‘Staging the past, enacting the present’: Experiential marketing in the performing arts and heritage sectors

This paper investigates experiential marketing as a potential strategy for cultural attractions operating in a highly competitive leisure marketplace. The paper examines the relevance of the experiential approach for the UK arts and cultural sector with its multiple stakeholders and innate tensions between commercial objectives and curatorial/artistic goals, between visitor access and preservation and between scholarship and entertainment. Experiential marketing is evaluated as a means by which organizations in the arts and cultural sector can capture uncontended market space whilst satisfying the wants and expectations of an increasingly discerning visitor. The analytical basis for the evaluation is provided through comparative case studies – one from the heritage sector and one from the performing arts. The experiential approach is considered in terms of each, and a conceptual model developed with a view to generating proposals for arts and cultural heritage organizations seeking to meet the expectations of an increasingly discerning visitor