Let’s get real for a second: business school puts an emphasis on numbers. As a marketing major, I am bored to death in classes that have numbers in them. I am NOT a numbers person. I am that student that endlessly checks my debits and credits and still can’t get a proper balance. I spend hours trying to figure out statistics to calculate p-values. When, you put me in a marketing class; I flourish. I take the lead on collaborative projects and diverge and converge like nobody’s business. Its where I shine! Marketing has become my passion and I love working in this discipline. Through arts management, I have seen a different side of marketing that I never thought possible!
In art school, marketing takes on a whole new side that they don’t teach in business school. Marketing in art school is all about marketing an experience to a consumer. Consumers are after an experience that transforms them and lets them escape their every-day life. Consumers are actively searching for interactive experiences within the arts. Now, the definition of “arts” can mean multiple things (and I really mean multiple). In my opinion, “arts” contains the traditional forms like museums, operas, and Broadway yet can contain entertainment like live concerts, film, and other forms of mass media. This is just a general overview of what can be art. It is interesting marketing for art because you still do the basic strength, weaknesses, advantages, and threats analysis to see how the arts organization is doing. There are other aspects that make arts marketing different. Arts organizations look at ticket sales and attendance of events. Marketers try to find ways to improve the experience.
In business school, marketing is all about marketing a product to a consumer. We look at the targeted group and try to predict their unmet needs. It involves a lot of active research; whether that involves following consumers around in stores or trying to find data around online shopping habits is interesting as you find tiny insights that you previously overlooked that change your entire marketing strategy. I also get to do case studies revolving around anything; this semester in particular, I am working on a retention case for Target employees! I like working on case studies because team work is involved and I get to apply what I learned in the intro marketing class. Additionally, working on case studies help me further develop my team work skills.
Seeing marketing applied in an arts context has brought me so much joy and has continued to fuel my passion for marketing. It has encouraged me to seek employment in the entertainment/arts field. Marketing is so versatile, and it is easily applied to other disciplines. The arts management program at Miami has improved my educational experience and has nurtured my creative thinking skills. Being able to take business and applying it to my passion of arts has been a rewarding experience and has furthered my knowledge of marketing. In conclusion, marketing in business school and marketing in arts school are similar yet so diverse.
Noelle is a sophomore Marketing Major and Arts Management and Management. She loves visiting art museums and seeing Broadway shows. Her dream job is to work for a Broadway show in their marketing department.