ARC (Artists' Resource Collective) is a Savannah, Georgia-based non-profit organization that dedicates itself to furthering the interests and opportunities of visual artists in the city of Savannah.

 

For the Spring 2013 Business Design Practicum class at the Savannah College of Art and Design, Design Management MFA candidates worked alongside ARC in order to help them define their vision, mission, and strategy so they could focus their resources in the most impactful way to benefit the arts.

By conducting primary and secondary research about the arts scene in Savannah, the group developed a territory map. This visual framework helped us understand the roles and relationships each stakeholder plays in the system, as well as identify gaps and opportunities.

The service package was developed to identify the most valuable services offered by ARC, in order to prioritize offerings and create a unified understanding of the organization's values.

Branding elements were developed for the organization. The brand identity chart defines the brand's story and reason for being. The brand attributes help define the organization's descriptive traits, which allow its members to understand the actions to be taken in the future. The brand archetypes borrow Jungian elements to better define the reason of being behind each service or offering.

Stakeholder maps illustrates the hierarchy of influencers in the Savannah arts community, providing the organization with an understanding of the entities, attitutes, and values of others as well as themselves.

Based on user interviews, personas were created to provide all stakeholders involved with an understanding of the people involved in the community that would be potentially influenced by the offerings of the organization.

The market segment matrix lists the priorities of different art markets in relationship to the type of offerings available for artists and buyers. This framework provides a visual representation of common top priorities, while highlighting disconnects as well as areas of little importance.

Secondary research of various case studies of cities that became "art destinations" was analyzed and graphed together, along with actionable insights for the organization to consider.

Based on all our research, the group provided the organization with a plan of action, with recommended phases for implementation of the suggested strategy.