The BSO’s real crisis has nothing to do with Andris Nelsons

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The Boston Symphony Orchestra's Real Crisis Has Nothing to Do with Andris Nelsons

BSO's 40% audience decline isn't a conductor problem or a financial problem. It's a business model problem. Here's what the data says—and why no conductor search fixes it.

The Wrong Trousers: What the Met Opera’s Crisis Reveals About Strategy in the Arts

The Met is in the New York Times again, searching for another solution to its financial crisis. This time, they brought in BCG.

Built for a Different World: The Arts Sector Business Model Problem

Arts organizations aren't naturally resistant to change. But it feels that way, right? And it’s all too easy to assume that it’s a leadership problem. But it’s the model that creates inertia.

The sentence that unlocks board engagement

The moment you frame the sector's problems as structural, your board stops offering tactical fixes and starts asking the right questions.

What if arts patrons aren’t “different”

What if arts patrons aren't inherently different? What if the traditional arts model makes them behave differently?

Zero-Party Data: How arts organizations win in a privacy-first world

We’re living through the biggest data shift in 20 years, and it's forcing a reckoning for arts leaders: know your audience deeply, or lose them to organizations that do.

Your stewardship strategy is killing your moment-based giving

CEO: Ok, our stewardship is dialed in. Appreciation events, welcome gifts, the works. But donations are stuck. What’s your take?

New CMO: Don’t kill the messenger, but we’re playing one giving game when there are actually two.

The Rise of Experiential Gifting: 5 Studies Arts Leaders Need to Know

It’s mid October. Your patrons are about to face one of their biggest holiday season frustrations: finding the perfect gift. Here are five consumer studies you need to know.

When personalization backfires

Personalization is billed as marketing’s holy grail. But most of what the industry calls “personalization” isn’t personal at all — it’s shallow behavioral tailoring, and consumers know it.

Universal design: How to grow audiences by centering the outsider

Forward-thinking organizations are applying universal design principles to their entire organizational structure, recognizing that inclusive design fosters innovation that benefits everyone.

The blind spot in arts audience research

For decades, arts leaders have been told to focus on people who already love the arts. Here's why that advice is limiting growth.

Burying the Lede: When Arts Recovery Headlines Reinforce Inertia

The headlines are exciting. "Arts sector grew at twice the rate of the total economy!" "We contributed $1.2 trillion to the GDP in 2023!" Here's what's actually happening.

The Classical Music Attendance Paradox: Why 11M Listeners Don't Fill Concert Halls

If listening were a pipeline to attendance, our concert halls would be packed. They're not. Here’s why.

The golf industry has reversed decades of decline. Can classical music do the same?

Golf didn't just stabilize a declining industry—they sparked record-breaking growth by making the sport accessible to people who never would have engaged before.

The secret to your next grant win

Most grant applications follow the same tired formula: Here's who we are, here's what we do, here's why we're great, here's why you should fund us.

Beyond Demographics: Unlocking the Core Drivers of Engagement

This is NOT a driver of engagement

Arts organizations too often focus their sales pitches on “cultural enrichment”, citing industry reports or in-house surveys that say it’s a primary driver of engagement. But those studies asked the wrong question.

4 Surprising Studies Shaping Audience Behavior

Now is the perfect time to step back, clear your head, and scan the bigger forces shaping audience behavior. These aren’t arts-specific reports—but that’s exactly the point.

Ruth Hartt 6/1/22 Ruth Hartt 6/1/22

Audience Surveys: What They Are, What They Measure, and Where Most Organizations Go Wrong

Audience surveys are widely used to understand who attends and how experiences are perceived—but many fall short when it comes to guiding real decisions.

Ruth Hartt 5/28/22 Ruth Hartt 5/28/22

It’s time to speak out

These days, nearly two-thirds of consumers make purchasing decisions based on shared values. Consumers are now trying a brand for the first time solely because they agree with its position on a societal issue. That's huge.

Ruth Hartt 5/1/22 Ruth Hartt 5/1/22

Egocentric marketing: How to avoid it, and why pop stars get a free pass

Without the preloaded context that mainstream culture enjoys, arts organizations don’t have the luxury of taking the easy way out in their marketing.

Ruth Hartt 4/14/22 Ruth Hartt 4/14/22

The next frontier in audience development for the arts sector

Here’s a controversial call to action, but I’m sticking to it.

Ruth Hartt 4/2/22 Ruth Hartt 4/2/22

Where the opera is grand, and so is the style: The power of autonomy

Consumers feel more certain in their decision-making process—more ready to pull the trigger—when they’ve had the opportunity to reject one characteristic in favor of another.

Ruth Hartt 3/21/22 Ruth Hartt 3/21/22

A paradigm shift for arts marketing

Here's a powerful paradigm shift culled from business theory for arts organizations struggling with audience decline.

Ruth Hartt 2/28/22 Ruth Hartt 2/28/22

The marketing strategy that fueled Intercom’s stunning growth

A software company tailored their marketing strategy to correspond with the phases of the customer journey. The results were extraordinary.

Ruth Hartt 2/16/22 Ruth Hartt 2/16/22

Before you pull the trigger on that gorgeous video ad

Before you pull the trigger on that gorgeous video ad; before you click "send" on that brilliant social media campaign; ask yourself this one simple question.