Arts Council

of Fort Worth and Tarrant County Advertising Campaign

Jay Johnson 4/25/13

Situation Analysis The Arts Council of Fort Worth and Tarrant County was established in 1963 with a mission of funding and advancing the arts in Fort Worth. The Arts Council has evolved to include three primarily areas of service: advocacy, public arts, and managing the Fort Worth Community Arts Center. As the provider of a service, not a product, the Arts Council has never budgeted for advertising according to the Arts Council of Fort Worth and Tarrant County President Jody Ulich. Several years ago, the Arts Council underwent a large rebranding initiative which included the design of a new logo, branding, and website. This branding was underwritten by a private donor. Though the largest amount of funding comes from the City of Fort Worth, the highest private contributor is XTO Energy. The council also relies on funds from Fort Worth Independent School District, the Texas Commission on Arts, and several private foundations, family and individual donors. Consistent with the funding structure of many Arts Councils throughout the nation, the primary funding of the Arts Council of Fort Worth and Tarrant County comes through local government. In order to balance its budget, the City of Fort Worth has made dramatic budget cuts since the economic downturn in 2007. In the past five years, the budget for the Fort Worth Arts Council has been cut by nearly 50%. In 2012, the City of Fort Worth proposed a 25% cut to the Arts Council budget by, which amounted to $267,000. This dramatic proposal sparked outrage in the local arts

community, and made national headlines. The Fort Worth Arts Council initiated a campaign in response to the proposal. This campaign was a high-impact low-budget advocacy initiative to rally support against the proposed cuts. The Arts Council retained Hudson Creative, a Fort Worth-based public relations firm, for three months at the rate of $2500 a month. The campaign totaled $7,500. The funds were categorized as an advocacy budget instead of an advertising budget. Though the recommended budget passed, there is a current initiative to restore partial funding and a long term, to increase municipal funding for arts in Fort Worth. Brand Analysis The Arts Council of Fort Worth and Tarrant County is generally received well in the local arts community. Occasionally, the Public Arts division gets tied to a controversial project or funding issue. But the arts community realizes the vital role the Arts Council play in providing funding and advocacy for local galleries, theaters, and production companies. The Arts Council is well established and reaches in broad base in Fort Worth. Many actors, artists, and youth programming initiatives impacted by the Arts Council dont realize that their funding often comes indirectly through the Fort Worth Arts Council. Market Analysis Shortly before the City of Fort Worth recommended the 25% budget cuts in the Fall of 2012, the Arts Council released the findings of the Arts and Economic Prosperity Survey. The study was an effort to show the impact that arts has on the local economy. The results of the survey showed that the arts industry accounts for an over $84 million

annual contribution to the economy in Fort Worth. In addition, the arts employ the equivalent of over 3,000 full-time jobs in Fort Worth. Arts in Fort Worth include everything from live art, museums, to public art. The Arts Council funds a number of art entities in several ways. The General Operating Support Grants funded 26 organizations in 2012, including: Artes de la Rosa, Fort Worth Opera, Jubilee Theater, and Kids Who Care. The Project Grants were granted to 9 entities; the Mini Grants to 5, and the Neighborhood Arts Program Grant funded over 20 organizations including: Casa Manana, Fort Worth Classic Guitar Society, and Texas Wesleyan University. Marketing Objectives The campaign is an advertising initiative to create awareness about of continued decrease in Fort Worth arts funding. The campaigns objective is to show the importance of investing in the arts in Fort Worth. Considering the wide scope of the arts community in Fort Worth, the campaign is not tied to a demographic target, but a psychographic/geographic target people who are involved or support the arts in Fort Worth. The ideal gain from the campaign would be to leave an impression on those reached by it in such a manner that would gain new advocates in favor of restoring and eventually increasing the Fort Worth investment in arts funding. The primary objective of the campaign in awareness, the secondary objective is advocacy.

Advertisements

Theme Each advertisement campaign is intended to create awareness and new advocates in the fight to restore art funding in Fort Worth. The consistent message in each advertisement is a call to service: Does Fort Worth art matter to you? .enough to take a stand?

Each advertisement displays the Arts Council logo and website www.artsfortworth.org.

A visual component shared in each advertisement is the art piece Man with a Briefcase by Jonathan Borofsky. This public art piece is easily recognizable to people who live in Fort Worth, as the 50-foot brushed aluminum plated silhouette stands in Burnett Park, Downtown Fort Worth.

Also, each advertisement uses CourierPS font.

Outdoor/Billboard The billboard would be displayed in the Arts district in Fort Worth. The billboard takes all of the components of the theme, organized for optimal legibility for drivers. Considering location, the billboard would reach those who work, eat, and patronize the Fort Worth arts district.

Print The Arts

Council of Fort and Worth Tarrant

County has a collaborative publication with the Fort Worth Weekly called ARTicle. The full-color magazine is distributed in Fort Worth and reaches a large number of art supporters/donor. The print advertisement is a half page 49 word advertisement. It includes all elements of the campaign theme. The body is organized to first capture the readers attention and then give details about the call to service. The body copy reads: The city of Fort Worth has cut its art budget by nearly 50% in the past 5 years. Stand with the Arts Council of Fort Worth and Tarrant County to restore arts funding in Fort Worth.

Broadcast/Online

The story board lays out a 15 second commercial for YouTube and social media sharing. The commercial

begins with letters being typed on a white screen in

CourierPS font: Does Fort

Worth Art matter to you? The narrator poses the question as the letters are being typed. The next five seconds is filled with fast scrolling images of art in Fort Worth. The screen goes back to white, the narrator restates the tagline: So does Fort Worth Art matter to you?...enough to take a stand? Visit www.artsfortworth.org. The intent would be to share the short clip on the Facebook and Twitter pages of the organizations funded by the Arts Council of Fort Worth. The theaters, museums, and artists funded by the Arts Council collectively have a broad reach. The video also serves a reminder that funding comes from the Arts Council to participants who might not

realize that their programming is effected by the Arts Council- thus Arts Council budget cut are cut to their livelihood. In addition to artists, museums, and theaters, this advertisement could also reach children and parents to create grassroots advocacy.