99. Rebuilding Arts Audiences Through Customer-Centric Engagement: A Conversation with Ruth Hartt

When you receive a brochure in the mail from your local symphony or visit a website for your regional orchestra, what do you typically see? You’re very likely going to read flowery language about the beauty of the art and the skill of the artists, accompanied by photos of the conductor and the musicians on the stage. You probably won’t see the audience or how the experience might impact them. The arts sector, however, is in the midst of an audience crisis – and the time has come for arts organizations to stop ignoring their customers. In this episode, The Christensen Institute’s Ruth Hartt, who spent 17 years as an opera singer, joins host Katie Zandbergen to discuss how the Jobs To Be Done framework can be used as an effective tool by arts organizations, helping them to better engage with and grow their audiences. While many in the arts world have been operating under the comfortable assumption that they’ve nailed customer motivation, believing that “Help me to experience art performed at its highest level” is the primary motivator for ticket purchases, this approach fails to truly understand customers’ struggling moments and the reasons why they may hire an orchestral performance or an evening out at the opera. Armed with techniques and insights drawn from Jobs Theory, arts organizations can successfully shift from simply trying to push tickets to actually helping their customers and their communities through the arts-focused experiences that they provide. Listen to learn more about the opportunities for audience engagement and growth that await those arts administrators and marketers who recognize that the world revolves not around the performances they stage but rather around their customers and the progress they’re seeking to make in their lives.