Foreword

The purpose of marketing is to build an audience for your work. Findings from a

Creative New Zealand survey, Portrait of the Artist: a survey of professional practising

artists in New Zealand, show that more than half of the artists interviewed (58%) said

they needed assistance in marketing and promoting their work. 

Artists and arts organisations in New Zealand often run small businesses and produce arts

events on slim resources, with considerable success. Smart arts 

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Toi huatau is a practical,

how to publication focussed on marketing an arts event   whether it's an exhibition, a

literary festival, a concert, theatre or dance production.

Aimed at supporting artists, entry level publicists and producers, the guide does not

attempt to cover the wider topic of marketing and selling your publications or visual

artworks. There are already books on this topic and New Zealand arts organisations you

can contact for help, some of which you will find listed in the Appendix.

To complement this guide, we have produced a  living  version for our website

(www.creativenz.govt.nz). This provides links to other sites and includes templates you can

download and alter to suit your particular requirements. You can also download the full

document from the Resources section of our website.

Creative New Zealand works in a range of ways that support artists and arts organisations to

develop audiences and build new markets   both in New Zealand and overseas. As Nicky

Nicolaou says in her introduction to this guide, marketing is about taking a strategic

approach to promoting artists' work. One of the first things you need to do is find out as

much as you can about your audience. In 2000, Creative New Zealand published Know

your audience: me mohio ki to whakaminenga. This document contains findings from our

survey on New Zealanders' participation in the arts, and provides useful data and profiles on

performing arts audiences, gallery visitors and readers. If you would like a copy of this

publication, please let us know.

I should like to thank everyone who has offered advice and worked on this publication   in

particular, Nicky Nicolaou, who has put considerable effort and time into writing it.

Thanks also to Vicki Allpress, Makerita Urale and Monika Ahuriri for their contributions

on marketing on the web, and marketing to Maori and Pacific Island audiences. 

Kia hora te marino, kia whakapapa pounamu te moana, kia tere te karohirohi i mua i 

to huarahi.

Elizabeth Kerr

Chief Executive

Creative New Zealand

August 2003

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Smart arts

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Toi huatau