European Poetry Festivals and Their Audiences Empirical Study on Reaching and Attracting Audiences to Poetry Festivals

Breaking boundaries: European poetry festivals and their audiences Empirical study on reaching and attracting audiences to poetry festivals Student Name: Janja Ferenc Student Number: 431515 Supervisor: dr. Marilena Vecco Master program in Cultural Economics and Entrepreneurship Erasmus School of History, Culture and Communication Erasmus University Rotterdam Master thesis 8th June 2016 Breaking boundaries: European poetry festivals and their audiences ABSTRACT Literary and poetry festivals, known as late-comers in the festival industry, have encountered rapid developments in the last few years. They have grown from original poet readings to events full of varied activities. With the development of poetry festivals, audience and poets have been given an opportunity to have a different literary experience, to meet, discuss and actively participate in the literary scene. This thesis focuses on European poetry festivals and their marketing strategies, on how they attract and reach both local and international audiences. Employing a qualitative approach this thesis identifies trends in program and promotion of poetry festivals, concentrating on two controllable variables of marketing mix. Since festivals in general have been seen as prime phenomenon of experience economy, the study also discusses poetry festivals within the context of this theory which suggests that festival organizers should implement the four realms of experience economy while staging experiences, so that attendees will remember the experience and return to it. By conducting semi-structured interviews with managers, artistic directors and marketers of five European poetry festivals in-depth information about real-life practices in programming and promotion of poetry festivals has been gathered. This primary qualitative analysis was extended to include the statistical technique of correspondence analysis, which enabled the visual representation of data and the identification of key patterns and trends. This innovative methodological approach provided researcher with a deeper understanding of the research topic, illuminating relationships between categories that could not have be seen with the qualitative analysis alone. The main findings of this thesis show that poetry festivals give a priority to their program and put less focus on promotion. They all share a common objective of reaching wider audiences, which is implemented both in their program, by involving several complementary activities to traditional poetry readings, and in their promotion, which is targeted to a wider audience. There are two trends concerning the program of poetry festivals, one focuses on providing the program to the traditional literary audience, and the second, where the program is more focused on attracting new audiences, whose main interest is not poetry but complementary activities, such as other art forms. There are also two trends in promotion of poetry festivals. The first one is focused on the traditional promotional mix, while the second is focused more on the co-creation process and implementation of experiential marketing. In this trend, promotion is not something above the festival, but it is integrated in the festival. KEYWORDS: European poetry festivals, experience economy, arts marketing strategies, festival programming, festival promotion Acknowledgments My wish has always been to bring art and culture to the people, to present the beautiful minds and creations of artists to the wider public. I highly appreciate the knowledge gained from participating in the master program in Cultural Economics and Entrepreneurship, broadening my perspective on the value of the arts. Therefore, I would like to thank my professors and course mates who have inspired me every day. I would especially like to express the deepest gratitude to my supervisor dr. Marilena Vecco, who got me out of comfort zone to deepen my knowledge and understanding. I would also like to thank her for all her useful advice, her constant willingness to help and to inspire. In addition, I would like to thank prof. Andrej Srakar, who guided me through the statistical analysis and who previously inspired me in cultural economics in my bachelor program in Slovenia. This thesis could not be completed without the cooperation of selected poetry festivals and their organizers, whom I thank deeply for taking the time to participate in this research and providing me with all the necessary material. The completion of this master program and of this thesis could not have been possible without consistent support from my family to who I also dedicate this thesis. Especially, I would like to thank my mother, who proved she is a true survivor in last couple of years and who has looked after me my whole life. I would also like to thank Nina, who is my favorite photographer, the author of the photo on the front page; and my favorite poet, who got me involved in the world of poetry. Last but not least, I would like to thank my friends and Marko, who kept me laughing during stressful times and who bring love and fun into my life. Table of contents 1. Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Motivation and relevance ................................................................................................. 2 1.2 Research questions and methods ...................................................................................... 4 1.3 Structure of the thesis ....................................................................................................... 5 2. Theoretical framework ........................................................................................................ 6 2.1 Historic overview of literary festivals .............................................................................. 7 2.1.1 New format and additional activities of contemporary literary festivals ................... 9 2.1.2 Literary festivals and their audience ........................................................................ 10 2.1.3 Literary festivals and tourism .................................................................................. 11 2.2 Staging an experience: the experience economy ............................................................ 14 2.2.1 Experience realms and festivals ............................................................................... 17 2.3 Marketing as a way to attract audience .......................................................................... 19 2.3.1 Specifics of marketing in arts and culture ................................................................ 20 2.3.1.1 Traditional arts marketing ................................................................................. 21 2.3.2 New trends in arts marketing ................................................................................... 21 2.3.2.1 Implementing the experiential marketing in arts – a shift to experience-oriented arts marketing ................................................................................................................ 22 2.3.2.2 Digital revolution in arts marketing .................................................................. 23 2.3.3 Marketing tools in arts and culture .......................................................................... 25 2.3.4 Marketing mix and its application in the case of poetry festivals ............................ 25 2.3.4.1 Program as a product of poetry festivals ........................................................... 27 2.3.4.1.1 Programming tools ..................................................................................... 28 2.3.4.2 Concept of promotion ........................................................................................ 29 2.3.4.2.1 Promotional tools ........................................................................................ 29 2.3.5 Performance evaluation of arts and culture marketing ............................................ 30 2.4 Conclusion of the theoretical framework ....................................................................... 32 3. Methodology and methods ................................................................................................. 33 3.1 Research methods ........................................................................................................... 34 3.1.1 Ethics ........................................................................................................................ 35 3.2 Research design .............................................................................................................. 36 3.2.1 Prior analysis ............................................................................................................ 36 3.2.2 Sampling .................................................................................................................. 37 3.2.2.1 Participating festivals ........................................................................................ 40 3.2.3 Setting ...................................................................................................................... 43 3.2.4 Interview guide ........................................................................................................ 43 3.3 Data collection ................................................................................................................ 44 3.4 Data analysis ..................................................................................................................

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