www.allegro234.net

Branding

Branding & Arts English version January, 2009 Nicholas Ind & Cristián Saracco

080715_B&A_eng.doc 1/6

Branding & Arts | Draft translation from Harvard-Deusto article

Harvard Deusto #90 – January/February 2009

Nicholas Ind, Founding Partner, Equilibrium Consulting, Norway Cristián Saracco, Founding Partner, Allegro 234, Spain

Branding in organizations of art is a process that creates value for its public, artists, financers and employees. It creates clarity and encourages commitment, and ultimately helps to raise the profile of the arts.

For some people, the association between branding and art is something criminal, in the best case, a contradiction.

Generally the branding is so often associated with consumer goods and its visual manifestation. In many cases, this vision leads to assume manipulation and superficiality. And in some cases, it is true. For its part, art is seen as synonymous with authenticity, creativity, depth and integrity. The art interacts with their audiences across organizations, and rarely it is observed distortions or exaggerations like that the ones that might encourage branding.

However, the association of branding and art is becoming a common area. It is neither a crime nor a contradiction. Branding in organizations of art is a process that potentially creates value for its public, artists, financers and employees. It creates clarity and encourages commitment, and ultimately helps to raise the profile of the arts.

Branding Arts

There is a common place for artistic organizations

Clarity and encourages commitment

Raise the profile of the arts

Typically perceived like an association

with consumer goods

This leads to assume

manipulation and superficiality

Synonymous with authenticity, creativity, depth and integrityRarely observed distortions or exaggerations

# 1 | A common space between branding & arts

And this can be a two-way road, whether from the branding will learn the lessons that the art world gives.

080715_B&A_eng.doc 2/6

The branding situation

Branding tends to be closely related to the image and is equated with advertising. However, if we pause for a minute and think how we form our images of the brands we consume, soon we realize that advertising is only a small element.

Flying with Iberia or SAS is synthesized in the website, in-flight food and services, call centre, the loyalty scheme and price. The advertising can stimulate proof of anything at first, but our preference to choose more from Iberia or SAS constantly refers to the consistency of the experience we have with these companies. The strong brands are not those with the best or the biggest advertising budget, are the ones with greater clarity.

When organizations understand and assume its purpose and values, improve their experience from the consistency between what they say and do. For customers this translates into a sustained improvement of expectations and perceptions.

If you visit an exhibition at the Tate Modern, our understanding of it as a brand (the image we have in our minds based on communication and experience in relation to other museums) would lead us to expect something of international stature, cared until minimum detail and contemporary. If instead we find ourselves with an exhibition of conservative Romanesque of the twelfth century we will be confused. The essence of Tate would be lost.

• Modern implies that always there will be changes, however, there are aspects of experience that are systematically Tate:

o A strong emphasis on the arts and artists o The deep and ingrained ethic of service that creates a call to action idea, doing things

differently

• This is not an ephemeral marketing idea, but the relationship between history and future of Tate as an organization.

When we look closely to an organization we always find singularities: an identity born of a purpose, history, philosophy, a set of values and a certain way of doing things. When the founder is present in the organization, the brand is created from their original principles and ideas. For example:

• When John Christie, founder of the renowned International Festival of the Glyndebourne Opera House, built an opera house in 1934 so his wife could sing, said the aim would be to "do the best they can, the best thing that can be done anywhere ". Today, its current director, David Pickard still keeps alive this call to action idea

• The Glyndebourne Festival is an example of authenticity when building a brand experience, because what you see, hear and feel is consistent and is deeply rooted. When this brand communicates, it has credibility because it is aligned with experience.

Compare this with the Royal Opera House (ROH) in London. This organization is again a great success, but twenty years ago, was under fire from all sides and had the misconception that with a simple branding effort they could solve the problem. They tried through communications.

• The ROH had at that time a new director who was criticized by both the press and by members of Parliament since its elitist behaviour

• Employees were frankly unmotivated • There was a declared war between artists, performers, performers and managers • Even the BBC was made against it

All this led to the creation of a new visual identity as a way to modernize the ROH, but its impact faded quickly. The brand appeared superficially better, but everything else remained the same. It was not until a decade later, when the fundamental problems of the ROH were seriously addressed from the standpoint of improving the brand experience as a whole.

080715_B&A_eng.doc 3/6

If the branding effort is divorced from reality there is the possibility of dissonance, the media says one thing and reality another. This suggests that those with responsibility in the world of the arts must look both inward, to help create cohesion, as outward to connect with their key audience and other audiences too.

Branding & Art

The principles of branding are as valid for Disney as to the Guggenheim in Bilbao. Both are concerned with maximizing public access, with the participation of the audiences, and that they will succeed if they are innovative, receiving good reviews and keeping happy those who finance them.

Both are also concerned with the construction of value of its brands by achieving the loyalty of their audiences because they fulfil their promise.

However, it is also important to pay attention to subtleties that influence both philosophically and in practice of branding.

• The world of the arts continually faces the challenge of individualism

o Of course, all organizations are collections of individuals united behind a common cause. However, in most business organizations there is a greater psychological contract that encourages alignment that the observed in this sector

o There is a sense of collective agreement in an orchestra, but the contract between the individual and the organization tends to be more flexible because of the need to express their individual creativity

o This individualism tends to work against the objective of consistency. The arts organizations have to accept this heterogeneity and use it as leverage to encourage diversity as a basic part

• Conflicts between managers and artists are not an isolated case as described on the ROH.

o The core within an organization of art has various origins and speak "different languages" o The performance will be linked on the one hand with the art excellence; while operationally

will be on the costs of such excellence. For example, and not an art organization, Nike suffers tension between a hard core of athletics and business people

• There is often a spirit anti-branding in the art organizations, which are similar to many universities, hospitals and / or law firms

• The arts organizations are faced with conflicting interests. In fact, it is in tension and exploration of the different needs that the true meaning of the brand is discovered

o Funding agencies who want to make sure money is correctly invested o The ministers of government and the media who want to ensure widespread access o Performers who want the freedom to express their creativity o The public wants a rewarding experience

• Finally, the arts organizations need to be constantly innovative

o The arts organizations have to continue pushing its limits, either to maintain its relevance or to attract new audiences. This is always a balancing act, because the new artistic works tend to be riskier and therefore they show financial uncertainties

o In the business world, often it is conducted extensive research on a new product to calm them (and sometimes they lose the opportunity). The arts organizations do not have this option; they must prove with his audience.

The brand sets the framework in terms of encouraging creativity and allows people to judge the relevance of new ideas.

080715_B&A_eng.doc 4/6

Branding as a framework: the Moderna Museet example

To talk about branding we use the metaphor of a framed picture, in fact, a particular one: Dinner at Smith Square by Howard Hodgkin. The important thing is that this picture was painted during a period of four years and the artist has gone back and forth altering his work accordingly to changes in his views and memories every time he re-visited his work. Painting is an evolving process. This is also true for branding: Although it has a nucleus, the expression of the brand is changing when it faces of new scenarios.

The framework of the image itself is the definition of a brand. Individuals should be free to explore the meaning of the brand in this space. Hodgkin acknowledges problems with the borders of the picture and expands the space of painting including the frame. This means that it is sometimes useful to challenge the limits and explore space beyond its traditional boundaries.

For brands to remain relevant, companies and their audiences need some degree of tolerance to accept detours and inconsistencies. If the purity becomes a fixation, the brands could lose the force that companies and individuals require.

Earlier this twenty-first century, the Moderna Museet in Stockholm had to face pressures from their target audiences. Basically, the museum was characterized by some of the terms used in its external communications; too esoteric to be understood by everyone, although familiar to those involved in modern art. This leaves out much of the population of Sweden and of course, worried the government that was interested in the influx of as many people as possible.

In 2002 Lars Nittve, from the Tate Modern in London, takes over as director and due to a problem of mold in the building decided to close the museum for two years for refurbishment.

The closure of the building itself at the centre of Stockholm meant renting temporary premises and having to think of new ways to exhibit works of art. The solution was:

• Organize a travelling exhibit across the length and breadth of Sweden • Conducting exhibits in specific buildings in Stockholm • Bringing art into public spaces such as city squares

As a result of these actions the museum had to become more accessible and people who worked at the museum to be closer to the public.

At a time when the museum moved back into their building the internal culture had already evolved into a new stadium more focused on external audiences. In fact, the building began to take its actual size being less important than thought and deed. Lars Nittve told its managers and employees:

"… I think we are passionate about the museum and art, and I think that you are increasingly passionate about our audiences… We have made a clear process of defining our vision…"

His vision is in a sense, a short story focusing on three themes:

• A paradox between the museum and its role in contemporary space • An internal reason: You're not here just for art, you're also here to create a meeting place (the Mantra

is the excellence and access)

• An aspiration of permanence and evolution: Understand that we must change all the time, because art is evolving and expanding their horizons

080715_B&A_eng.doc 5/6

Based on the idea of the museum as a meeting place, it was decided to adopt a policy of free admission to attract a wider audience of different ages and ethnic groups, and creating an experience of art as participatory as possible.

One of the actions taken was the use of hosts, many of whom have been trained in art history. They were dressed informally and rotate their jobs. This means, for example, that during his workday they spent time at the reception, control and cloakroom talking about art. The hosts improved their own knowledge through self-study and share their knowledge with others. Customers who participate had very positive reactions about the experience and the museum achieved a 98% rating as "very good".

Importantly, from a cultural point of view the re-categorization of the museum as a meeting place was successful, passing the number of visitors from 250,000 a year to 680,000 in the first ten months after reopening. The success not only changed the attitudes of visitors, but also created a more positive climate between the media and government.

The brand inspiration

As we saw in the example above branding is not confined to the departments of marketing and communication, by contrast, it is an issue that involves the entire organization. It should be an inherent part of the decisions on what to expose / run, the nature of what is presented or implemented, literature, environment and ultimately on people's behaviour. And this is not achievable, forcing people to think and behave in a certain way.

To assure that the brand can penetrate every day decisions, a call to action idea has to be behind the brand to become a source of inspiration and encourage self-discovery; in the same way that Moderna Museet did with its idea of meeting place.

This kind of thinking is related to the distinction made by Umberto Eco between dictionary and encyclopaedic knowledge. In the first case, the understanding of an idea is limited by its definition. In the second, the experience becomes more complete through the exploration and use, rather than by linguistic issues and encyclopaedic knowledge in itself.

This indicates the dynamics and the role of mobilising the idea behind a brand, and the importance of allowing people to participate in both the definition and implementation of the experience. As the Russian philologist, Mikhail Bakhtin argues thought itself ‘is born and shaped in the process of interaction and struggle with others’ thought.’

In any case, there are many organizations that write their brand vision and values, and then do not give the size. The purpose of writing is to establish a shared starting point. The idea of writing should not be frightening. Take for example the works of Shakespeare and how them inspired and stimulated the imagination of people ranging from Akira Kurosawa with his interpretation of King Lear to Baz Luhrmann with his version of Romeo and Juliet for MTV.

The key to be a successful brand experience is constructing an idea that is representative of the organization and the aspirations that push ahead. The brand will have real meaning if it can influence the behaviour and attitudes of leaders and employees. This involves working with freedom within certain limits (this does not mean reducing creativity) leading to life the principles that make the organization.

Organizations like Glyndebourne, even within their boundaries, can generate new experiences such as creating operas for adolescents as Tangier Tattoo or interpretations as the hip-hop version of Cosi Fan Tutti.

080715_B&A_eng.doc 6/6

Of course, branding can lead to manipulation and generate communications that are a far away from organizational reality. But this is not depending on the brand itself, but rather a misinterpretation of what it represents. The challenge is to put the brand in its place, a means to create value for employees, writers, artists, funders and the general public.