New York City is positioned to thrive at the forefront of creative innovation. Now, more so than ever, it is essential that the City supports creative businesses to continue to contribute to its economic growth and maintain its position as an unrivaled cultural hub within an ever-changing M&E landscape. With a new mandate from the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment to boost New York’s cultural capital, 3×3 worked with the NYC Department of Small Business Services and small media & entertainment businesses to design and pilot a program to help them grow, innovate, and thrive in a rapidly changing marketplace.

3×3 led research to identify high growth industries and spoke with over 200 industry small businesses through focus groups, contextual inquiry interviews, and surveys to understand overarching needs and challenges of operating a small creative business in NYC, understand barriers to growth, and identify programmatic opportunities. A series of co-design workshops with project stakeholders, small businesses, and industry leaders were held to design a program tailored to marketing, media tech, and live events sub-sectors. The resulting three-month accelerator pilot program trained 25 businesses in brand positioning, growth and change, and marketing and sales, supported by ongoing mentorship and structured peer learning to encourage cross-pollination. The pilot was designed for testing for successful elements to inform a full-scale rollout and a long-term scaling strategy.

A resulting three-month accelerator program trained twenty-five (25) businesses in brand positioning, growth and change, and marketing and sales, supported by ongoing mentorship and structured peer learning to encourage cross-pollination. The pilot was designed for testing for successful elements to inform a long-term scaling strategy. The research, program design, and initial pilot, implemented in the summer of 2018, informed the development of a long-term citywide program that directly serves New York City M&E businesses to help drive economic growth by sparking job creation, investment in technology, and innovation within identified sub-sectors.

_ Methodology
Interviews, Focus Groups, Needs Assessment Survey, Co-Design Sessions, Service Blueprinting, Pilot Design & Implementation

_ Outputs
3-month Program, Final Project Report, Impact Framework

_ Links
Program Video
Partner Case Study

_Related projects

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