greater philadelphia cultural alliance: the advocacy ......the cultural alliance must align a number...

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Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance: The advocacy message framework.Rich Neimand, President/Creative Director

Dave Clayton, VP Strategic CommunicationsJanuary 21, 2010

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IntroductionThis advocacy message framework is the fruit of extensive collaboration with the Cultural Alliance’s Communications Task Force and Board of Directors to develop a message

framework for advocating the value of arts and culture to local and state policymakers.

Our task was to translate the Alliance’s extensive public opinion research into an advocacy

brand and message framework to draw community activists into the Cultural Alliance family and help everyone become strong and effective advocates for policies and funding

supportive of arts and culture in the greater Philadelphia area.

To accomplish this goal, we analyzed existing research findings and initiated new research

to identify shared values and language among the Cultural Alliance’s stakeholders and potential partners. Our goal was to develop a clear, concise and compelling message that

brings people together and strengthens their appreciation for arts and culture. This message had to be rooted in a “theory of change” which took into account the most

practical way to build a strong social context in support of arts and culture. We worked with the Alliance to develop this theory of change, creating an actionable grassroots strategy to

support existing grass tops capabilities and ongoing public engagement and development strategies.

The following pages will cover the theory of change, brand benefits, audiences and shared values—and recommend an advocacy brand strategy, a proposed tag line and a message

framework to unify messaging under the brand.

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Theory of change: howwe makemore of us

The Cultural Alliance must align a number of stakeholders in order to create stronger policy and government support for arts and culture in the Philadelphia area:

• City policymakers

• County and township policymakers

• State policymakers

• Grass-tops influentials

• Community leaders

• Rank and file voters

• Arts and culture supporters and donors

• The arts and culture community

This list is a broad look at the basic categories of stakeholders who must be touched and coordinated to create stronger support for arts and culture. Many individual stakeholders

will span a number of these categories—a city policymaker could also be an arts and culture donor—but it is important to break people into broad groups so we can determine

how to align their interests and help them work together. We must also determine what we can and can’t do in terms of organizing groups with the resources on hand.

The good news is that strong support already exists for arts and culture as well as a deep appreciation for its power to transform individuals, communities and local economies. The

Alliance doesn’t have a heavy advocacy lift, but it does have to work hard at strengthening its position during tough economic times.




Today’s policymakers are presented with a series of trade-offs. There is much they need to do, with very little money. Most state and local funding is tied up in education, health care,

police and emergency services, transit, essential social services and debt. Discretionary funding is limited and what little of it there is will go toward gaining greater value from

existing investments in essential services.

In short, budgets must be balanced—and they are often done so on the backs of the

politically weakest. The Cultural Alliance experienced this reality during the recent state budget fight where Governor Rendell, an active supporter of arts and culture, proposed a

tax on arts and culture in order to balance the state budget. The Alliance also experienced the power of strong political support in beating back attacks on the health of arts and

culture. Arts and culture organizations quickly mobilized their advocates, rallied state and local leaders and obtained enough Republican support in the state senate to put an end to

the proposed tax.

Will the arts tax come back? Maybe you’ve shown the power of your support and it won’t.

But maybe not. In the world of politics, the only way to make sure you aren’t eaten is to become a sacred cow. That takes time, energy and a lot of relationship building before

someone marks you for slaughter. The Alliance is very wise in taking active steps to strengthen its political position.

So, how does the Cultural Alliance create a stronger social and political context for arts and culture in the present and future contexts? It keeps in mind this axiom: the best

policies are created by the best politics. Political support makes policies possible.

Unfortunately, there is a gap between policy support and political support:

• The Alliance’s research and empirical evidence shows that policymakers support arts




and culture but demand more political support from rank and file voters in order to fully express their appreciation with more beneficial policies and substantial funding.

• Your research shows that community activists and voters see strong personal and economic value in arts and culture, but they aren’t necessarily connected to the

mainstream arts and culture community in an organized way.

• As a result, arts and culture support among community activists and voters doesn’t

have an organized outlet, leaving policymakers with the impression that strong support for the arts will not be supported “on the street.”

How we change this situation—our theory of change—is more an organizing strategy supported by a message strategy than visa versa:

• Get the Cultural Alliance community on the same page in terms of an organizing strategy and message. This has been an ongoing and successful effort

to date and our hope is that our message framework will bring these efforts to a new level. All research points to a desire among community activists and the public for the

arts and culture community to embrace them in an active partnership—a handshake instead of a hand out. We will supply the messaging to open and continue the

partnership discussion, but Alliance members will need to provide the behavior shift.

• Reach out to community activists—welcoming smaller communities into our larger community. Research shows that the source of Philadelphian’s pride is the source of their frustration. Philadelphians are individualists who take strong pride in

their neighborhoods and communities; yet they complain that Philadelphia is really a city of individual neighborhoods and long for a larger sense of community. These are

parochialists who long to be populists. Our goal is not to solve these contrary




impulses, but rather to use them to our advantage for the advantage of all. The Allliance should reach out to key community activists, many of whom were identified

through our research, recognize the validity of their arts and culture interests and create a bigger Alliance tent—both in terms of political support, resource exchanges

and coordination, and cultural cross-pollination. We will depend on community activists to rally the rank and file voters within their communities and spheres of

influence. This will provide the Cultural Alliance with access to broad populist support without having to run a direct arts and culture branding campaign to the public.

• Organize community support into political support. You will need to act as the “community organizer” to aggregate the political power in individual communities.

Again, acquiring and maintaining political power depends on maintaining relationships based on shared value; in this case, sharing resources that link smaller

arts communities into the mainstream community and visa versa. In essence, you become the link between parochialism (the neighborhood) and populism (the

combined political will for more resources for personal and community growth).

As you can see, we’ve narrowed our theory of change into three distinct players:

policymakers on the state and local level, the Cultural Alliance and community activists. This is not to say that other players are not important. It’s to say that some, like the voting

public, will be too hard to move without using community activists as intermediaries, or that others, like grass tops or “elite supporters,” are already strong assets that don’t need as

much attention. Yet, in total they all work together to send strong messages to state and local policymakers to strongly support arts and culture—either by maintaining existing

funding, increasing funding or making policy changes that benefit growth.




The napkin sketch below shows how all these groups come together into a strong political context generated by strategic organizing and messaging.




A brand that benefits all

A brand isn’t a logo, a color scheme, a slogan or a product. A brand is a trusted relationship that provides value and benefits to producers and consumers alike. The value

and benefits are tangible and emotional. Nike helps people run faster and it helps people feel more athletic even if they can’t run fast. To paraphrase Mars Blackman and Michael

Jordan, “It’s the shoes and it’s not the shoes.”

Fortunately, arts and culture in the greater Philadelphia area is perceived to provide a

strong set of tangible and emotional values. This perception is so strong that it constitutes a huge brand asset that other organizations, let alone regional arts and culture groups,

would die for:

• Philadelphia’s arts and culture is uniquely its own and strongly owned. It comes from Philadelphians for Philadelphians. They value it because it is theirs; we don’t have to work to make it theirs.

• Philadelphia’s arts and culture has the power to elevate individual lives. As one interviewee noted, “arts and culture makes life worth living.” Participation in arts and

culture is perceived to take individuals beyond day-to-day living to enrich their minds and spirits. It bestows individual vitality and growth.

• Philadelphia’s arts and culture has the power to educate. This perception is really a subset of the power to elevate, but we separate it here to highlight the strong

value placed on the role of arts and culture in educating children and youth and giving them intellectual and emotional experiences they need for upward mobility and

successful lives as adults. It enables vitality and growth in young people.

• Philadelphia’s arts and culture is an economic engine. All stakeholders believe

that arts and culture are essential for personal, community and civic prosperity.




Community leaders in particular see arts and culture as one of their most vital economic development resources—hence their desire to connect with mainstream

arts and culture to gain wider resources and exposure for their neighborhoods. This strong tie to economic development and growth will prove invaluable in your

advocacy strategy and brand messaging.

• Philadelphia’s arts and culture helps individuals come together and appreciate each other. As Ed Tettemer on the Alliance Communications Task Force noted, “Philadelphians cherish the right to boo.” They like being individuals. They like their

individual neighborhoods. But, they also appreciate the happiness that comes from being a part of a chorus of boos or a crowd of cheers, be it at an Eagles game, the

opera, an art opening or community theater. Arts and culture is a way for Philadelphians to thrive as individuals and share their experiences as a community—

all the while reserving their right to boo. In short, it grows a sense of community without diminishing individual vitality.

These are just the broad brush highlights of perceived brand benefits and value. The full range is detailed in our research report. We’ve narrowed them to these four categories

because they evidence a strong trend that informs the strategic use of your brand assets:

• We don’t have to work to connect arts and culture to people. We only have to

remind people of the power of arts and culture to improve the quality of their lives on a personal, social, community and economic level. And, most importantly, we have to

connect their arts and culture to our arts and culture to bridge the divide between them and us, ultimately making more of us.

• Vitality and growth are the two major benefits of arts and culture. Both provide tangible and emotional benefits on multiple levels—educational, individual,

communal, civic and economic.




An audienceof sharedvalues

As mentioned previously, our theory of change narrows our advocacy audiences to policymakers, Cultural Alliance members (as evangelicals and organizers) and community

activists. What do these stakeholders have in common? The desire for vitality and growth, albeit on different levels and with different definitions. The trick is to get all stakeholders

focused on shared value in order to get them to meet each other half way in terms of the definitions of vitality and growth. That’s the job of the message framework. Before we get

to that, let’s look at how each stakeholder group values vitality and growth:

• Policymakers. The number one problem facing policymakers is maintaing economic

and social momentum during a severe economic downturn. Policymakers are struggling to fund basic services while still meeting public demand for economic

growth and enhancements to the quality of life. An economic downturn does not dampen public expectations for services; it increases demands and intensifies calls

to “cut out the waste and fund what we need.” From a political standpoint this is an impossible situation. Policymakers need revenue sources that fuel community vitality

and economic growth. Among most policymakers, arts and culture are positioned as life enhancements beyond basic needs—in short, a luxury. We can change that by

repositioning arts and culture as an engine that revitalizes neighborhoods and drives economic growth.

• Cultural Alliance Members. In general, Alliance members want a vital arts and culture community that grows stronger in terms of products, support and revenue.

Like politicians, they are looking to stem any recessionary bleeding and grow during a period of scarce resources. They strongly believe that arts and culture acts as a

positive educational, social and economic engine. But, research indicates that many of your members have not fully embraced the idea that they are an economic

solution for government as opposed to government being a funding solution for their collective organizations. This is a subtle shift, but it has to be made quickly and




deliberately in language and action. Yes, arts and culture organizations still need government support and should continue to ask for it, but it should be framed as an

investment in a larger economic return. In other words, don’t ask for an investment in the intrinsic value of the arts, ask for an investment in the economic, social and

educational engine of the arts.

• Community activists. Communities, especially disadvantaged ones, have been hit

hard by the recession. Many are struggling to meet basic needs and focusing on getting the revenue to meet them. Most communities and neighborhoods saw

significant gains in quality of life during the past decade, even if such economic progress was built on the house of cards we now call AIG and Goldman Sachs. Like

policymakers and Alliance members, they want to stem losses and find a way to continue to grow individuals, neighborhoods and revenue. They strongly believe in

the vitality of their community, its arts and culture, and believe that sharing it with the greater community will result in more economic opportunity and growth. As with

Alilance members, community activists see arts and culture as an essential ingredient in successful educational, spiritual and economic growth, but they lack the

resources to connect their energy source into the grid. Research found they are very eager to plug into your resources and deliver their advocacy resources in kind.

Embracing community leaders and networking with their homegrown arts and culture institutions will eventually provide the Cultural Alliance with the ground support it

needs to prove strong arts and culture are essential for community vitality and economic growth. Policymakers can, and do, intuit that message. The Alliance and

its grasstops allies can deliver it. Only the community can add the political will to make it real and keep it real in the face of other funding priorities.

A brand message that centers around vitality and growth will motivate and unite all.




The strategyfor growing a vital message

The message strategy is very simple: communicate that arts and culture is a solution for personal, community and economic growth, with particular emphasis on its role as an

economic engine. Frankly, if we can’t connect arts and culture to the larger concern over economic growth, we can’t elevate support for arts and culture into a day-to-day priority.

The message strategy—not the specific message—is to advance the following equation:

vital arts and culture = growth

As mentioned in the previous section, vitality and growth are key brand assets that add greater value to investments people, taxpayers and policymakers make in personal

development, education, community and economic development.

A look at the napkin sketch below shows how the benefits of vital arts and culture spur

tangible and emotional growth on multiple levels:





The advocacy theme and brand tag line

We believe the advocacy brand tag line should revolve around the idea of personal, community and economic growth.

The widespread appreciation of arts and culture means that we don’t have to promote it as a product. There is no need to explain why it is important, nor would it be productive to

define what it is and is not. Political and economic realities dictate that we must explain what arts and culture does for everyone. The advocacy tag line must promote arts and

culture as a means to a highly valued end—in this case, multi-faceted growth.

We propose the following advocacy brand tag line:

Arts & Culture. It’s how we grow.

This tag line allows you to tell a value-laden primary message of how arts and culture

drives economic growth by revitalizing individuals, communities and civic investment:

Arts and Culture is greater Philadelphia’s renewable resource for personal,

civic and economic growth. From the people, by the people and for the people, it adds spark to our children’s education, recharges our every day lives,

energizes our neighborhoods and powers economic investment and revitalization. Supporting arts and culture is how greater Philadelphia grows

greater, stronger—and together.

That is a fairly generic message, but it needs to be. Even the most sophisticated people

need a simple message that helps them understand a brand’s overall value proposition.

Advocates can use this primary message if they feel it works for them. However, we

assume that advocates will want to use the message framework to create a primary




message that is customized to their organization. In these cases, advocates simply need to communicate five key points that inform the basic message that “vital arts and culture

equal growth”:

• It’s an engine for economic growth.

• It has the power to elevate lives.

• It has the power to educate.

• We own it because it comes from us.

• It helps individuals come together and grow as a community.

These five messages can be used in any order advocates wish, as long as all five are used to convey the comprehensive value of arts and culture.

Of course, the primary message will need to be supported by secondary messages and/or targeted messages to specific audiences. These secondary message would be framed by

sub-audience interest. For example, secondary messages to policy makers would revolve around arts and culture being an efficient and effective solution for revitalizing

neighborhoods and economies while holding people together during tough times. Secondary messages to motivate community activists would include the desire to establish

active partnerships, to share resources, to combine political power and to bring greater recognition and resources to the communities.



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