Marketing, Branding and Brand Management have become everyday tasks in cultural organizations, managements, foundations, associations and initiatives. The Cultural Brand Award has played a significant role in the professionalization of this field in the past 10 years. Together with the CultureInvest Congress, the award provides a unique forum for the exchange of experiences and the further development of cultural brands in collaboration with all the important players. Hopefully, there will be no doubt that quality and individuality in art and culture on the one hand and economic efficiency on the other, are not mutually exclusive; on the contrary, they can mutually stimulate one another.
Two years ago, the Cultural Brand Award extended its coverage outside the German-speaking realm into other European countries. Already more than 25 years ago, the European Union, with its initiative to nominate Europe’s cultural capitals, founded an unusually successful initiative that has led to a deepened exchange in and through culture in all of Europe. The Cultural Brand Award has given itself the task of making the potential of cultural institutions visible, using creativity as an inexhaustible source of energy and strengthening the network of cultural players. I extend my special thanks to the sponsors and originators of this competition as well as my colleagues on the jury. All jury members are united in their anticipation of intensive, albeit controversial professional exchanges and in their dedication for the best in quality. I wish for many prize-worthy submissions from all of Europe to this year’s competition and an unforgettable awards ceremony on the “Night of Cultural Brands”.
Your Prof. Dr. Oliver Scheytt
Jury Chair, President of the Kulturpolitische Gesellschaft e.V.
