Marketing Cultural: Vis o, Prática e Objetivos da Comunidade Empresarial da Regi o do Vale do S o Francisco (PE)

The cultural marketing is an important issue for organizational management. Thus, this study aimed to analyze the importance given to culture as a component of the communication strategy of service firms located in the valley of S o Francisco, Brazil. The survey is quantitative and is characterized as a descriptive one. The results reveal that although the managers of the companies analyzed are likely to consider that cultural marketing is a means of generating positive image for the organizations and that such practices tend to influence consumers buying decisions, sponsoring cultural projects still is performed sporadically. Thisis because this practice is not common and managers still have difficulties to understand the difference between philanthropy and sponsorship activities. The question is how to work these and other topics related to the subject that may contribute to the organizational development, both in the economic and cultural.