Our research and survey responses indicate that artists and “do gooder” arts organizations struggle with the concept and reality of competition; especially because creativity is such a product of collaboration, connectedness, and reciprocal inspiration in a network of people. We need each other, yet we are in competition for the same resources, audience members, buyers, and dollars. There seems to be a constant tension between collaboration and competitiveness. How do we reconcile this? I don’t completely have the answer, but I can share the results of my investigation so far.
September 1994, I sat in the Drama Department’s freshman orientation at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. I was 17 years old, fresh off the plane from California, new to the big city, bright eyed, and ready to conquer the world. The first thing they told us was, “You are 1 of 900 freshman acting students at NYU. If you can bear doing anything else with your life, do it!”
900!!!!
My mind immediately drifted into random calculations of the total number of actors in all the NYC acting schools, then the total number of actors in Manhattan, then in NY State, then the eastern seaboard, then the country. Needless to say, I felt like a grain of sand in the Sahara.
What am I doing here?
Next, that grain of sand image (me) was transported to a giant hour glass with millions and millions of other grains of sand trying to get through the same little tiny funnel. I felt as defeated as the Greek mythological character, Sisyphus. You know, the one who was doomed to the meaningless task of pushing a boulder up a hill only to have it roll down again…for eternity. Yes, I am a little dramatic…why do you think I ended up in drama school?
Call it cognitive dissonance or self soothing, but this little mental freak-out was followed by a more comforting thought:
“Maybe there isn’t just one tiny hole that we all have to fight through. Maybe this dramatic marketplace is more like a sifter then a funnel. All the emerging actors are thrown into a giant sifter. We endure the thrill of the shaking and tossing, eventually falling through our own little hole, into our own little niche. Some of us will be stars, some producers, some writers, some production managers, etc. etc. etc. We don’t all want the same thing; we don’t all have the same talents to share. We each have our own fingerprint as unique as our individual talent. All we have to do is mine the gems latent in our own little mountain of potential, then we will each have a chance to feel fulfilled. Yeah, that’s it.”
I was comforted and motivated by this thought.
Throughout my career in NYC as an actor/dancer/writer/director/producer, I held onto this soothing thought to get through the rejection, the starvation, the cold, the loneliness, the fear, the empty seats, the bad reviews, etc. In hindsight, I’m so thankful, because it got me to those cherished moments of victory: getting hired for a gig, getting a rave review, traveling the world, feeling the “whooo” of synergy with your fellow performers, the adrenaline of a packed house, seeing yourself on TV, seeing your vision realized on stage, witnessing the amazing process of collaboration with other artists, and having a kid come up to you after a show and say, “You inspired me.” Those moments would have never happened if I was intimidated by the competition.
It wasn’t until a few years ago that I discovered a term that articulates this concept of finding your hole in the sifter — DIFFERENTIATION. This is a wonderful term. It says you have a value in the competitive landscape that is unique. It says that if you differentiate yourself, your audience will appreciate you for being you…well the best of you.
How do we navigate the competitive landscape?
Step 1: Define - Who is a direct competitor? Who is an indirect competitor?
This correlates to defining your professional identity (see Professional Identity: Who are you? and What do you do?). Once you are clear about who you are and what you want to offer, then you can determine your direct/indirect competitors.
Step 2: Size - How many direct competitors do you really have?
In my mind, I saw this endless sea of actors fighting for the same two line role in some infomercial. How many competitors did I really have? Let’s do research.
In the 2008 National Endowment for the Arts report, “Artists in the Workforce,” we learned there are approximately two million artists in the US workforce and only 2% consider themselves actors (39,717 to be exact). Wow! That is a very different number from the one I perceived in that freshman orientation. If there are so few actors, why does it seem like every other person I meet is an actor? Oh, because I grew up in LA (where almost half of all actors live) and went to college in NYC (where another 20% of all actors live). Research can be very revealing.
Step 3: Growth - Is this market attracting competitors or repelling them?
This is very important information. If your particular market is attracting competitors like Silicon Valley attracted venture capitalist in the late 90’s, you need to know why and strategically position yourself to be competitive. If competitors are leaving the market like venture capitalist in the early 2000s you need to know why and strategically position yourself to harvest or exit the market.
According, to the NEA report, the number of artists in the US has remained relatively constant for the last 15 years. Why? Well, the last major growth trend happened from 1970 to 1990, when the artist population doubled due to massive investments in cultural infrastructure. Some say we hit equilibrium over the last decade and a half. What does the future look like? Well, Obama’s administration says they want to make major infrastructure investments again.If they are successful, how will that affect the creative economy? Will competition increase for new resources? Will there be less competition as more opportunities open up? Are you positioned to fill an opening?
Also, look at growth in small market segments. We have not experienced dramatic growth nationally, but what about regionally? According to the NEA, the West and the South have seen dramatic growth in artist populations over the last 15 years. Georgia and Florida saw 23% growth in artists from 1990 to 2000, while places like NYC saw a dramatic exodus of artists. Why? Will this trend continue? How does that affect your business or career?
Step 4: Benchmark - Investigate your top competitors and learn from them.
This is the nitty gritty competitive intelligence that will teach you so much. Who specifically are you in competition with for grants, for audience members, for sponsorships, for press attention? Where are they located? What do they offer? What is their reputation? What are their weaknesses? Strengths? What kind of earned or contributed revenue are they generating? What is the demand for their offering? How do they deliver their offering? How do they communicate their value? What are their plans over the next year? 5 years? Pretend you are an audience member and analyze what draws you in and what could be improved. Next, look at your offering or operations and see how you measure up, what you can improve, etc.
Step 5: Competitive Advantage - How can you effectively compete?
There are two generic strategies for competing in any market place:
Differentiation - which we already talked a little about. Differentiation means that you create something that is perceived to your audience as unique, which can usually command a premium price. Many artists create uniqueness by having an innovative design; cultivating a trendy image; using cutting edge technology, using avante garde mediums, telling an interesting story, etc. However, differentiation doesn’t always have to come from the creative design of your offering; it could come from simply having better logistics. (Many talented people have failed to succeed due to poor logistics, while many not so talented people have thrived because they had a competitive advantage in logistics.)
For example, let’s say you have a theatre and your competitor is bringing in an average of $25,000 in box office receipts per 6 week run and you are bringing in an average of $15,000 per 6 week run. By benchmarking your competitor you can see there is at least a $10,000 margin for improvement. Why are they doing so much better? Is it the quality of the shows? According to audience surveys patrons enjoy your shows a little more. Is it convenience? Well, they do have a relationship with the café across from their theatre that offers their patrons free valet parking.
Cost Leadership - this strategy emphasizes efficiency. Maybe you are able to produce a $50,000 show for $25,000 due to your ability to stringently control costs. This gives you a $25,000 advantage over your competitor. In the non-profit world that cost savings usually comes from the relationships we cultivate with in-kind donors and volunteers.
Additionally, you can use either strategy in a very narrow segment of your market to really narrow the competition. This is called a Focus Strategy.
The strategy you choose is highly dependent on your competitive advantage. If you are very innovative, than a differentiation strategy might be right for you. If you are well connected to people and organizations with a lot of free stuff, but not too innovative, perhaps the cost leadership strategy will work.
Exercise - Try to determine your sustainable competitive advantage by asking yourself the following questions:
- What resources do I have or can I obtain?
- What skills and capabilities do I have or can I obtain?
- What competencies do I have when combining these resources and capabilities?
- Of these competencies, which are my core competencies?
- Which of these core competencies does my audience value above my competitors? (Competitive advantage)
- Is this advantage sustainable? Meaning, can it be easily imitated?
In a nutshell, I caution you against entering the creative marketplace blind to your competitor’s strengths and weaknesses OR to your own. Finding ways to compete effectively and to create collaborative competition will ultimately help grow and improve the creative economy. Your courage to compete will broaden the diversity of the creative offerings in our cultural institutions and entertainment spaces, as well as improve the vibrancy of our communities. We encourage you not to be intimidated by competition, but to embrace it. Find a way to communicate and deliver your unique value; because if you get intimidated and take yourself out of the creative marketplace, we all lose out.
(Originally published on FracturedAtlas.org December 26, 2008)
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