Relationship Marketing as a Paradigm for Festivals: A Case Study of the Francofolies of La Rochelle, France

Isabelle Collin-Lachaud, Jean-Yves Duyck

Isabelle Collin-Lachaud teaches marketing at the Institute of Technology of La Rochelle, France. Her research focuses on modelling consumer behaviour in the festivals area. She is currently working at the doctoral level investigating satisfaction among the festival-going public.
Jean-Yves Duyck is Assistant Professor and Research Director at the Polytechnic University of Business Management and Trade in La Rochelle. He teaches management epistemology and methodology. His research focuses on the study of discourse in management science, especially in marketing and human resources management.

ABSTRACT 
Culture and marketing have long been uneasy bedfellows. In recent years, the field of French culture has, in the face of increasing competition, tended to follow the North American example of adopting a marketing approach. Nevertheless, this approach must be adapted to take into account the specific nature of arts and cultural activities. The relationship approach constitutes a realistic way to integrate marketing into the cultural sphere. This paper examines whether relationship marketing can be extended to the organization of festivals. The researchers present an exploratory case study of the Francofolies festival of La Rochelle, France, with an emphasis on the theoretical and managerial implications of the results of textual data analysis.
KEYWORDS
Marketing of arts and culture, relationship marketing, festival, partnership, text data analysis, trust
RÉSUMÉ
Depuis quelques années, de nombreuses publications traitent du concept de marketing relationnel. D’abord limité au marketing industriel, ce concept s’est ensuite étendu aux services. La question posée ici est celle de sa pertinence dans le champ culturel et, plus particulièrement, dans l’organisation de festivals. Les auteurs se penchent également sur le rôle de la confiance dans le champ culturel des festivals. L’article présente l’étude de cas exploratoire menée sur le festival des Francofolies de La Rochelle.
MOTS CLÉS 
Marketing culturel, marketing relationnel, festival, partenariat, statistique textuelle, confiance
RESUMEN 
Desde hace ya varios años, el concepto del márketing relacional ha sido objeto de numerosas publicaciones. Si bien en un principio este concepto se encontraba circunscripto al ámbito del márketing industrial, el mismo se ha extendido al campo de los servicios. La cuestión que se plantea en este trabajo es la de su pertinencia en el campo cultural, y más particularmente en lo relativo a la organización de festivales, evaluándose asimismo el papel que desempeña la confianza en el campo cultural de los festivales. Los autores se proponen presentar el estudio de caso exploratorio realizado sobre el festival Francofolies de La Rochelle.
PALABRAS CLAVE 
Márketing cultural, márketing relacional, festival, asociación, análisis estadístico de datos textuales, confianza