

Catch participators where they live

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Lowe’s, Michaels, Ikea, Flickr

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Map the purchase funnel to increase conversion

Develop targeted listserv to connect the dots between participation and attendance

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Community-based outreach into ethnic communities

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Partnership with Comcast: projection screen

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Partnership with WHYY’s On Canvas

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Advertorials for upcoming works

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Phew!

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Thank you.

Maureen Craig Mo@MoStrategy.com 609-760-9498 81