Archive for the ‘Technology’ Category

Check out this graph from an article on eMarketer about ‘The rising roar of word-of-mouth’. More and more, people are influenced by friends, family and also strangers over other promotional channels when they make decisions about what to buy and where to go. Click on the image to see a larger version of the graph. It means we can’t underestimate the value of promoting our services and activities using testimonials, reviews and commentary from our audiences.

Rules can be handy. Here’s a quick read from the BBC - their fifteen web principles. I like the fact that they remind us that it’s not just all about me and my website, but about taking and giving, linking and feeding, across the web.

Finally, a link to Alan Brown’s article on Fuel4Arts outlining his framework for the value of the arts. It’s a great piece of work - I won’t attempt to summarise it here - read the article instead, or cast your eye over the short summary on Creative New Zealand’s website (where you can also listen to a webcast with Alan). At a seminar in Wellington last month, Alan directed his arguments to both marketers and arts managers, arguing that his framework provides a common language for explaining the benefits and values of our programmes to our audiences and to our sponsors. He strikes a great balance between reminding us that the number one reason people attend arts events is to relax and have fun (and that we should design our programmes to be more relevant to these people’s needs and this social context) with his obvious belief in the value of the art itself:

Being completely absorbed in an arts activity is at the root of everything and without it, you can’t reap the other benefits.

I’m at Eventing the Future 2007 in Auckland – the conference run by the New Zealand Association of Event Professionals. Some interesting sessions on day one. Learnings include:

• there’s no recipe to making money from events management
• quality content can be repurposed across a range of marketing channels to get valuable media exposure – content is king
• strategic planning is essential to ensuring the successful growth and development of your event
• research into ticket buying shows that word of mouth is (still) the top way that people find out about events.

Making money

Ably facilitated by Peter Cox from SPARC, a panel discussion of representatives from events management companies kindly shared their business acumen. We heard that:

• The secret to successful business partnerships is working with like-minded people.
• It’s hard to grow a business – to take that step of employing staff to deliver events so you can focus on the business development side.
• Money can be made from events that are low cost to run but that have a high perceived value (so you can charge a good rate).
• Big events are not necessarily the most profitable – small events can become more ‘stable’ (in terms of sponsorship and supplier relationships, for example) a lot easier.
• Recurring events allow you to get efficient systems in place, but it’s not just a matter of the same event, different dates – a recurring event needs ‘new fizz’ every time.
• Developing strong brands is very important – sponsors will want to be associated with the story behind the event.

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by Terry Makewell, National Museums Online Learning Project (Victoria & Albert Museum)

Online Culture in the United Kingdom currently appears to have three main drivers (the online cultural trident as I like to say). These drivers are the main force behind the cultural projects currently being undertaken. With the trident behind us we move ever forward (picture as you see fit).

The first driver is technological change. The advancement of new technology is just only being understood within the sector along with the plethora of possibilities it brings with it.

The second driver involves the UK Government policy aim of increasing democratic participation in culture. The online medium is a perfect way of involving those ’hard-to-reach’ audiences. 

The third driver involves the ways that people engage with culture and how it is changing and evolving. This is very much associated with the second driver. How has the way that people engage with culture changed in the last few decades? The advent of free admission to the national museums has obviously helped change people’s relationships with museums.

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I’m adding this post rather tentatively in response to a video that I’ve just seen at a seminar on the future of e-government by Mike Pearson from the State Services Commission. The video was created in 2004 by the Museum of Media History. It charts the history and future of media through to 2014. You can view it here (it’s eight minutes long and thought provoking).

In the year 2014, the video predicts that internet users will be provided with news stories customised to their individual needs and interests. Thanks to the information we’ve provided to search engines and social networking sites, data about our personal social networks, demographics, interests and consumer habits are used by the likes of Google and Microsoft to filter the information and messages that we receive.

The widespread availability of tools for preparing and publishing content online has made it easier than ever before to create and consume media. As users everywhere create their own news and access the news of their trusted networks, The Fourth Estate goes into freefall - no longer having sole authority over the news or the ability to regulate news channels.

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I’ve been reading about peer-to-peer marketing strategies. Although I’ve struggled to find a definition, I think that peer-to-peer marketing is about capitalising on your audience’s willingness (or rather, a segment of your audience) to market your product on your behalf. 

Methods for influencing people’s decisions have changed radically. If we can provide the tools (largely web-based) that help our audiences organise and socialise, they will influence the decisions of others, ultimately helping to build audiences at events. 

Strategies might include posting reviews or testimonials or pictures on your website from people attending your events, allowing visitors to email events information from your website to friends, through to creating quirky ‘viral advertising’ that gets posted on YouTube or other content-sharing sites or passed from one person to another via email. 

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