Marketing Cultural Projects – three rules

The EU-Eastern Partnership Culture and Creativity Programme has published three main rules for marketing cultural projects.

Here are three recommendations for marketing cultural projects from the online marketing course written and presented by David Parrish and published by the EU-Eastern Partnership Culture and Creativity Programme

1. Listen to your client

From David Parrish’s experience, the term “market research” often scares off small businesses. They believe that it is a huge expense in terms of time and money. The lecturer says that what matters for your initiative is to listen to your client and understand his values and needs. The main obstacle on your path to market research is not lack of time or money, but rather confidence. You may think that you know everything about your business and clients. But they see the product and assess its value differently. Use your creativity to find simple, inexpensive and effective methods of communicating with your clients. Talk to them, use online forums to communicate with, focus groups, surveys.

2. The rule of 3 Ms

You should apply this rule for your marketing strategy. M1 is Market. It is responsible for how well you have studied your market. M2 is Message. At this stage, you should form your message for consumers. M3 is Medium. The third M is responsible for the choice of media that will broadcast your message. These rules may seem simple, but the most common mistake is inconsistency in carrying out these three stages. Initiative organisers often get fixated on media, for example, choosing social media for promotion just because it’s trendy, or create a website just because that is what everyone else is doing. In actual fact the choice of medium depends on the type of message.

3. Create a strategy

This is a unique formula for every enterprise, which depends on your organisation’s mission, position on the market and clients. Defining the strategy should be the first thing you do. While working on it, try to determine what you do best. But you should also understand what you do better than your competition. Planning your work while emphasising your competitive edge is the key to success.


You will find more recommendations and useful links for your work in the Marketing for Cultural Organisations course on the EU-Eastern Partnership Culture and Creativity Programme website.

If you want to learn more about David Parrish’s innovative methods for marketing cultural projects and strategic planning, take the Strategic Planning course.

There is more about marketing cultural projects in the marketing book
Chase One Rabbit: Strategic Marketing for Business Success. 63 Techniques, Tips and Tales for Creative Entrepreneurs’ [eBook / paperback / audiobook / signed copy / info, extracts, reviews]
It is also in Spanish and French as a paperback or eBook.


A specialist in cultural and creative industries, David Parrish has devoted several of his books to integrating cultural and business practices. Such collaboration not only contributes to increasing revenues, but also helps to study your audience and expand it, making your initiatives more visible in local and international contexts. By completing the intensive course on marketing cultural projects, you will learn how to conduct market research and see the product through the eyes of consumers.

 marketing cultural projects