Raising the Curtain

CHAPTER 5Defining Who You Are: Branding, Rebranding, + Residencies

A good brand can communicate many things about you as an artist or organization, including what to expect from you, the value in what you offer, and your place in your community and industry. Your branding should also be in alignment with your organization's mission statement and values, as well as offer a vision for what you seek to achieve. Every aspect of your brand should be carefully considered, from your logo, colors, images, to the tone of the language and tone you use to communicate.

While there are many nuanced elements to any brand, we've included a graph for a basic understanding of the three primary areas—how you want to be perceived, the way you present your brand, and the way patrons perceive your brand (see Figure 5.1). Note that your community's perception in the far right of the graph is perhaps the most important of all. Consider making sure that your branding and marketing efforts reflect the customer and community experience.

Numerous technologies and systems are available to help in the process of defining and refining your brand:

• Branding—Online research, digital or in‐person meetings with stakeholders in and outside your organization
• Brand Identity—Design programs such as Gravit Designer, Canva, Sketch, or Adobe Creative Cloud
• Brand—Metrics and interactions on social media, ticket purchase and donation data, website traffic, or surveys through SurveyMonkey or features available through ...