Who Are We Selling?

In this economic climate, reaching out to high net worth individuals, or the companies that seek to engage them, can be a touchy subject for the arts.  The fact is, income inequality and the incredible wealth accumulated by a small percentage of our population have created great opportunities in terms of prospects and their passions.  But we must temper our pursuit of these individuals with an appreciation of our broader public purpose.  It can be challenging to face these facts and see an opportunity in them without losing our focus.

First, the facts: arts audiences are substantially wealthier, more influential and better educated than the population as a whole. At the recent Innovators Forum, organized by NCTF and The Nederlander Organization for theatre marketers and corporate relations staffs, we heard from two experts in the luxury marketing field, the incredible Jim Taylor of The Harrison Group, and Greg Furman, Founder and President of the Luxury Marketing Council.

We sought their views on the perspective of the affluent on theatre, and their observations were quite insightful.  One central point is that these audiences, with disposable net income of $150,000 or higher per household, are past the time of acquisition and object-related status.  Instead, they are engaged self-actualizers who look to theatre to exemplify a well-lived life.  Greg cited a major marketing firm that identifies the aspirations of this economic segment as wanting to achieve the “meditative state”, i.e., seeking satisfaction beyond mere material status symbols.

But as Jim Taylor observed, not all affluent are alike.  Only a portion are true theatre-goers, for example, and no effort will ever convince the remaining members of that cohort to buy a theatre ticket with any frequency.  Furthermore, most affluent individuals came from middle class backgrounds, and it can take up to ten years to become acclimated to their wealth, and reach that “meditative” level.

This goes beyond the bromide that high-end audiences seek experiences that cannot be bought.   It’s more than celebrity touch, champagne in the foyer, or a handshake with the artistic director, although those are important keynotes. Rather, it’s agreeing together that we are joint partners, we who make art and they who support it, in heightening the quality of life for them, and beyond that, for our community.

What does this lead to in practical terms?

It means embrace what we do as artists and engage with them in an authentic and shared vision of making life better.  What we do best is exactly what excites them, not the “donor benefits.”

It means discounting tickets unwisely undermines that value proposition completely; it trashes the perception of our production.  The affluent love a good buy like anyone else, but clumsy discounting and marketing makes them doubt our commitment.

A corollary to this is not to chase the non-attending affluent and waste resources on individuals who will never support the theatre.   By the time they have become wealthy, their life patterns are pretty much set and they will not change.  Many of us in individual fundraising have had that experience: a juicy database of wealthy individuals. which is practically useless unless it contains parameters identifying theatre-lovers.

Now what does this have to do with private sector partnerships?  Two things: first, as we discussed at a recent NCTF board meeting, we are now in a time when one or two individuals might be financially capable of making life-changing contributions to our efforts.  Wealth is that concentrated.

But even more importantly for us who bring corporations and theatres together, it means what we do speaks to the better natures of the employees, customers and clients of our leading companies.  Sponsorship is about selling the audience.  Do we really understand what we have to offer?

We will soon be posting the presentations made in our Innovators Forum and you can hear these wise words directly.   Please email me at bwhitacre@nctf.org for notification of this opportunity. (Or comment on this blog!)

I’m still contemplating the insights we heard that day.