The Culture Bash*
Getting together to better the sector
Liquorice Allsorts
Collaborative Marketing & Ticketing
Andrew Thomas – CEO PartonBase
Helen Palmer – Palmer Squared
All of the work Helen has done has involved collaborations. The 3 main examples of
collaborative working are:
1.
2.
3.
Creative Tourist
Manchester Festivals Organisers Group
Greater Manchester Music Hub
Creative Tourist (CT) is an initiative set up with the Manchester Museum and
Galleries Consortium. The initiative was a direct response to the success of MIF.
The aim of CT is to attract national and international visitors to Manchester, using the
city’s Cultural offer as a draw.
CT thinks about the audience/visitor profile first and foremost. Leave the ego at the
door and concentrate on what works and what appeals to the target audience. CT
editorially selects products for target markets. Not about being diplomatic or generic
listings. Collaborative working needs to be clear about the critical mass of activity.
Audience is one that is already engaged in Culture – not trying to appeal to the hard to
reach audience. Three types of visitor identified to target:
1.
2.
3.
Traditional Visitor – more interested in heritage and the more traditional
cultural offer.
Contemporary Visitor – more interested in the edgy underground cultural
Offer.
Families – more interested in the family cultural.
Manchester is not yet seen internationally as a cultural destination. Manchester has a
strong tourism offer but is not at the stage where it can centrally offer discount
packages for hotels/events etc. Creative Tourist do not want to become a ticketing
agency. They are selective about what they promote for the market.
Issues around CT not receiving the programming lists from organisations in advance.
Events taking place over a short period of time are hard to promote nationally and
internationally. CT is looking to promote events in 2013/14/15 and some organisations
are not in a position to announce their programme that far ahead of time. It is a
challenge for smaller organisations to see that far ahead.
1999 saw a major change in Manchester’s cultural offer. The Lowry and the Contact
Theatre opened, the refurbished Royal Exchange re-opened along with Zion and the
Dance House programming. This caused serious panic amongst the venues about
whether Manchester has the audience to sustain so many venues. 12/13 years on and
Manchester has a healthy arts audience and is able to sustain a large range of venues
and events such as MIF.
Manchester Festivals Organisers Group (MFOG) is an informal network of festival
organisers based in the city centre. 20 festivals are represented within the group. The
group had somewhat lost its way but it has now become a useful network to share
information, develop collaborative programming
opportunities. The group meets every 6-8 weeks.
and
discuss
volunteering
The group is speaking to ACE to see how they can support their programmes of work
around sharing resources for the greater benefit. ACE currently fund a number of
festivals. Historic nervousness about maximising opportunities and the possibility of
decreased funding if the work is condensed.
There is a strong base of festival volunteers in existence which could be used to
promote cross collaborative working.
Collaborative working is the start of a long journey – be patient and be prepared to be
in it for the long haul.
Andrew Stokes – How many people feel that they are already working in
collaboration? Airlines are a key example of collaborative working. British Airways sell
tickets for flights not covered by their route network, i.e. they offer tickets for other
operators and take a cut. The negative aspect to this is that the two operators may
offer a slightly different service to their customers, i.e. BA may offer more in-flight
incentives than American Airlines and therefore the customer isn’t getting the exact
service he is paying for.
Dominique Whittington – Does the economic climate demand more collaborative
working, do we not need to take the idea more seriously?
Organisations do collaborate well in informal ways. A lot of collaborative working isn’t
recognised and we should stop beating ourselves up.
What is the collaborative focus – this needs thinking about in detail. There is a need to
support the infrastructure and we have to respond to the needs of the sector. What is
the real benefit to the partners involved?
Edinburgh festival is one of the best examples of collaborative working out there. The
festival started out with nothing and is now cash rich. The negative aspect is that it is
now separated from the rest of the sector and has created a weird dynamic.
There is a need for the bigger organisations/partners to collaborate. Is there scope to
put together a weekend experience package for national/international visitors,
encompassing a number of major venues? CT is confident that there is enough
happening in the city to sustain such a package.
There are also different levels of collaborative working, such as leafleting or post
transaction marketing. These can offer low initial investment opportunities for
collaboration. All collaborative working comes with a cost associated so focus on key
decisions.
CT participates in an international study which assesses the international perception
of the UK cities – Simon Anholt City Brands Index. CT was disappointed by the
perception of Manchester’s culture scene. Manchester is ranked in the middle. It is
worth noting that Manchester ranked higher than other Commonwealth countries.
Manchester is seen as a place of opportunity but not somewhere to re-locate to with
children.
Artistic programming needs developing so that Manchester can position itself
nationally. Manchester faces certain stereotypical challenges thanks to programmes
such as Coronation Street and Shameless etc. People’s perception of Manchester is
out of date. The hotel stock is increasing year on year so there must be tourism
growth. If visitors are coming to Manchester then we need to target them with cross
promotion when they are here.
Greater Manchester Music Hub
The Hub, an innovative partnership between nine local music services and 13 regional
and national partner organisations, has been set up to safeguard and develop the
music education for children and young people across the Greater Manchester region.
9 out of 20 boroughs joined forces to create a collective offer for schools and parents.
This includes joined up procurement opportunities. The scheme is already delivering
projects and has had great feedback from users.
Ideas

Need to develop ways of persuading visitors to stay in the city for a longer
duration.

Are the current cross promotion ideas outdated? I.e. hotel visitor information
racks.

Are visitors suspicious of Tourist Information centres and the offers they
promote?

Encourage and educate local people so that they can signpost visitors.

Expand this knowledge to volunteers. Use volunteers that can span over a
number of events so that they can cross promote.

Encourage the use of sites such as Trip Advisor and Twitter for feedback etc.

Offer training about Manchester’s tourism and cultural offer.

Develop E-Linking opportunities.

Taxi drivers can be an unutilised link between visitors and venues – is there
scope for sharing information?

Funding networks would be useful to discuss difficulties and challenges with
funding.

Collaborative working often takes far longer to set up and get going – sharing of
best practice and legal advice would be beneficial.

Market is changing and people are now understanding the need for data and
sharing data.

Time limited collaboration is easier to negotiate than long term collaboration
– how can we sustain long term collaboration.

It is vital that personalities get on in order for the collaboration to work – key
issue.

Marketing Manchester used to run a group around marketing and sharing
data and offered shadowing opportunities. There is now a gap in the market
for this type of network.

Increased need for honesty and clarity between organisations – the challenge is
how we balance that.

There needs to be a stronger collaboration between tourism and culture – the link
is sometimes underestimated.
If there is no instant economic driver then collaborations are at risk of breaking
down – organisations defensive of their funding. How do we break down these
barriers? Only so much you can do with a shared vision!


The measurement of collaborative working is vital – how can we measure this
going forward?

Managing expectations – aspirations need to be realistic in the current climate.

Foreign residents often feel un-catered for, i.e. lack of world music events
– culture offer sometimes inward facing.

Further sessions from Marketing Manchester about the Simon Anholt City Brands
Index would be welcomed.

Can we circulate the delegate list?
Further Information
www.creativetourist.com
www.creativetouristconsults.com
www.palmersquared.co.uk
www.gmmusichub.co.uk
http://www.simonanholt.com/Research/cities-index.aspx
www.visitmanchester.com