There is evidence to suggest that not-for-profit organisations generally, and subsidised arts\ud
organisations particularly, tend to use marketing for short-term, tactical purposes. This\ud
research study considers whether successful subsidised arts organisations are more likely\ud
to apply a relationship rather than transactional marketing approach to overcome this\ud
short-term focus. Relationship marketing involves the development of continuous\ud
relationships between parties that are usually long-term and dynamic. Managers make\ud
decisions about the sort of the relationships they would like to have and how to achieve\ud
them and in this context, they have to think strategically.\ud
Research was undertaken to identify whether 'successful' subsidised performing arts\ud
organisations were indeed more strategic in their focus, whether they had applied a\ud
relationship marketing approach and whether such an approach had been influential in the\ud
developmento f their 'success'.P reliminary researchw ith senior managersfr om subsidised\ud
theatres in the North West of England, found that there was general agreement on what\ud
could be considered to be a 'successful' and an 'unsuccessful' theatre. Respondents from\ud
tsuccessful' theatres highlighted the importance of collaboration with a variety of\ud
stakeholdersw hereasc ollaborationw ith audiences egmentso nly, was found to be the case\ud
for unsuccessfutlh eatres.\ud
As a result of these findings, a conceptual framework was developed which identified the\ud
major partnerships and the specific stakeholder types that need to be considered by a\ud
subsidised performing arts organisation if an effective relationship marketing approach is\ud
to be developed.T he conceptualf ramework was used as the basisf or subsequenrt esearch\ud
involving a multiple case study approach studying two 'successful' theatres and one\ud
cunsuccessful' theatre in depth. The strengths of relationship between the various key\ud
stakeholder roles and artistic directors within the three theatres were analysed and findings\ud
suggest that a link does exist between the building of relationships with a variety of\ud
stakeholders, a strategic focus and theatre success