3 keys to sustainable arts-based community and economic development. Part 1: Branding

Good news for artists and other cultural professionals:  More Union County towns want you.  In the past decade, North Jersey communities as diverse as Cranford, Linden, Rahway and Woodbridge have developed plans to build the creative sector.

But what’s good for artists and cultural organizations may be challenging for the communities.   When too many places too close together try to attract the same kind of enterprises, a few are going to succeed and some are going to spend too much for too few results.   New Jersey communities have a history of competing against each other for the same businesses, so we shouldn’t be surprised if Union County towns do the same with the arts.

How then can communities that are within 10 to 20 minutes drive of one another maximize their return on investment?   Through branding, collaboration and regional marketing.

In the first part of this three-part series, we will look at the importance of branding for communities.

Branding

Branding is the art of convincing customers that you bring a value to them that is different from others they consider to be similar.  It is what allows different colas, hardware stores, and other products and businesses to stand in some cases side-to-side and still be profitable.  Neither The Coca-Cola Company nor Pepsi Co simply promote the taste of their best-known soft drinks.  Coca-Cola promotes the idea that its namesake product is connected with fun, refreshment and tradition (such as in their Christmas advertisements.)  Pepsi is branded to be connected with youth and energy.

Luckily for Union County (and New Jersey) municipalities ,  “the arts” is such a large and diverse concept that there might be no end to brand niches.  Some municipalities could be craft centers, while others can be destinations for performing arts.  Some could orient themselves to young hipsters, while others could attract mature learners.  Each town would do best to build on its existing assets and conditions.

There are many ways to create a distinct niche.  Consider the hundreds of possible niches by focusing on a type of arts, customer and place experience (ethnic urban or leafy suburban).

Diverse cities like Elizabeth and Linden are in a better position to attract arts activities that are more “ethnic” or “urban,” while the tony suburbs of Summit and Westfield can more easily focus on the kind of art that is sold to wealthy collectors and expensive museums.   In this scenario, Summit and Westfield would find it more challenging to replicate Elizabeth and Linden, and vice-versa.

Of course, a municipality can’t tell artists what to do or where to locate.  (Don’t even try.)  But when a municipality brands its arts niche, it will attract more artists, organizations and visitors.  They in turn will attract other types of businesses, such as restaurants and small stores.   If zoning and housing supply allow, more artists and some visitors will want to live in or near the arts district, making a community more likely to attract community-oriented businesses, such as groceries, bakeries, and services.

One of the best idea books for branding places is Rhonda Phillips’ Concept Marketing for Communities.  In this short book, Dr. Phillips gives examples of the many ways communities can create more distinctive images.  (Full disclosure: Rhonda Phillips teaches in the Bloustein Online Continuing Education Program.)

For more information:

The Leading Institute provides training and learning in strategic communications, a cornerstone skill in marketing.  For more information, please visit The Leading Institute website

The Bloustein Online Continuing Education Program offers a number of Deep Learning courses and Learning Labs on communications, branding, and business development. These include:

*Who do They Think You Are: Branding for Planning, Design and Development Firms (Learning Lab)

*Concept Marketing for Communities (Learning Lab)

*Business Development for Planners (BOCEP Deep Learning)

For more information, please visit  Bloustein Online Continuing Education Program

--Leonardo Vazquez, AICP/PP

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ABC Creative Vitality Index mentioned in South Jersey newspaper

An article in Today's Sunbeam, a Salem NJ newspaper, reports preliminary findings from the soon-to-be released Creative Vitality Index.  The article discusses our findings that the creative sector is growing rapidly in this southern county.  (We define the creative sector by looking at a number of types of organizations normally connected with the arts -- museums, artist studios, architecture firms, etc.)

The findings -- which are preliminary and may be subject to some adjustment -- were shared at a December meeting of representatives from New Jerseys county cultural and heritage commissions.

A copy of the presentation will be posted soon on the Arts Build Communities website.

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ABC and BOCEP to offer three online courses in arts and community and economic development in Spring 2010

Arts Build Communities, in partnership with the Bloustein Online Continuing Education Program, will offer at three online continuing education courses that explore the connection between arts and community and economic development.

The courses are Cultural Community Development Studio, Cultural Economic Development Studio and Programming Cultural Uses.  More information about the Community Development Studio can be found through the course listings on the BOCEP site.  Information about the other two courses will be available shortly.

As their names imply, the studio courses will give learners the opportunity to work on real projects for real clients.  In the case of the community development studio, learners will work with a Native American community in Arizona.  For the economic development studio, learners will explore the feasibility of turning a downtown in New Jersey into an arts destination.  Learners in the Programming Cultural Uses class will learn what kind of space and design issues have to be addressed to create cultural uses such as theaters. 

Learners can do all of this from the comfort of their own computers and at their convenience.  How could that be?  Learn more about the Bloustein Online Continuing Education Program.

Although these courses are geared toward professional planners, you do not have to have professional experience in planning to participate.  However, if you are new to planning, we recommend your reading an introductory book on the subject, such as Community Planning by Becker and Kelly, to be prepared to contribute to class conversations.

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Talking points: The arts and economic development

In these dire times, there are plenty of things the state of New Jersey and our municipalities can do to save money.  We could stop taking care of roads. Or shut off the electricity in our business districts after dark.  Maybe we can fire half the teachers in our schools.

Doesn’t sound good – or smart – does it? We know that if we ignore our infrastructure and cut off a critical resource for our economy, we will lose businesses, jobs and prosperity.  We know that if we don’t provide the resources to help our children get quality education, they won’t do as well in their lives and their careers.

Overspending is not good, but starving good investments is worse.  The arts are an excellent investment for New Jersey’s economy in the 21^st century.  Every dollar spent by an organization supported in 2006 by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts generated more than $7 into the state’s economy, according to a Council report. Nonprofits arts organizations alone generated around $718 million dollars, 6,600 full-time jobs and $18 million in state income and sales taxes in 2007, according to a recent economic impact report from ArtPride New Jersey. Visitor spending at arts events led to $502 million more in New Jersey’s economy that year. Tens of thousands of New Jersey residents work in arts-related organizations.  More work in the restaurants, stores and main street businesses that depend on the arts to attract shoppers and employees, the same way small shops in malls depend on anchor stores.  It’s likely that at least one of your neighbors or friends depends in some way on the arts for their job.

And there are some other good reasons to support the arts. Research by the Arts Build Communities initiative of Rutgers University shows that:

• The arts are becoming a bigger and more important part of our economy.  The creative sector in New Jersey– including theaters, art studios, architecture firms, and galleries – is one of the fastest growing parts of New Jersey’s economy.  The number of creative sector establishments studied by Arts Build Communities grew by more than 31% from 1998 to 2007.  That far outpaces overall growth in New Jersey, which was 20% in that time.   This is not a quirk – it is a long-term trend.
  
  
• The creative sector is growing everywhere in New Jersey.  While the greatest share of the creative sector is in North and Central Jersey, it is growing rapidly in South Jersey and the Skylands. The arts are all over New Jersey’s cities, suburbs, towns, villages and neighborhoods.
  
  
• The arts are infrastructure for the Experience Economy.  Today, you can buy almost anything on the Internet – except an experience.  You can buy books online, but not the experience of being in a bookstore – flipping through a lot of books or magazines, meeting friends for a cup of coffee, or sitting in a comfortable chair feeling connected with other people who share your interests.  In New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Delaware, few people need to drive more than 10 minutes to get to a store or restaurant.  But they are willing to travel 20 minutes or more for an interesting experience.  Based on the experiences of other states, we can expect those who go to a theater or gallery to spend and average $20 to $40 somewhere else in town.  That money is being circulated in New Jersey’s communities, not going into the pocket of an eBay retailer in Montana.
  
  
• The arts help young people develop a critical job skill for the 21^st century: Creativity.  Creativity helps people solve difficult problems, adapt to change and find new opportunities.  Entrepreneurship is creative business development.  That’s why a focus now in leading management publications like Harvard Business Review is on creativity.  Good math and language skills are important.  They can help a young person manage a cash register.  Creativity can help that person manage the store.
  
  
• Cultural tourism.  It is the golden goose of economic development today.  Cultural tourists – those who enjoy arts, history, and distinctive places – spend more money, stay longer, and are more likely to spend their money in different places than traditional visitors.  According to the Americans for the Arts, visitors who take part in cultural or heritage activities spend about 36% more per trip, and are more likely to spend more than $1,000 per trip. Cultural tourists put no added burden – none at all – on schools.  Cultural tourists take memories and leave dollars. States like New Mexico and North Carolina depend on tourists from other states for a lot of their cultural tourism dollars.  We don’t have to.  New Jersey residents had $384 billion of buying power in 2008, according to the University of Georgia’s Selig Center for Economic Growth.  But it also helps that New Jersey does attract a lot of out-of-state tourists. Visitors to New Jersey in 2008 spent nearly $39 billion here, according to figures from the Secretary of State’s office.
  
  
• The arts attract other economic goldmines, such as life sciences and high technology firms.  In an age where businesses can be anywhere in the world, why do you think more of the businesses we want to see are willing to pay higher leases in more interesting communities? Because the people they want to hire want to be in places that are more interesting and culturally rich.
  
  
• Compared to other economic development ventures, the arts have low risk and costs and potentially high rewards.  If you want to attract a large biotechnology firm to your town, you better have a lot of land available, attractive tax package, and extremely business-friendly municipal staff -- from the mayor to the intern who helps the town clerk.  If you want to attract cultural professionals, hold some meetings.  Let them know you’re interested.  Maybe buy them lunch.  The arts can happen anywhere, but they are more likely to happen in places that welcome them.

Even if you would rather go to the dentist than a museum, there are a lot of good reasons to support the arts.  Let’s keep our roads in good shape, the lights on along Main Street, and support one of the best investments for our economy and communities.

Leonardo Vazquez, AICP/PP

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Getting more community support for the arts: Lessons learned

What works better at persuading leaders and communities to support the arts? Over this past year, Arts Build Communities explored this question by interviewing and surveying dozens of public affairs professionals, urban planners, cultural professionals, artists and elected officials in New Jersey. Here is what we learned:

• Understand why some leaders and communities are resistant to supporting the arts. Do they think the arts will help their communities? What are their concerns about the arts or artists? If they support the arts in principle, why are they reluctant to provide more resources to the arts? Before you make your pitch, stop, look and listen.
• Use statistics that focus on the economic impact of arts and the impact to children. There are a lot of resources on the economic and social value of the arts. Every one wants a healthy economy and parents want their children to have the best opportunities possible. I recommend starting your search at ArtPride New Jersey or the New Jersey State Council on the Arts.
(Full disclosure: Arts Build Communities receives funding form the Council on the Arts and ArtPride New Jersey is on the Arts Build Communities Council.)
• Talk about the impacts at a local level. The arts have enormous economic impact on our states and regions. But the numbers tend to be so large that they can be difficult for people to visualize in the economy. (Unfortunately, most economic impact reports don’t compare the arts to other industries or the overall economy in a state. So readers don’t know how significant X million is to the economy.) And unless you’re in an arts destination or a big city, there probably are no reports talking about the impact in your town. That can get skeptics to say something like “well it may be good for them, but not for us.” In this case, talk about the research for the Americans from the Arts showing that on average, those who take part in an arts event tend to spend an additional $20 to $40 per person in town. Since every retailer now competes with online stores, the arts provide free marketing and shoppers to them.
• Make the arts more visible to leaders and communities. How many creative sector establishments are in your town – museums, art galleries, artists’ studios, architecture firms, etc? You might be surprised how many there are – and so would the people you’re trying to persuade.
• Get leaders outside of the arts to be champions for the arts. Chamber of Commerce professionals, realtors, the woman that everyone talks to at Town Hall, or whoever you know that is influential with leaders and communities. Some people have such deep-rooted stereotypes about the arts and artists that no cultural professional would be able to persuade them. But they’re more willing to listen to people they trust.
• Be persistent and show strength in numbers. Arts advocates should be going to the meetings of their elected officials and other places where they can be seen by leaders and the communities the advocates are trying to persuade. Be patient, it can take years to change some minds.
• Artists should build relationships and help civic organizations outside of the arts. When these organizations – and their leaders – see that artists bring added value to them, they will be more likely to support the arts.

In 2010, Arts Build Communities will continue to interview cultural professionals, urban planners and public affairs professionals, elected officials and business people to find what works better for sustaining the creative sector in New Jersey.

To learn more or get updates about our work, please visit http://www.policy.rutgers.edu/tli/abc

Arts Build Communities is a joint production of the Professional Development Institute and The Leading Institute at Rutgers University’s Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy. You can learn more at http://www.policy.rutgers.edu/tli

Leonardo Vazquez, AICP/PP

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The arts are infrastructure

What is art? For community and economic development, it is infrastructure. More specifically, the cluster of activities we call “the arts” is the stuff on which healthier, wealthier and more sustainable communities can be built on.

The arts:

• Help communities attract visitors who would spend more than visitors who go there for other reasons.
• Attract and keeps residents with greater educational levels, incomes and the potential to generate higher income.
• Provide a greater variety of employment opportunities in communities that are suffering from the loss of jobs in blue-collar fields or declining businesses.
• Prepare young people for the future by developing the kind of skills that can help them go from running a cash register to leading an enterprise.
• Help neighborhoods become better places to live. People who participate in the arts tend to be more engaged in the civic life of their communities.
• Support the efforts of community development organizations to revitalize neighborhoods.
• Bridge cultures, which can help to make for more peaceful and inclusive society.
• Connect, like roads, people and places.
• Provide a foundation for members of communities to understand their distinct cultures, commonalities, and the issues that need to be addressed to build better societies.

It is not a matter of whether the arts are good investments for New Jersey’s communities. (They are). The questions for communities and their representatives are: What kind? How? How much?

These questions, and more, are what the Arts Build Communities is working to answer. Because every community is unique, there is no single answer that will work for every place equally well. NJ ArtiFacts is one of a number of ways we will help leaders of cultural organizations and communities make more cost-effective decisions connecting arts and community and economic development.

Leonardo Vazquez, AICP/PP

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New ABC publication: Cultural Vitality Indexes

As part of our effort to build New Jersey's Cultural Vitality Index, we studied other indexes around the country. We learned lessons and got ideas for an index that would better serve leaders in New Jersey. Please read the report for more information.

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