In an era when stakeholder trust is more critical than ever to successful business strategies, the arts represent an often overlooked yet powerful avenue for meaningful engagement. The reality is that traditional metrics have simply not been designed to capture the true value of cultural collaboration, leading some marketers to feel that such partnerships are complex or difficult to scale.
That presents a unique opportunity for brands that are willing to listen, learn and engage with care in cultural partnerships that can offer lasting relevance and resonance.
To explore this, Boster Group partnered with the inaugural SXSW London festival to host a conversation with leaders across culture and commerce. Moderated by Boster Group Founder and CEO Susan Boster, the panel featured Lucy Aitkens (Group Director External Affairs, Sky Media), Fran Hegyi (Executive Director, Edinburgh International Festival) and Britannia Morton (Co-CEO, Sadler’s Wells). Together, they explored why the most successful partnerships recognise the arts’ many benefits as a brand-building tool, a philanthropic gesture, and a core mechanism for cultural engagement and relevance.
The discussion reinforced a clear message: in a fragmented, polarised and rapidly shifting global landscape, the arts offer a powerful way to demonstrate values, build trust, and connect with audiences in ways that traditional marketing channels cannot. It requires a different kind of thinking, however; one that embraces complexity, values long-term trust over short-term reach, and sees cultural relevance as a competitive advantage.
From Left to Right: Lucy Aitkens (Group Director External Affairs, Sky Media), Britannia Morton (Co-CEO, Sadler’s Wells), Fran Hegyi (Executive Director, Edinburgh International Festival) and Susan Boster (Founder and CEO, Boster Group)
From Problem to Partnership: The Strategic Value of the Arts
Over the past decade, the role of the arts in corporate strategy has evolved, shaped by regulatory shifts, economic uncertainty, and changing global dynamics. In this context, Lucy Aitkens described the challenge and incredible success of determining the return on investment at Sky Arts.
At first, traditional media metrics failed to capture the impact of the channel, but deeper analysis of viewership, usage and public sentiment revealed that Sky Arts meaningfully and uniquely improved brand sentiment, customer retention, and long-term loyalty even among audiences who did not actively watch it. Importantly, Sky Arts audiences were found to be highly engaged, diverse and culturally literate; they are not bound by genre or tribalism like sports fans, but are exceptionally responsive to thoughtful content. This presents a unique opportunity for meaningful brand association built on cultural relevance rather than sheer visibility.
Rather than focusing on a single marquee initiative, the most successful brands are thinking in terms of a cultural portfolio, engaging across multiple disciplines, communities and platforms that reflect the nuance and diversity of arts audiences. While that may seem counterintuitive in an era when many marketers are encouraged to do “fewer, bigger, better” partnerships, examples like the Plus Tate network of galleries offers a scalable collaboration model that meets the needs of smaller, local galleries seeking financial support as well as brands seeking diversified assets. Boster Group regularly advises clients on how to balance those needs, and on how to maintain brand integrity across a complete sponsorship portfolio.
As Fran Hegyi observed, the goal is not to “own” cultural spaces, but to participate thoughtfully by amplifying voices, enabling access, and contributing to a broader cultural ecology. When done right, the outcome is not just differentiation, but meaningful influence.
“Why would you want to partner with us? If it’s for eyeballs, maybe there are other places. If it’s for a deeper connection with audiences… then we can offer that.” – Fran Hegyi, Executive Director, Edinburgh International Festival
The Cultural Mirror: How Brands Can Shape Their Place in Society
No brand operates outside of culture. Whether they actively engage or not, brands are shaped by, and help shape, the cultural context in which they exist. The most forward-looking leaders understand this, and approach arts partnerships not as a reputational tool, but as a platform for dialogue, creativity and connection that can serve the dual needs of corporations and the cultural sector.
As Britannia Morton noted, cultural institutions are uniquely placed to convene audiences around difficult questions and diverse viewpoints. By engaging as an active part of that mission, brands that support these institutions can build relationships that go beyond performance metrics, and Sky’s data suggests that this resonates with employees, consumers, artists and wider communities.
“Even if you don’t watch Sky Arts, it makes you feel differently about Sky.” – Lucy Aitkens, Group Director External Affairs, Sky Media
Sky’s long-standing commitment to the arts has delivered more than measurable business outcomes; it has fostered unique cross-sector collaboration, strengthened Sky’s creative networks, and attracted high-profile talent. These outcomes were not driven by campaigns, but by consistent investment in artistic infrastructure and content that speaks to shared values and offers emotional depth as well as cultural cachet.
Across Boster Group’s work, we have seen similar dynamics: when corporate leaders embrace trust, creativity and collaboration, they gain the opportunity to contribute meaningfully to cultural life, and in turn, strengthen their own reputation as responsible partners who listen. This has, on numerous occasions, attracted high-profile artists and thought leaders to our work, purely on the basis of shared values and a mutual interest in positively shaping our shared world.
Soft Power in a Hard World: Why Arts Investment is Imperative Now
The arts remain one of the most powerful, and often overlooked, instruments of soft power. As Fran – a member of the UK Soft Power Council – reflected, cultural collaboration can build the kind of mutual understanding that diplomacy alone often cannot. This was the basis upon which the Edinburgh International Festival itself was founded in 1947.
“Our ability to make change on the world stage is limited unless we do that through art.” – Britannia Morton, Co-CEO, Sadler’s Wells
That ethos is no less relevant today. Governments continue to invest in the arts as a way to foster shared values, international collaboration, and civic trust. For brands, too, cultural investment is no longer simply a gesture of goodwill; it is a strategic decision about long-term value creation.
Sky Arts’ Manifesto for the Arts, created in partnership with comedian Joe Lycett, exemplifies this potential. The initiative outlined a nine-point plan for arts investment and prompted widespread public engagement, demonstrating how brands can support civic discourse in a way that invites positive participation and reinforces cultural leadership.
The arts are a terrain of meaning, identity and connection for brands that want to do more than stand on the sidelines of culture but instead help to sustain and shape it.