out of print
Comments and Reviews
"Reading Standing Room Only, I bitterly regretted that this book was not available when I would have needed it the most - in the eighties when I worked intensively with (a major opera company). We had to grapple for every bit of wisdom and insight that's in your book - and there is so much more in it that we could (and should) have known and used. I only hope that the people in the performing arts realize the treasure trove that's your book and put it to work - it's badly needed. MANY THANKS AND THE GREATEST ADMIRATION for your contribution to saving our cultural life and our cultural institutions - they need it badly."
Peter Drucker
"Standing Room Only is both inspirational and practical. The first book that applies a full range of appropriate for-profit marketing principles to the not-for-profit, institutionally based performing arts, it outlines a clear process for defining an organization's mission, as well as for selecting, analyzing, and implementing relevant marketing initiatives. Best of all, it's full of detailed examples of actual strategies that inform and provoke new ways of approaching the age-old problem of 'filling the house.'"
Robert Orchard, Executive Director, American Repertory Theatre
"Finally, a book that treats marketing the arts as the profession we professionals always knew it was. If an entire MBA in arts marketing were to be captured in one volume, this exceptionally detailed, relevant, and insightful book is it. An instant 'must have' for anyone who is serious about marketing the arts."
Eugene Carr, President, CultureFinder and President,
Patron Technology
"Standing Room Only goes beyond marketing the performing arts to raise and explore in depth issues about the ongoing relevance of the arts in America, and what arts organizations must do to survive."
Henry Fogel, President, American Symphony Orchestra League and former President, Chicago Symphony Orchestra
"Your study is extremely comprehensive and should be a good resource for performing arts organizations as well as for the arts councils and foundations that wish to help them. Congratulations!"
Ellen McCulloch Lovell, Deputy Assistant to President Clinton and deputy Chief of Staff to the First Lady
"Showing clearly and in detail just how much artists and the arts can benefit from innovative marketing strategies, this book will definitively close the gap between art and marketing."
Yves Evrard, Chairman, International Association for Arts and Culture Management (AIMAC), and Professor of Marketing, Groupe HEC, France
"The main strength of Standing Room Only is the challenge it presents to the status quo approach to marketing and its very obvious celebration of the success stories of organizations we know. It takes a realistic approach to the situation, and encourages the reader to face the crisis at hand, to face reality and to practice forward thinking. The writing style is intelligent, reflecting abundant research, the credibility of the authors and, above all, a passion for art and for the people involved in the arts. And one of the final strengths of the work is that it goes beyond marketing, to engage the reader in the related topics of arts management, mission development and fund-raising."
International Journal of Arts Management,
Dr. Jennifer Radbourne, Asst. Dean, Business Faculty, Queensland Univ. of Technology
"Standing Room Only: Strategies for Marketing the Performing Arts" is at once an instruction manual, a sober-minded analysis, a set of case histories and a hand-holding guide to promotion."
Edward Rothstein, The New York Times
"Philip Kotler and Joanne Scheff have done impressive research for this book, and have presented their complex and sometimes controversial findings with exemplary clarity. Standing Room Only is certain to be read widely throughout the nonprofit arts world!"
Danny Newman, author of Subscribe Now! and former Public Relations Director, Lyric Opera of Chicago
"Your book has had a wonderful impact on helping us restructure the way we view our audience and how we market ourselves to them. It is the best single source book I have read on the subject and I have read a lot of them."
Brian Pudil, Producing Director,
Shattered Globe Theater, Chicago
"This is a first-rate book which brings marketing alive and puts to rest, once and for all, the notion that artistic creativity and marketing are somehow incompatible. Whether you're looking for philosophical debate or practical advice, you'll find it in Kotler and Scheff's well researched and clearly presented work."
International Arts Manager
"I am reading your book at the moment and think it is excellent. I would never normally say that a book on marketing was so interesting that I couldn't put it down but I have to say that in this case. The book is an invaluable resource and I will recommend it very highly."
Vanessa Rawlings, Arts Council of Great Britain
"Extraordinary compendium! If you want to run an arts organization, or run one now, or run part of one: have a long visit with this book. As an MBA who has interviewed many performing arts managers and worked as a performing arts funder and on various boards over decades, I commend this to all people in the business except my competitors. It wouldn't be fair to compare this to other business how-to books because it is a compendium, not just management theories-du-jour. The book is a gift, a mission informed by the authors' love of and belief in the arts as inherently good. Just one idea gleaned here could save your organization, especially in times of funding and subscription-ticketing stress."
Gordon Imrie, Arts board member, Hinsdale, Illinois