The Arts Are Business Strategy
Creativity is moving from the edge of the corporate agenda into the systems that shape growth, relevance and long-term value. For too long, the arts have been invited in as the “song and dance” after the serious business is done – useful for entertainment, reputation or a CSI line item, but peripheral to strategy. That view is becoming harder to defend.
At BASA’s recent Creative Futures Africa Business Dinner, leaders from retail, property, asset management, banking and the creative industries spoke about what creativity does inside their businesses. It can build brand equity and cultural relevance, strengthen customer connection, increase footfall and dwell time, shape public spaces, and turn talent development and creative supply chains into commercial capability. The sharper question is no longer why business should support the arts, but what would be lost from the business model if creativity were removed.
This is part of a wider shift i.e. from CSI to meaningful partnership, from sponsorship to investment and shared value, and from one-off support to long-term engagement. The arts are moving from the edge of the corporate agenda into strategy, innovation, product development, customer experience, placemaking, talent, procurement and investment.
Recognising the arts as business strategy does not reduce creativity to a transaction. It acknowledges that creative practice produces both cultural and commercial value. It helps organisations interpret change, understand audiences, differentiate themselves and imagine possibilities that conventional processes often miss.
It also requires business to engage differently. The creative sector is not simply a pool of performers waiting to be commissioned. It is an economy of producers, designers, strategists, technologists, entrepreneurs and rights-holders. To unlock its value at scale, companies need fit-for-purpose partnerships, contracting models, measurement tools and investment pathways – developed with people who understand how the sector actually works.
At BASA, this is the work: building the mechanisms that allow business and the creative sector to create value together. The arts are no longer the act between the important conversations. They are increasingly part of how businesses compete, connect and grow.
Beth Arendse
CEO – Business and Arts South Africa
