Creative Arlington Overview: Phase II

Phase II (see Phase I here) provides a 'long tail' service that takes triple bottom line growth opportunities of 'economic producers' in a broad range of industries such as the environment, education, health, business innovation and government innovation, frames them as 'challenge problems', and rewards creatives that present solutions. See video below.


In the industrial age, we’ve been subjected to an economy and culture dependent on mass-produced ‘blockbusters and hits’, represented in red as the ‘big head’ in the chart above. Why? Economics. Our popular tastes result from poor supply-and-demand matching, a market response to inefficient distribution – it simply wasn’t cost effective to allow the market to access the Long Tail (displayed in orange in the chart above), which is ‘everything but the hits’. Blockbuster and Wal-Mart were prime examples.

This is all changing in the knowledge age and the emergence of the Internet, where the Long Tail is suddenly accessible. As Netflix and Amazon are demonstrating with their all-inclusive selection, the sum of many small markets is worth as much, if not more, than a few large markets. Many of the fastest growing companies today are about aggregating the Long Tail in one way or another – Google, iTunes, eBay, Facebook...

Creative Arlington is about providing the Long Tail for creative content, whether it be products, services, places, events or experiences.

Why Creative Arlington?
Government, via economic development, tend to focus on the ‘big head’. Chambers of commerce and business improvement districts don’t prioritize cultural development. Cultural nonprofits don’t prioritize business. None really have much enthusiasm for jumping into the burgeoning social media-intensive world of the Long Tail.

From the County of Arlington’s 2006 Cultural Needs Assessments report:
- The County is remarkable for its high percentage of young, single adults working in professional, technical and government jobs. Yet, according to both consumer analysis and anecdotes from arts groups, this is not currently an active audience segment.
- Arlington County demographics – especially high education levels – indicate high levels of interest in cultural programs. The audience mapping and market analysis indicates there are significant untapped audiences.
- There are a number of facilities in Arlington County, each a busy and useful space. However, there are no high-quality, professional, stand-alone theaters of any capacity. Signature Theater’s new building will be the exception once opened.

Much of the report’s recommendations focus on implementing a large cultural theater. The chart below represents this ‘big head’ approach compared to our Long Tail program.

Primary Goals

- Establish an identifiable social network of the creatives and progressives, and their work, that is committed to positive change in the city.
- Develop a revenue system that depends on transactions rather than membership fees and taxes (which are fine for the chambers and agencies to continue using), such as connecting larger companies with creative services, products and employees, helping smaller companies grow and larger companies more relevant to changing consumer trends.
- Host periodic networking events that further encourage the previous component, fundraise, and help build a sense of community.
- Crowdsource places that excite creatives’ needs and interests, such as green, attainably-priced homes that can literally meet their demand in its entirety, third places, and ultimately, public spaces.


Target Audience

There are two primary target audiences:

Creatives - Any individual, business or organization that provides or facilitates cultural products or services. They can be defined as the creative class, cultural creatives, and rengens, each of which is represented by an acclaimed, best-selling book defining their demographics and psychographics in detail. The creatives market can also be assessed in the 2005 Arlington Economic Development report, Benchmarking the Creative Class in Arlington, Virginia.

Economic Producers - Typically larger corporations, organizations or government agencies that are looking to attract emerging markets by infusing their current products and services with creative relevance.


Vision

After establishing a Big Head pilot, Creative Arlington will provide a Long Tail service via website that takes triple bottom line growth opportunities of Economic Producers in a broad range of industries such as the environment, education, health, business innovation and government innovation, frames them as 'challenge problems', and rewards Creatives that present solutions. Click here for more info on the website program, and here to go to the website's group page.