Coming Back Stronger Summit: FAQs
This page provides a running list of questions Summit attendees have posed related to the content of our presentations. We’ll continue to update this throughout the Summit.
Week 1:
Q. How consistent were the ABA survey results (e.g., loyalty drivers and motivational segments) across genres?
A. While there are slight nuances, all our segments were meaningful across all types of genres and geographies.
Q. Most of the consumer brands referenced in your presentations focus on one shared value. Do arts organizations have to focus on only one shared value, or can you target multiple segments with different shared values?
A. You will be much more effective if you focus on one shared value, but the shared value can be broad enough to encompass a lot of things that you care about. While the value should provide a wide umbrella of ways to demonstrate it, you don’t want to be caught where people don’t know what you stand for.
Q. What is the difference between a shared value and an emotional benefit?
A. One of our attendees provided quite simple way to think about the difference between the two. Emotional is just one characteristic of a shared value. A shared value should also be higher order, relevant, credible, and differentiated.
Q. Is “doing good” synonymous with a shared value?
A. No. A lot of brands have confused these concepts. Corporate social responsibility (or community engagement in the arts) does not equate to a shared value.
Q. Can shared values connect you to people beyond your target audience, to that next ‘outer ring’ of not-yet-loyals?
By selecting a higher order shared value, you are actually able to appeal to a broader segment of people. For the 66% of audiences who aren’t necessarily there for the performance, shared values offer a stronger attraction and can keep them coming back.
Q. How do we determine our shared value? Do we simply go forward with what we stand for, consistently, and bring people to us through that kind of authenticity?
We’ll be diving deeper into this question later in the Summit, but the short answer is yes, you should start with what you stand for or else you will not be perceived as authentic. Ideally, your shared value should point back to something you have genuinely embodied in the past and what differentiates you as an organization.
Q: We are already walking narrow tightropes between polarized stakeholders- things that might be considered a value during normal times are now being labeled political. So in some ways this work is more important than ever, but at the same time it seems pretty daunting. How do we manage that?
A. Getting stakeholder agreement on a shared value can be a difficult process for many organizations. We’d recommend starting small. Even if you can move beyond only focusing on performance benefits to talking about emotional benefits (that may feel less controversial), it will bring you to a better place with your audiences. Speaking about tangible benefits in emotional terms will immediately help you ratchet up that level of connection.
Q. We're a symphony and have to promote 40 individual shows each season. Given the budget limitations of a small arts organization, do you think it's possible to combine the functional show message with the emotional?
A. It is definitely possible. Shared values work best if you are talking about the performance and emotional benefits all nested under your shared value. For example, if your shared value is self-care, the emotional benefits of your performance may be escape from your every day life, and the functional benefits would be related to the actual performance where you will be able to reap those benefits.
Q. Does it mix messages to overlay a non-arts value/message on top of an arts mission?
A. No. In fact, you want to overlay a shared value over an arts benefit. Remember, only 33% of your audiences are there purely for the performance benefits that speak to their heart. If you can fit those benefits under the focus of a shared value and make the connection layer to layer (from performance benefits to emotional benefits to shared values), it enhances the power to all of your audience segments.
Q: Can consumer brands, like Oreo, really have that much emotional power?
A: Yes, even the simplest consumer products can generate a strong emotional response if they credibly and consistently communicate and live their shared value. For example, Oreo has a strong legacy of brand loyalty. They have achieved this, in part, by successfully identifying way to place their product that will trigger that connection to a shared value--as a way to connect to a memory of childhood or family.
Q. Isn't taking a stand on something risky in this environment? We purposely have stayed apolitical in the past.
A. Shared values aren't inherently controversial. Take Dove as an example - their shared values is about every woman recognizing their own natural beauty. While some companies certainly do select values that may turn off some segment of the population, it's not a requirement of a shared value.
Q. Do shared values evolve over time?
A. Yes, but not like a slogan. For example, you may start with, “I am making this community stronger in a particular way” and then branch out regionally, and then in general. We believe an organization can start with a small kernel and can grow it and grow it to own a bigger shared value over time. An example of this is Ben and Jerrys. They started out small, and now own “climate change.” When you get known for something, you can grow your ecosystem.
Q. How does a shared value connect to an organization's internal core values?
Consider a shared value to be the highest level. It is a belief that both your organization and your customers have about a higher purpose, passion, or philosophy that has meaning in your lives beyond your specific genre or the arts in general. Your shared value informs your vision--a portrait of a future that could exist if the shared value you believe in were instantiated in the world and that you intend to work to help create. That vision then defines your mission, which is a statement of the path you intend to take to bring that future vision into existence. And finally your core values are a set of behavioral principles that you expect your staff, your stakeholders and your outside partners to adhere to.
Q. If we are considering doing audience interviews like Utah Symphony, who should we interview?
A. Utah Symphony elected to interview a set of their most loyal patrons. Their thinking was that if they understood why the people who loved them most did so, they could help others see them in this way. We would recommend going broader than just your most loyal audiences so that you can get a sense of what different segments of your audience value and find commonalities in values among those groups.
Q. How do you distinguish your shared value from other arts organizations in your community?
A. Shared values should be higher order, sitting above the category of art, and should stem from the qualities that make your organization unique. Focusing on these two attributes will help you find a shared value that feels distinct from what other arts organizations in your community stand for.
Q. Do you risk putting your most loyal, happy audience members off by focusing on a shared value that is not about the art?
A. There's a couple of ways to think about this question.
While some shared values lend themselves to controversy, being controversial is not an inherent characteristic of a shared value. For example, American Express has made big strides with small businesses in the past ten years with its “thinking small” initiative. They have “Small Business Saturday” the day after “Black Friday". They are pushing for the positive aspects of “shopping local”, but they are not demonizing the Amazon’s of the world in the process. That same road is available to arts organizations.
Most arts organizations have been facing audience decline for years. The “don’t turn anyone off” strategy has not worked very well. If that trend continues—or worsens—on the back end of this pandemic, it could very easily be game over for many arts and culture organizations. So, if your mission is to serve as much of your community as possible, we would say that resonating with a more defined audience is a more promising strategy than going for universal appeal to increase audiences.