Customers and End Users

So here’s the thing.  No matter what you’re making, be it art, drugs or breakfast cereal you can thing of your audience in terms of Customers and End Users. The simplest way of illustrating the difference is with nappies. The parents are the customers, but the babies are the end-users. So although your end users may vastly outnumber your customers – it’s the customers who are paying for what you do and its their needs and expectations that need to be met. Sure, the babies have to be comfortable and kept dry but beyond that its the parents that we need to keep onside.

The same is true for most arts/cultural organisations. The vast majority of what they do is paid for by very few customers – arts councils, local authorities, etc. So really what we’re doing is selling goods and services to these arts councils and local authorities, meeting their needs and requirements. From a sales and marketing perspective that’s really important. Our branding, sales efforts and marketing campaigns must be focused on the customers needs, as they decide what is good for the end-user.