Marketing the Arts. Foundation for success - ACE173.6

Caption: "Part Two. Extemporary Dance Theatre." Musicians and dancers on outdoor stage; commentary says that the Extemporary Dance Theatre was founded in 1975 and has been – unusually – revenue funded by the Arts Council for seven years. VO of Heather Maitland expressing her belief that contemporary art forms have more difficulty attracting funding than traditional ones. Maitland putting together publicity materials. Her VO talking about how she promotes the work, "using a theatre format". Maitland at the Towngate Theatre, Basildon; her VO says they talked to a group representing seven venues, and altered their marketing strategy to take advantage of what they learned, working closely with each venue to produce a marketing plan; venues and company alike have no money, no staff time, and often no support. Maitland talking to someone from the Towngate about a possible joint project; publicity materials; her VO talking about the publicity materials they provide as well as offering guidance on press releases, etc. Extemporary office; dancers performing. Maitland VO says the venues didn’t really think they had ready-made dance audiences and that research revealed that the audiences were generally composed of people aged between 26 and 35; she therefore wants to prioritise the development of a young audience, as well as to encourage repeat visits (which requires the box office to keep statistics). Her VO says that 43% of the audience hadn’t visited the venue before, only 22% of the audience were keen dance-goers, 36% had never been to a dance event before; the language used in publicity had to change to take account of such factors, and comments from the public became more important than press quotes. Maitland’s VO talks about educating her management board about the workings of the company and its marketing policy which has made them more involved and active; she works closely with the director and the administrator who have both contributed to a five-year marketing plan, though she feels more could be achieved with better resources. Caption: "Stop the tape and return to your workbook."