National Theatre of Scotland and its sense of place

This case study focuses on the newly formed National Theatre of Scotland (NTS). It provides a brief introduction into its history and mission before exploring its innovative, non-building based model and the positive and negative implications that this model has on its marketing mix. The case study is centred on the concept of place. It demonstrates how NTS deals with the challenge of creating and delivering a consistent brand image and message when it is constantly a guest in other people's venues. It also focuses on the myriad opportunities that the touring model offers the company, illustrating with concrete examples how NTS is forced to constantly re-assess its sense of place and identity and how its marketing can be utilised to evoke the special relationship that it has developed with the diverse places it performs in. By comparing and contrasting the theory with the practice, this study critically highlights the strengths and weaknesses of the existing arts marketing literature. It supports existing findings on barriers to attendance and the benefits of rural touring, but challenges the narrow definition of "place marketing", exposing its failure to reflect the complexities of the touring theatre model.