Creative and Cultural Economy series 2 Mapping the Creative Industries: A Toolkit by BOP Consulting

4 British Council s Creative And Cultural Economy Series Published by The British Council 10 Spring Gardens, London SW1A 2BN, England www.britishcouncil.org All rights reserved ISBN 978-086355-640-1 Author: BOP Consulting BOP Consulting is an independent research and strategy consultancy specialising in culture and the creative industries. They are based in London. www.bop.co.uk Editors Pablo Rosselló Shelagh Wright Publication Design YCE Brand guidelines by BB Saunders Design by Érika Muller CONTENTS 07 Preface 09 1 MAPPING THE CREATIVE INDUStries 13 2 the creative industries 23 3 THE MAPPING TOOLKIT 24 STEP 1 Why do mapping? 28 STEP 2 Which policy questions can mapping address? 36 STEP 3 how are the creative industries defined? 40 step 4 Who is in charge? Who does the work? 41 step 5 Which research approach should be adopted? 47 STEP 6 How can the project s findings connect with key audiences and policy agendas? 50 STEP 7 How can momentum be maintained? 52 4 Where Next? 56 Appendix 1 - The BRITISH COUNCIL s Creative Economy Unit 58 Appendix 2 - Creative Industry SIC Codes Photo Credits Aldeguer, Jay: page 56a Burns, Josephine: page 26 DCMS/BIS: page 32 Gauteng Provincial Government: page 43 Noon, Frank: pages 56b, 57 Rossello, Pablo: pages 1, 2-3, 8, 12, 18, 20, 22, 31, 33, 35, 38, 48, 50, 54-55 Slade, Jon: page 42 Szynkarczuk, Olga: pages 60-61 Vaz, Gaurav Joshua: page 6 Zetu, Dragos: page 45 British Council 2010 Creative Economy Unit The United Kingdom s international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We are registered in England as a charity.

5 preface In our interdependent contemporary world at the start of the 21st century we face complex challenges, polarisation and inequality within and between nations. Development strategies are needed to unleash the creative potential of all to respond to the farreaching cultural, economic, social and technological shifts that we are living through. In this context the concept of the creative and cultural economy is growing around the globe as the interface between culture, economics and technology. Our world is increasingly dominated by images, sounds, symbols and ideas that are creating new jobs, wealth and new culture. The UK has been a leader in the development of this agenda, not just as a driver of the economy but also promoting social inclusion, diversity and development. No-one can claim a monopoly on wisdom as innovative creative people all over the world are changing the way we make and exchange goods, services and culture. This booklet (and the series it is part of) is a contribution to our shared knowledge and expertise for this emergent and valuable sector. We hope you find it both stimulating and useful. Shelagh Wright Advisor, Creative and Cultural Economy Programme British Council The British Council is committed to working in partnership to help shape the contours of our shared creative and cultural economy through its values of equity, freedom of expression, mutuality and sustainability. 8 Creative and Cultural Economy series 2 Mapping the Creative Industries: A Toolkit 9

6 1 Mapping the Creative Industries The products of the creative industries pervade contemporary life. Watching television, going to the cinema, reading newspapers, listening to music, playing computer games or socialising online occupy many of the waking hours of the world s citizens. This is not simply confined to the old industrial heartlands of Europe and the United States: from the telenovelas of Latin America and Bollywood films to the design flair of Korea s Samsung, the creative industries are a global phenomenon. Yet 15 years ago, the term creative industries was barely known. How, then, can this phenomenon be understood and its economic value quantified? One method that has been developed to help countries, regions or cities start thinking about the value of the creative industries is mapping. Pioneered in Britain in the late 1990s, mapping extends well beyond the production of actual maps. It is shorthand for a whole series of analytic methods for collecting and presenting information on the range and scope of the creative industries. Mapping is intended especially to give an overview of the industries economic value, particularly in places where relatively little is known about them. This toolkit explores the practicalities of using such methods. The toolkit draws on the experience of the British Council and its consultants to set out the seven steps of a successful creative industries mapping project. Thinking the steps through at this stage will help researchers and other interested parties understand the challenges they are likely to face. This report also briefly discusses the place of the creative industries within broader economic and historical contexts. If you would like to explore the feasibility of a mapping project in more depth, lists of suggested further reading and organisations which can provide more information are provided in section 4. 1.1 Introduction The desire to create things whose value is not purely practical things that are beautiful, that communicate cultural value through music, drama, entertainment and the visual arts, or that communicate social position through style and fashion is as old as human society itself. There have always been, and always will be, people with the imagination and talent to make and do these things. Their products and services are said to have an expressive value, a cultural significance that may bear little relationship to how much they cost to make. In the twentieth century, these ancient traditions of cultural work designing, making, decorating and performing began to be woven together with a range of modern economic activities such as advertising, design, fashion and moving image media to create new forms of commercial culture. In 10 Creative and Cultural Economy series 2 Mapping the Creative Industries: A Toolkit 11

7 the first decade of this new century these developments have been hugely amplified by the power and reach of digital technology. The industries responsible for these products are a varied bunch, yet they have certain things in common. Such industries earn their profits from the creative skills of their workforce and the generation of intellectual property (IP), and collectively have come to be known as the creative industries. Intellectual property law is the catalyst that transforms creative activity into creative industry. It protects the creator s ownership of ideas in the same way that other laws protect the right to the ownership of goods, land or buildings. It allows the inventors of new products and processes to benefit from their creativity by providing a framework within which they can work. It also enables them to make choices about what they protect and what they choose to give away. The creative industries do not, however, operate in isolation. They sit at the centre of a web of connections with other industrial sectors, and are a source of innovation for the wider economy, particularly through design, branding and advertising. They also have an important role to play in urban regeneration and community cohesion. This wider web is often referred to as the creative economy. The terms creative industries and creative economy are both relatively new and do not yet have fully settled definitions. Sometimes they are used interchangeably, sometimes they refer to related but separate concepts. This toolkit uses the term creative industries for the sake of simplicity, as it is the activity of these industries which is being measured here. These days, though, creative economy is probably the more widely used term. In any case it is likely that each country or region will adapt the creative industries/ economy concept to suit its own needs. It should also be noted that some organisations, such as the European Union and UNESCO, have generally favoured an older term, the cultural industries. There is a substantial academic literature debating the finer points of these distinctions 1, and people should be aware that the terminology used in this toolkit is not uncontroversial. However, this toolkit is intended to be a practical guide to mapping one that explores how to do it, which approach would be best in any given context, and how to maximise the policy impact of the work. It aims to help researchers, policymakers and creative practitioners to understand the creative industries better by setting out ways in which evidence can be gathered. It draws on both the UK s experience and a number of mapping projects from around the world that have been supported by the British Council s Creative Economy Unit. To help make sense of the process of running a successful creative industries project, the toolkit sets out seven steps which need to be considered. Section 3 of the toolkit addresses each of these seven steps in turn, illustrated by case studies. Notes 1. See, for instance, Flew, T. and Cunningham, S. (2010) Creative Industries After the First Decade of Debate, The Information Society, 26(2). Why do mapping? Who is it for? Which policy questions can mapping be used to address? How are the creative industries defined? Who is in charge? Who does the work? Which research approach should be adopted? How can the project s findings connect with key audiences and policy agendas? How can momentum be maintained? Those who will be organising the mapping need to start by clearly thinking through why they want to do it and who they want to persuade. Creative industries mapping is rarely undertaken simply out of intellectual curiosity: it is intended to have an impact on policy. Which areas is it likely to have most effect on? Deciding what is included in the study and what is not is central to a successful mapping. A project may choose to assess all the creative industries or concentrate on just a few sub-sectors. Who will manage the mapping project and ensure the work is of high quality? There are a number of distinct roles that have to be filled. There are a range of approaches available to the research team. Thought needs to be given to which would be most appropriate in the circumstances. How can the research team increase the likelihood of the mapping findings being noticed and acted upon? How do they connect with key audiences and affect policy agendas? On its own, the project is unlikely to achieve all its goals it needs to be part of an ongoing effort to raise the profile of the creative industries. 12 Creative and Cultural Economy series 2 Mapping the Creative Industries: A Toolkit 13

8 2 The Creative Industries Before exploring the toolkit in detail, the creative industries/creative economy concept will be discussed, and the reasons why it has become increasingly prominent in economic debates examined. 2.1 The Creative Industries in Britain The term creative industries originated in the mid-to-late 1990s and was first taken up at a national level by the UK s government. The concept was an attempt to change the terms of the debate about the value of arts and culture. While the arts were supported to some degree or other by most governments, they tended to be seen as marginal to economic life and dependent on public subsidy. Advocates of the creative industries idea believed that this was too narrow a view the totality of economic activity stemming from creativity and culture, including their commercial forms, needed to be considered to understand their true contribution. This activity included not just the traditional art forms, such as theatre, music and film, but service businesses such as advertising (which sell their creative skills mostly to other businesses), manufacturing processes that feed into cultural production, and the retail of creative goods. It was argued that the industries with their roots in culture and creativity were an important and growing source of jobs and wealth creation. The adoption of the creative industries concept was very much associated with the election of the New Labour government in 1997 and the creation of the, then Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), now Department for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport (DCOMS), which built upon the functions of the earlier Department of National Heritage. One of the new department s first acts was to set up the Creative Industries Task Force, which was responsible for the landmark Creative Industries Mapping Document in 1998 and a follow-up report in 2001. The 1998 mapping document was the first systematic attempt to define and measure the creative industries. It was designed both to collect data on the industries and to promote a deeper understanding of the sector by telling its story in a way that politicians, journalists, investors, academics and government officials could immediately understand. It revealed, to the surprise of some, just how economically significant the creative industries were. It calculated that they accounted for almost a million jobs and 4 per cent of GDP in Britain, and earned 7.5bn from exports. It also showed, though, that the sector was polarised between a myriad of very small firms and sole traders and a handful of very large, often multinational companies. 14 Creative and Cultural Economy series 2 Mapping the Creative Industries: A Toolkit 15

9 The idea of the creative industries soon started to catch on as it was seen as encapsulating a truth about Britain s changing economic landscape. In particular, the definition adopted by the DCMS and the list of creative industries derived from it soon became influential. The DCMS regards the creative industries as: those activities which have their origin in individual creativity, skill and talent and which have a potential for wealth and job creation through the generation and exploitation of intellectual property 1. In its first mapping document in 1998, the DCMS went on to define the following industries as creative: Advertising In Britain, employment in advertising, which includes marketing and some public relations activities, is dominated by multinational agencies, and is heavily centred on London: it and New York are widely regarded as the capitals of the advertising world. The London-based communications group, WPP, is the world s largest by revenue, employing almost 140,000 people in more than 100 countries. Architecture Like many creative industries, the architecture sub-sector is made up of a handful of big firms and a very large number of small ones. The sub-sector s fortunes are closely linked to those of the construction industry. A number of British architects have achieved international reputations, including Norman Foster, Richard Rogers and David Chipperfield. Art and antiques market This sub-sector includes dealers and auctioneers of antique jewellery, paintings, sculpture, furniture, maps, drawings and prints. In Britain, most such businesses are small but some, notably Sotheby s and Christie s, are internationally important. Crafts The DCMS includes textiles, ceramics, wood, metal, glass, graphic and leather crafts in this category. Businesses in this field are mostly tiny: 75 per cent are sole traders. The majority of craftworkers are women and, perhaps surprisingly, are mainly based in urban areas. Design This sub-sector is hard to assess as much of it is hidden within other industries. The DCMS therefore looked at design consultancies and designers working in industry. It found that 70 per cent of British design companies were active abroad. London in particular has a strong reputation in this field, based on its excellent design schools. Designer Fashion Fashion design is a relatively small sub-sector, but is highly integrated into the international market even small fashion businesses look to export their products. Britain s fashion schools have helped train numerous internationally renowned designers, from John Galliano to Stella McCartney. Film and video This sub-sector includes film production, distribution and exhibition. Although the UK has a number of successful home-grown producers, such as Working Title, the Hollywood studios dominate the British market. The number of films produced in Britain, and their box-office returns, fluctuates considerably from year to year. Interactive leisure software This sub-sector principally consists of computer and video games, but also includes some educational and reference material. British gaming firms have a reputation for innovation, but many of the games they develop are sold by foreign-owned software publishers. DMA Design, a Scottish firm responsible for the initial development of the Grand Theft Auto series of games, is now ultimately owned by Take-Two, an American publisher. Music This includes both live and recorded music, music publishing and the administration of music copyright. Britain excels in most forms of music, from rock and pop to classical, and its consumers spend more per head on music than almost any other country. EMI, one of the music industry s majors, is based in London. Performing Arts Theatre, dance, ballet, musicals and opera performances all fall into this category. These art forms usually depend on a mix of public subsidy and private ticket sales and funding. Some parts of the sub-sector are nonetheless big revenue earners: London s West End theatre, with its wide variety of musicals and plays, is a major tourist attraction. Publishing The publishing of books, newspapers, magazines and electronic information is one of the largest employers among the creative industries. The widespread use of English internationally means that book publishing in particular is a globally connected industry. Software and Computer Services The biggest creative industry of all in the UK is software and computer services. It covers the creation, production and supply of tools and applications and of software products, including web design. The large majority of employment in this sub-sector is based outside London. American multinationals tend to dominate in this field, but some British companies do well in niche markets, including Autonomy and Sage in business software. Television and radio This sub-sector covers all public service, commercial, cable and satellite TV and radio, including the production and broadcasting of programmes. The BBC dominates the British market, but many independent companies have devised formats which have been successfully sold abroad. Who Wants to Be A Millionaire?, which has been shown in more than 100 countries, was developed by the independent company, Celador. The DCMS s definition and list of the creative industries both provoked considerable debate. It has been argued, for example, that almost all new products have elements of creativity and intellectual property embedded within them. Separating off a handful of industries and labelling them as creative is, according to this view, rather arbitrary. More specific criticisms of the list have also been made. The inclusion of the computer software sub-sector has often been questioned. It is a large employer in many parts of Britain, yet much of it consists of conventional business software and consultancy rather than the more creative elements such as computer games development 16 Creative and Cultural Economy series 2 Mapping the Creative Industries: A Toolkit 17

10 or interactive media. The presence of the antiques trade on the DCMS list has also been challenged, on the grounds that there is no fresh act of creation involved, merely the retail of preexisting ones. Although some minor adjustments have been made to the list in response to these and other criticisms, the 1998 definition is still essentially the one used by the DCMS today. It is often used by other countries as the basis for developing their own definition. The idea of the creative industries as set out in the DCMS mapping documents was quickly embraced not just by Britain s national government but also by its cities, regions and local government, partly encouraged by the work of the DCMS s Regional Issues Working Group 3. A host of initiatives and programmes was launched by many public bodies, and creative became a new economic development buzzword. At one time or other in the last decade, for instance, the creative industries have been a priority sector for all of England s regions. This enthusiasm coincided with sharp rises in employment in the creative industries in Britain in the late 1990s, which lent weight to the new model. As time has gone on, however, it has increasingly been recognised that the creative industries cannot be seen in isolation. They have a number of important, wider dimensions, including: adding value to other industries, notably through design, advertising and branding being major employers of highly skilled people, thus being part of the knowledge economy that part of the economy which employs graduate talent contributing to the regeneration of towns and cities connecting and working with further and higher education bringing communities and people together through shared experiences. In 2006, the UK government formally adopted the term creative economy to capture this sense of the wider contribution of the creative industries to economic and social life. This toolkit is concerned with mapping the creative industries themselves, so many of these broader connections and relationships fall outside its scope. Nevertheless, these connections are significant, and might well be the subject of further research once an initial mapping exercise is complete 4. The timeline on the right gives a sense of the way in which the creative industries concept has developed and been translated into evidence and policy in the UK since 1997. The decision to produce the first Creative Industries Mapping Document in 1998 turned out to be a momentous one. It was the first systematic attempt anywhere to measure the creative industries on a national scale. It drew attention to a sector which, with its mix of technology and a long and complex cultural heritage, is unlike any other sector of the economy. Although the mapping document focused just on the creative industries, it was the trigger for a series of developments which have rippled out across the British economy, leading to Key events in the evolution of the creative industries concept and policies 2nd DCMS Creative Industries Mapping Document 2001 British Council s Creative Industries (now Economy) Unit set up 1999 1997 DCMS established 1st DCMS Creative Industries Mapping Document 1998 Establishment of Creative Industries Task Force 1998 DCMS Regional Issues Working Group set up 1999 Creative Industries Economic Estimates first published 2002 Creative Economy Programme 2005-07 Creative London launched 2004 2001 2005 (London) Mayor s Commission on Creative Industries 2002 WIPO establishes Creative Industries Division 2005 Creative Britain report 2008 Digital Britain report 2009 UN s Creative Economy Report 2008 Creative economy term formally adopted by UK government 2006 Department for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport (previously dcms) Since the publication of the mapping documents in 1998 and 2001, the Department for Culture has continued to carry out research into the creative industries. From 2002 onwards it has produced annual Creative Industries Economic Estimates bulletins, which provide a detailed analysis of the creative industries in Britain and are available online. The most recent figures show that the creative industries in Britain employed more than 1.1 million people (in 2008), and accounted for 16.6bn of exports and 6.2% of GVA (in 2007). The DCOMS has built up considerable expertise in mapping, and is happy to share its knowledge with other countries. It is particularly interested in encouraging more accurate comparisons between countries. If you want to learn more about the DCOMS s work, or wish to explore the idea of collaborating on developing comparative data, the British Council can help facilitate such discussions. 18 Creative and Cultural Economy series 2 Mapping the Creative Industries: A Toolkit 19

11 a greater recognition of the importance of creativity across the economy and society as a whole. It has led to a richer understanding of the creative sector and has helped to shape policy both in the UK and internationally. The work of the Regional Issues Working Group helped encourage lower-level tiers of government in Britain to take up the idea early on. In 2002 London s then mayor, Ken Livingstone, established a Commission on the creative industries, to assess their value and potential contribution to the city s economy. As a world city, London s creative industries are unusually strong; in 2001 they were found to be second only to the financial sector in importance to London s economy. The Commission led to the establishment of Creative London, which aimed both to promote the city s creative industries and to use them to pursue the mayor s broader ambitions of regenerating some of the more rundown parts of the city and enhancing London s brand. More recently, government strategies have increasingly been concerned with strengthening the economic performance of the creative industries. Between 2005 and 2007 the DCMS launched a major research project, the Creative Economy Programme, which resulted in 2008 in Creative Britain 5, a report which set out a support programme for the creative sector that touched on education, skills, innovation and intellectual property. A further landmark was the publication of Digital Britain 6 in 2009, which sets out the country s ambitions for the digital age. One striking aspect of the Digital Britain report is its focus on the creative industries: it is evidence of the extent to which the digital and creative sectors are merging due to technological change. Indeed, many public bodies in Britain now refer to these two as a single economic grouping. Britain s example, then, as the first country to take up the idea of the creative industries, is a helpful one to explore. It has a wealth of experience on which to draw. However, it is by no means the only country to have adopted the concept. The following section discusses the creative industries in their international context. 2.2 The Creative Industries: International Context The UK s decision to produce the first Creative Industry Mapping Document in 1998 turned out to be an important milestone internationally too. The definition and list of industries it contained were soon noticed and taken up, particularly in East Asia. Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Korea and China all developed analyses of their creative industries, based to a greater or lesser extent on the UK model. In most cases, the model has been adapted to fit local needs. Singapore, for instance, has produced a classification framework which groups the creative industries under three broad headings: arts and culture, design, and media. Other parts of the world, notably Australia, New Zealand and Scandinavia, took up the notion too, though sometimes with significant differences from the UK s approach. Sweden, for example, talks about the experience economy which, while including the creative industries, also embraces the likes of the restaurant business. In India, the definition includes lifestyle products and services, like yoga and Ayurvedic medicine. Creative industries mapping exercises have now been carried out in many parts of the world. The British Council has been involved in such work in Colombia, Estonia, Indonesia and South Africa, among others. International agencies, too, have adopted the idea of the creative industries or the creative economy. UNCTAD (the UN s trade and development body) has led the way, being the lead agency responsible for the UN s Creative Economy Report 2008 7. UNCTAD notes in its report that the creative economy has become a topical issue of the international economic and development agenda, calling for informed policy responses in both developed and developing countries 8. UNCTAD statistics reveal it accounts for a significant and growing slice of the world s economy. The Creative Economy Report 2008 quotes some impressive figures for the size of the creative industries. It calculates they account for: 3.4 per cent of world trade (in 2005) $424 billion of exports (in 2005), growing at an average annual rate of 8.7 per cent between 2000 and 2005. Source: UN Creative Economy Report 2008, p5 Singapore s classification framework for the creative industries Arts and culture Design Media Photography Visual arts Performing arts Arts and antiques trade, Crafts Software Advertising Architecture Interior design Graphic design Industrial design Fashion Publishing TV & radio Digital media Film and video 20 Creative and Cultural Economy series 2 Mapping the Creative Industries: A Toolkit 21

12 The creative industries are important both to developed nations and developing ones. They matter to richer countries because they depend for their success on the creativity of their workforces and, as such, their competitiveness relies less on price than on the quality and imagination of their work. In turn, this suggests that they are less likely to lose out to the price-led competition which has caused many manufacturing and service jobs to be outsourced to emerging economies. However, the creative industries also offer potential benefits to emerging economies. These countries also often wish to move away from competing solely on price, and are looking to identify new sources of competitive advantage and cultural recognition. Creative businesses, driven as they are by ideas and creativity, do not necessarily need access to large sums of capital or natural resources. For countries with rich cultures and a pool of local creative talent, the creative economy offers a way to build economic value. The Commonwealth WIPO s copyright model of the creative industries Core copyright industries Advertising Collecting societies Film and video Music Performing arts Publishing Software TV and radio Visual and graphic art Interdependent copyright industries Blank recording material Consumer electronics Musical instruments Paper Photocopiers, photographic, equipment Foundation argues that for many of its smaller members in particular, which lack the capacity to exploit economies of scale, the creative industries offer better prospects for growth than many other sectors 9. UNESCO, the UN s cultural arm, has taken a more cautious approach to the idea of the creative industries, but the most recent revision of its cultural statistics framework in 2009 has taken more account of them 10. Other organisations have put forward alternative models of the creative industries. Perhaps the most interesting of these is one produced by the World Intellectual Property Partial copyright industries Architecture Clothing, footwear Design Fashion Household goods Toys Organisation (WIPO), which has devised a copyright model that divides the creative industries up into three categories: core, interdependent and partial copyright industries. This model seeks to include all the industries involved in the creation, manufacture, production, broadcast and distribution and consumption of copyrighted works, and thus results in a rather different list from the DCMS s. Initiatives like these have helped make governments more aware of the value of the creative industries and intellectual property to the global economy. For more general information on the creative industries and creative economy, please refer to the British Council s Creative and Cultural Economy series/1 publication. Notes 2. DCMS (1998) Creative Industries Mapping Document 1998, Department for Culture, Media and Sport, p3. 3. DCMS (2000) Creative Industries: The Regional Dimension, The Report of the Regional Issues Working Group, DCMS, London 4. For an interesting attempt at measuring the creative economy in Britain, see Higgs, P., Cunningham, S., and Bakhshi, H. (2009) Beyond the creative industries: mapping the creative economy in the United Kingdom, NESTA, London. 5. DCMS (2008), Creative Britain: New Talents for the New Economy, DCMS/BERR/DIUS, London. 6. Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (2009), Digital Britain, Norwich, TSO. 7. United Nations (2008) Creative Economy Report 2008: The Challenge of Assessing the Creative Economy: towards Informed Policy-making, United Nations, Geneva. 8. Ibid., p4. 9. Commonwealth Foundation (2008) Putting Culture First: Commonwealth perspectives on culture and development 10. UNESCO Institute of Statistics (2009), 2009 UNESCO Framework for Cultural Statistics, UNESCO Institute of Statistics, Montreal. Source: UN Creative Economy Report 2008, p5 22 Creative and Cultural Economy series 2 Mapping the Creative Industries: A Toolkit 23