Reading time: 2 - 4 minutes
Video Time: 52 minutes 2 seconds
It isn’t always big companies pushing products that need marketing. The arts and nonprofits are struggling to survive and could manage, if only they had the public awareness that Subway’s five-dollar-footlong does. Unfortunately, the nature of their work does not lend itself well to a steady revenue stream. Michael Kaiser, President of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, United States cultural ambassador and weekly blogger for the Huffington Post, has been dubbed a miracle-worker for his successes in promoting the arts.
Promoting the arts is much like promoting anything else. The product, whether its art or a bottle of aspirin, must be able to elicit some kind of positive emotional response. Generating excitement creates passion and increased interest—which directly results in the increased flow of dollars. This basic observation is often lost in favor of subtle ideas and concepts on exactly how to generate excitement.
The second key element that Kaiser presses is that risk is the way to bring about growth. In uncertain times, the first reaction of a company is to hunker down, tie up loose ends and pare down offerings. While this does cut costs, it also severely restricts cash flows. Instead, Kaiser proposes, successfully in many cases, that boldness be the route to success. Taking risks, doing things differently and being inventive in communications will attract people.
In many ways, these two elements are related. People are interested in new things more than they are in the ten-cent price cut. Humans are creatures of habit and tend to make the same purchases they are accustomed to regardless of minor price fluctuations. However, with a new eye-catching product, they just might be inspired to give it a try.
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