CREATIVE BUSINESS MODELING (CBM)

The cultural sector reaches for commercial business models to develop further.

It is important for any cultural enterprise to obtain more financial channels and therefore to find out what conditions they need to fulfil to achieve that. 

The Faculty of Art and Economics at Utrecht School of the Arts, led by Professor Giep Hagoort, develops Cultural Business Modeling since 2004.

Cultural Business Modeling takes into account the specific situation of cultural entrepreneurs and provides insight into what other new revenue sources

could be tapped.

During my Atana round, I participated in lectures of Professor Giep Hagoort and felt very inspired to apply his theory and to developed it further in practice.

I combine the CBM with the Business Model Canvas by Alex Osterwalder, and with new ideas by my fellow Atana colleagues, in order to arrive at the specific versions of business models that are tailored for my clients and their particular situation within

the cultural sector.

INNOVATION DESIGN

Professionalisation and pronunciation of business objectives is not possible without innovation. But innovation is impossible without the experiment and experiment means business risk.

A successful cultural enterprise does not follow the route of the lowest cost but strives for quality products and services that are both attractive and distinctive. I believe that assimilation of design within organisational processes (resulting from the chosen innovation scenario) minimises the entrepreneurial risk and maximises the measurable results.

Modern social trends demonstrate that design skills of the enterprise are fundamental to the competitive growth within the cultural market. For this growth to be sustainable the coordination between innovation processes and company strategies is necessary.

In other words, the core competencies and the right organisational processes must be present before this innovation can take place.

In his book “Vision and Values in Design Management” David Hands writes:

“Careful attention to design and its effective management can lead to the development of new and innovative products and services; stronger company image by the enhancement of brand values and corporate identity; and the ability to design and manufacture products utilising new technologies and innovative production techniques”.

CULTURAL BRANDING

question: what is required for a successful cultural brand?

answer: performing a myth that addresses an acute contradiction in society

(Douglas B.Holt)

In cultural branding each product carries its own story. This story, which we call a myth is always greater than the product itself. The product therefore offers an access to a myth that we, as consumers, use in order to enhance our own identity.

The art of business lies in our choice of the image that will help us to convince other consumers to identify themselves with our brand.

I believe that every cultural product must be geared to enhance the imagination of consumers. Because one of the social functions of art and culture - as bearers of identity - is the progress of our civilisation, we can expect that qualitative cultural products provide us with such magnification.

There is no art, and therefore no appreciation for art, without the enlargement of imagination.

Public Oriented Art (POA) and User Centred Design (UCD) are for me two separate and mutually supportive frameworks through which the qualitative branding within a cultural enterprise is being developed. The POA principle leads to greater involvement of public in the early stages of the creation of cultural products, while UCD is a flexible set of criteria that can be used to judge the power of identity of the new cultural product.