ABSTRACT

This chapter sets the context for the chapters which follow. In it we will examine the nature and environment of arts marketing, and flag up some key issues facing arts marketers. Marketing the arts involves not only the day-today work of attracting audiences to events and activities, but also the need to understand and promote more widely the value of an organization’s work. Arts marketers are arts advocates. They need to take an active interest in cultural policy and the political environment if their work is to be solidly based. Arts marketers are also marketing advocates. They need to understand what marketing is (and what it is not) in order to enthuse their colleagues towards achieving their shared objectives. This chapter seeks to sketch out in broad strokes some of the most important of these issues as a foundation for thinking about arts marketing practice.