what is audience development? relationships of course! existing audiences and existing activities...
Post on 26-Mar-2015
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What is audience development?
Relationships of course!
Existing Audiences and Existing Activities
Loyalty / retentionMarket penetration
New Audiences and Existing Activities
Strategies for access
Existing Audiences and New Activities
Cross-overEducation / participation
New Activities and New Audiences
Strategies for inclusion
Who is missing out on what we do already
Who are we missing out on because of what we do and what we don’t do?
In a proverbial nutshell …
Practical reasons
Cost
Availability of transport and distance
Lack of interest amongst family and friends
Lack of education in the arts
Not for me
Physical and Social
Barriers to attendance
Underlying Reasons
Class distinction “for the wealthy”
Inferiority and fear of not understanding
Displacement and fear of being out of their group or class
Effort – more like work than leisure
Risk
Beliefs and Attitudes
Barriers to attendance
Participation in the arts, at any level, involves risk: money
time emotional confidence
social confidence intellectual confidence
lack of control
Forecasts (The Henley Centre) suggest that the level of this risk is likely to grow in the future
It is widely agreed that risk is often a necessary component of art and creativity - the need therefore is to help people take the risk
and make them feel safe
Managing risk
The need for varying entry levels into and transitional guides in arts:
Sampling (‘The Best of…..’) Increased relevance of content
Streamlined options Edited choice (eg Classic FM)
Flexibility Advice
Mediation ‘Cultural mentors’
Brand
Building cultural self-confidence
Developing awareness of choice
Developing interest
Creating suitable points of entry
Increasing confidence through return visits
Sustaining the habit
Audience development is a process...
Planning Consultation
Clear, achievable objectives Implementation: consider
Product - “the whole night out” Price – not just the cost of a ticket
Place Promotion
People Process
EvaluationSource:Heather Maitland ‘A Guide to Audience Development’
… and a process for the organisation
Why does it all go wrong? Audience development as a Marketing function
Lack of differentiation Finance
The project cycle Lack of sustainability
Emphasis on quantity not quality
If it’s all so straightforward …
Audience Development as a Marketing function
Expectations for delivery placed at marketing level and no higher
Not taken on board across organisation
Not developed with organisational buy-in
Opportunities
Integration of education, programming, marketing and services
Development of core policy at Board and Chief Executive level
If it’s all so straightforward...
Lack of differentiation
Audience Development needs are not all the same
Each organisation has a different role to play
There isn’t a single model or blueprint
Opportunities
There are examples of good practice
Collaboration is key, but needs understanding of shared aspirations
If it’s all so straightforward...
Finance
Project funding can be seen as substitute for internal resourcing
Difficult for organisations to invest in activities which don’t reap
immediate results
Opportunities
Internal resources may have to be re-thought
There is a wider understanding now of the need to invest long-term
If it’s all so straightforward...
The Project Cycle
Activities often seen as the solution rather than a stage in the process
Unrealistic expectations - project “results” - sometimes led by the funding
opportunity rather than organisational need
Opportunities
Audience Development can be more than a first phase or “quick fix”
Find out what’s already been done and get the information
If it’s all so straightforward...
Lack of sustainability
Stranded new audiences and dashed expectations
Perhaps it is better not to intervene at all?
Opportunities
Follow through - build relationships after projects have ended
Involve the whole organisation in project legacy and development
If it’s all so straightforward...
Emphasis on quantity not quality
Climate of measurability puts undue emphasis on “how many?”
Easy to dismiss Audience Development as a failure and not invest
Opportunities
Engage with the audiences you want to develop, include them
Set long-term realistic targets in consultation
Investigate best practice
If it’s all so straightforward...
Keep Audience Development on the agenda for everyone
Lobby for internal and external resourcing
Look at your own budgets and resources
Set targets - but make them meaningful and realistic
Initiate collaboration
Don’t see it all as Marketing and/ or Education staff responsibility - it has to
be cross-organisational
It’s a matter of survival
What can we do about it?
Test Drive the Arts – Arts About Manchester
The Big Night Out – The Kelvin Ensemble
Source: Heather Maitland ‘A Guide to Audience Development’
Practical Examples
Overcoming barriers to first time attendance
Non-attenders in postcode sectors with high density of likely attenders
Targeted by recommendation, door to door drops and in-person visits
Offered free tickets at a variety of events as a catalyst for future
attendance
Test Drive the Arts
The Hallé Orchestra offered a mini-subscription: 3 concerts for £10
Next season those who took up deal are offered 50% off full price
subscription; then for the second season 25% off; then full price in the third
season
Those who did not take up the mini-subscription offer after the first year
are offered single ticket deals
Test Drive the Arts
1000 households received the Hallé Orchestra offer
560 took it up
60% of the Test Drive audience took up the mini-subscription offer
50% of these took up the three quarter price offer
60% of those took up the half-price offer
60% of these continued to subscribe at full price
Test Drive the Arts
Expanding and broadening audiences for a student orchestra
Targeting students and other young first time attenders
Following qualitative research on attitudes to classical music, the orchestra
devised a new marketing mix
The Big Night Out
Product – ticket price included concert, programme book and a post-
concert ceilidh (party and dance)
Price – kept low for target audience
Promotion – fresh, clear single message – The Big Night Out
Place – moved to a larger, grander venue
The Big Night Out
Attendance at the concert increased by 250%
60% of the audience were under 25
Project attracted attention of sponsors who have funded repeat
The Big Night Out
Questions
What is audience development?
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