I had a quick thought today I wanted to share. Most artists and arts organizations are attempting to target younger audiences by catering to the younger audiences. However, when I think about my own personal life and the life of many people that are into the arts, the reason we became involved in the arts was due to the fact that our parents exposed us to fabulous art.
If this is the case, perhaps in order to obtain a younger audience, we really need to build relationships with the parents and teach them how beneficial the arts are for their children. When the parents are educated about the arts, then it is more likely that their children will be educated as well.
It reminds me of the current military ads. A strange example, but bear with me. The military realized that the problems for recruiting were not the fact that they weren’t reaching their target demographic, but that the parents, especially mothers, were not on board. The recent ads target the mothers.
Another example would be the cereal industry. Some of the cereals that are targeted for kids now have ads for the parents to assure them that despite the sugary appearance of their cereals, they are nutritious (so to speak).
Programming for kids is always a good idea to include, but perhaps we need to start reaching out to parents more in general and work on building solid relationships with them. We can inform them of the wonders of the arts for their children. Just a thought!
PS What are you currently doing to reach out to parents? Please feel free to comment and share with us!
Cheers to happy and loyal audiences,
Shoshana
Shoshana Fanizza
Audience Development Specialists
https://www.buildmyaudience.com
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