UNC/Chapel Hill Arts Initiative

Transcription

1 UNC/Chapel Hill Arts Initiative Public Policy Capstone Project Charlotte Barber Kalkidan Berhanu Tammy Chen Paige Sferrazza

2 NEA Grant & Recent Initiatives in Chapel Hill In Spring 2015, Town of Chapel Hill submitted an Our Town planning grant to the NEA for an arts focused economic development grant based on a universitytown collaboration Consequently, the Town of Chapel Hill tasked our Public Policy Capstone group to conduct a baseline study of the economic impact of the arts on downtown Chapel Hill and identify ideas for further arts collaboration between UNC and downtown.

3 Project Overview During Spring 2015, the UNC Public Policy Capstone group: Developed a baseline study on the economic impact of existing town and University arts initiatives, and businesses perspectives on closer collaboration. Brainstormed ways to foster a mutually beneficial collaboration between local businesses and town/university arts. Created a marketing plan to maximize publicity and attraction to businesses and arts. Examined other towns with Town/University arts collaboration initiatives to identify useful lessons for Chapel Hill

4 Arts and Business Collaboration Analysis

5 Research Design & Distribution Compiled a list of local businesses to survey Crafted survey questions to elicit information from businesses Created Qualtrics survey Meg McGurk of Downtown CH Partnership sent e- mail blast to targeted businesses Businesses had two options: 1) Complete online survey 2) Answer questions in an in-person interview Followed up with businesses that had not yet responded

6 Data Collection The survey was sent to ~70 businesses in the downtown Chapel Hill area 25 local businesses responded 22 completed online survey, 3 were interviewed in person

7 Drawbacks of Study Due to time restraints, we administered an online survey to collect data from businesses. Low response rate (31%) Lack of detail in short-response survey questions

8 Types of Businesses Represented in Survey Data Collection Food Service Retail Cultural & Performing Arts Hospitality 10% 14% 43% 33%

9 Businesses Current Cross Promotion Partnerships with the Arts 60% of businesses that responded engage in a mutually beneficial cross promotion strategy with UNC and Town arts organizations. Common cross promotion methods: Advertising arts events by posting flyers Offering business space for pre- and post-arts event gatherings Offering discounts in conjunction to the sales of arts programs

10 Businesses Current Support of Local Arts 84% of the businesses that responded try to support and promote the local arts in some way. Common ways that businesses support and promote the local arts: Cross-promotion Offer donations to organizations Contract local artists Offer space for local artists to use 52% of the businesses invite local artists to perform in their business. We look to the community when booking live music- we do not have live music on a regular schedule at this time but as our renovations continue we look forward to having a standard schedule of music.

11 Impact of the Arts on Businesses 68% of businesses that responded reported that they receive additional business on days of arts events. Most businesses experience 5-20% increase in revenue. 76% of businesses do not schedule additional staff on days of arts events. Even for the 24% of businesses that do schedule additional staff, they only increase their staff marginally.

12 Businesses Ideas for Joint Relationships with UNC and Town Arts Programming Except for 2 businesses, all survey respondents were receptive to the idea of participating in a joint relationship with UNC or town arts programming. Frankly, I am happy to assist with the success of other local businesses or organizations if I can. Our community has been very good to my business and it only makes sense to give back. I am willing to consider whatever ideas you all create. Collaboration Thoughts: Collaborative initiatives such as block parties, street fairs, and other joint arts initiatives that increase foot traffic and sales volume without barriers to access for current customers. Art and promotional materials delivered to businesses. Inform businesses about arts events.

13 Potential Negative Impacts of Arts Collaboration 6 of the 25 businesses voiced concerns about unfavorable consequences that may arise from a closer arts collaboration. Concerns: Lack of adequate parking If artwork is not of high quality, it can reflect poorly on the businesses Lack of return on investment Arts events can overshadow arts-related businesses

14 Initiatives in Other Communities Bloomington: BEAD Columbus, OH: Ohio State University Arts in the Alley Urban Arts Space Boston, MA: ArtsWeek Pittsburgh, PA: Penn Avenue Arts Initiative

15 Marketing Strategy Needs & Challenges There is some collaboration already occurring, but without cohesion or systematic awareness or leveraging of its full potential Challenges identified by some businesses were increased competition between downtown businesses and lack of direct ROI Suggestions Positioning: point of cohesion Champion of the partnership between sectors

16 Pre Launch/Launch Planning Miah Michaelsen s universal takeaways Set a timeline and manage expectations Bring everyone to the table from the beginning Establish a point person Launch Website Newsletter Social Media Celebratory festival

17 Website Recommendation: Build an entirely new website to give the arts initiative a firm identity and purpose Should be a place where visiting patrons (and local stakeholders) can go for information about different arts programming and collaboration with businesses/unc Must be kept up-to-date by an administrator with current news Should be interactive Second option: Build off of visitchapelhill.org

18 Website Examples

19 The website could: Offer discounts List other current deals Guide you to other related content and pages similar to what you have been browsing

20 Newsletter Primary form of communication for and between local arts, businesses and UNC Focus on updates and both current and potential collaboration or promotions Oriented locally and sent bi-weekly or monthly to anyone registered Should spotlight major opportunities and events with a rotating focus

21 Day to Day Communication Social Media Must have strong Twitter and Facebook identities Run campaigns for events Tone Older generations vs. younger generations Voice should maintain professionalism but be warm, friendly and engaging like a member of the community

22 Boston Arts Weekend Brings national/local artists together to celebrate Boston s talent and creativity Adjusted diversified organizations & changed to restaurant week price model Marketing: shift to promoting individual artists and events; social media campaigns Suggest providing audiences with experiences that they can participate in Examiner.com

23 Chapel Hill Festival of the Arts Smaller scale than Boston, but nonetheless a major focal event for Chapel Hill Set the scene from beginning for collaboration of creativity Many businesses responded that they would like to participate in community wide events such as street fairs or festivals to celebrate the arts Be conducted annually to keep the arts in mind Include Carrboro as well as Chapel Hill? An important choice and opportunity.

24 Public Relations & Maintenance PR tactics make sure to link to website 1 point person to maintain programming, structure, website, social media and newsletter Rotate focus of newsletter Implement workshops that are neutral and widely applicable Monthly status meeting open to everyone Provide businesses with brochures as necessary Wayfinding kiosks and QR codes for a corresponding mobile app

25 Recommendations #1: Promotional Discounts Over 30% of businesses offer promotional discounts/specials in conjunction with arts events. Strengthen partnerships between businesses and town/university arts programming. #2: Parking Discounts for Arts Patrons Arts events could offer parking discounts to patrons who buy their admission stubs in advance. Incentivize patrons to utilize parking decks (and thus increase foot traffic downtown) while also encouraging them to attend arts events.

26 #3: Effectively Communicate about Collaborative Initiative to Local Artists Communicate to and encourage local and university independent and group artists to work with businesses to share their art with the public.

27 #4: Potential Trilateral Collaboration with Carrboro Creative Carrboro study completed by the Fall 2014 Public Policy Capstone group 25 of the 31 businesses interviewed foresaw growth and development in their future. Carrboro is growing every year and being so close to the University is helpful. Found that publicity/marketing was a widespread issue among Carrboro businesses. An arts collaboration between the adjacent, practically overlapping, towns has the potential to benefit arts-focused economic development in both Carrboro and Chapel Hill.

28 Chapel Hill/Carrboro Evening Shuttle Consider the viability of a downtown shuttle that would transport patrons among venues in both Chapel Hill and Carrboro. Bypass the issue of parking while also cultivating a town and university arts collaboration. Foster an accessible collaboration between Chapel Hill and Carrboro. Not to be confused with the idea of an activity bus.

29 We would like to thank Dr. Richard Andrews, Jeff York, Meg McGurk, among others, for their continued support and help throughout our research. We would also like to thank all of the Chapel Hill businesses that participated in the survey.

30 Questions?