Festivals - Fondazione Fitzcarraldo

image of the festival – or on the presence of one or more famous artists, and on the
most popular shows? When communication budgets and resources are limited, festivals
often find themselves having to decide whether to focus exclusively on institutional
communication, or place their bets also on product communication. The choice of
one type of communication rather than another, and the images, the content, the values
and the tone of voice that the festival adopts all combine to give it its position. In
this particular case, positioning concerns the way in which a festival is located in the
minds of its potential clients, assuming that consumers do mentally classify products
and experiences on the basis of one or more dimensions or characteristics. In order
to achieve correct positioning, festivals need to analyse the characteristics and factors
that are distinctive of their own project (for example, a unique and enchanting environment,
types of shows or themes that are otherwise not offered in the area, artists of
international fame) and those that best satisfy what the target audiences are looking
for (entertainment, relaxation, cultural enrichment, stimulation, status, prestige, etc.).
And the festival needs to differentiate and focus its communication.
2. 6. · The relationships with the stakeholders
2. 6. 1. · The stakeholder theory and the festival management
In the current challenging times of transition from a paradigm based on public responsibility
and funding to a new uncertain scenario where undoubtedly arts organizations
have to build a new legitimacy and a wider consensus, the stakeholder concept
seems a tentative but appropriate approach to describe the nature of the relationship
among the arts organizations and the contexts in which they operate.
Stakeholders can be defined as any people, groups, organizations who may affect or be
affected by or perceive themselves to be affected by a decision or by the development
and implementation of a strategy or a project or an activity. Stakeholders have not to
be confused with partners: the latter are already committed to a project, while the
previous are potential supporters, and only a convincing set of arguments and actions
can turn their neutrality or opposition into support.
The theory of stakeholders originated in the United States business sector, within the
fields of strategic management and the human resources management. It has then
been widely applied as a tool of analysis and orientation for strategic development,
particularly by the environmentalists and more recently also by service agencies and
public bodies working in arts and cultural development.
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The stakeholder analysis is a good tool to consider the position and the role of a festival
in a community and in the wider operative contexts and then to identify the objectives
and the strategies and actions aimed at managing them.