Re-defining rural marketing: Insights from touring theatre

There remains little academic consensus on a definition of rural marketing, and as a concept, rural marketing has therefore struggled to establish its own vocabulary and ideas. Modi (2009) argues that rural marketing should be defined in terms of the impact it has on the developmental of rural people. This paper builds on this developmental concept of rural marketing by exploring the touring theatre sector and illustrating how theatre spaces and audiences differ fundamentally in urban and rural communities. The paper reviews the literature on rural touring theatre and applies it to rural marketing. It also analyses the results of audience questionnaires and a series of audience interviews carried out with rural theatre-goers in the Scottish Highlands and Islands. The paper illustrates how the definition of rural marketing can be further developed by analysing audience reactions to rural theatre and reviewing case studies of best practice for marketing touring theatre productions. This primary and secondary research reveals the tangible benefits of authentic rural marketing and confirms Modi’s (2009) contention that successful rural marketing should have a positive impact on rural people. The paper concludes that touring arts organizations and rural marketers working in other sectors should adjust their marketing strategies and activities to communicate more authentically and effectively with rural audiences. Finally, it uses the insights gained from touring theatre to propose a new definition of rural marketing.