crm and the performing arts - a report on hart house theatre

Audience Development Initiatives (2013/2014 Season)CRM and the Use of Database Marketing at Hart House Theatre

Delivered to Hart House Board of Stewards - February 13, 2014

Created by Spencer MacEachern - Audience Outreach Coordinator, Hart House Theatre

1Monday, February 17, 14

“A series of strategies and processes that create new and mutual value for individual customers, builds preference for their organizations and improves business results over a lifetime of association with their customers” - Ian Gordon, Ivey Business Journal

CRM is...

http://iveybusinessjournal.com/topics/strategy/crm-is-a-strategy-not-a-tactic#.UwKjyF6j07A




“...allow companies to respond efficiently, and at times instantly, to shifting customer desires, thereby bolstering revenues and retention while reducing marketing costs.” - Harvard Business Review

CRM can...

http://hbr.org/2004/11/crm-done-right/ar/1




Sources of Hart House Theatre’s Customer Data

• Email Lists

• Nightly House Counts

• Survey Responses

• Our Box-Office Database


Sources of Hart House Theatre’s Customer Data

• Email Lists

• Nightly House Counts

• Survey Responses

• Our Box-Office Database

The cleaning, selection and transformation of our raw box-office data into a usable format was a considerable project undertaken by UofTix between Sept-Dec, 2013


Database Project

10 Years of Subscriber History


Database Project


Over 850 individual subscribers


Database Project


Over 850 individual subscribers

3,000 plus subscriptions sold


What Can We Do with our Data?

1. Measure Marketing Efforts2. Build Relationships3. Focus our Outreach



1. Measure Marketing Efforts2. Build Relationships3. Focus our Outreach

Although our box-office software lacks the ability to perform complex analysis a simple excel sheet tracking subscriber history (with measurements of purchase

frequency, recency and monetary value) offers significant insight into our audience base and the success/failure of our marketing efforts.


0

50

100

150

200

250

300

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Both Total Subscribers and New Subscribers are Increasing

Total Subcribers

Total New Subscribers


$0.00

$20.00

$40.00

$60.00

$80.00

$100.00

$120.00

$140.00

$160.00

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Each Subscriber is Becoming More Valuable

Average Subscriber Value


$0.00

$20.00

$40.00

$60.00

$80.00

$100.00

$120.00

$140.00

$160.00

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Each Subscriber is Becoming More Valuable

Average Subscriber Value

The Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) over 3-years period is $22513Monday, February 17, 14

33.8%

43.1%

48.4%

64.7%

48.1% 44.8%

62.8%

68.0% 66.2%

59.0%

0.0%

20.0%

40.0%

60.0%

80.0%

100.0%

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

We Are Getting Better at Retaining Subscribers

Retention Rate Industry Average


A 5% increase in retention

33.8%

43.1%

48.4%

64.7%

48.1% 44.8%

62.8%

68.0% 66.2%

59.0%

0.0%

20.0%

40.0%

60.0%

80.0%

100.0%

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014




Increases subscriber revenue by 8% in one year and 17% in two

33.8%

43.1%

48.4%

64.7%

48.1% 44.8%

62.8%

68.0% 66.2%

59.0%

0.0%

20.0%

40.0%

60.0%

80.0%

100.0%

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014




44%

52%

4%

This is What Our Subcriber Base Looks Like

Retained New Reacquired



1. Measure Marketing Efforts2. Build Relationships3. Community Outreach


0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Rate Experience (Percent Favorable) Would you Recommend (Yes/No)? Interest in Extra Events

Responses to Post-Show Emails Bone Cage Twelfth Night The Wedding Singer

Post-Show Email Project

Using our box-office database we can send dynamic personalized emails to our patrons immediately after they attend a performance


0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Rate Experience (Percent Favorable) Would you Recommend (Yes/No)? Interest in Extra Events

Responses to Post-Show Emails Bone Cage Twelfth Night The Wedding Singer

Post-Show Email Project

This allows us to conduct surveys and send promotional offers/ special content. The information collected also enables Hart House Theatre to create targeted

campaigns for future shows based on email responses.


The StrategyIdentify High Value Former Subscribers

Subscriber Reacquisition Project


The Strategy

And Offer Them a Free Night at the Theatre

Subscriber Reacquisition Project


Some Responses“We would love to have tickets for the Wedding Singer... we have some other UofT alumni who want to join us so there will be 6 of us altogether. Is it easier for me to phone in to give you my credit card details for the other attendees?”

“In addition to the complementary tickets, my wife and I have been contemplating for on getting a subscription for this year as well, although never got around it due to time restrictions, and its a great thing you brought this up. Is there any way we could also sign up for this year subscription?”


“We would love to have tickets for the Wedding Singer... we have some other UofT alumni who want to join us so there will be 6 of us altogether. Is it easier for me to phone in to give you my credit card details for the other attendees?”


25% of those contacted made purchases within a month of the offer

Some Responses


“We would love to have tickets for the Wedding Singer... we have some other UofT alumni who want to join us so there will be 6 of us altogether. Is it easier for me to phone in to give you my credit card details for the other attendees?”


However our biggest hope is that we can leverage these reestablished relationships into subscriptions next season.

Some Responses



1. Measure Marketing Efforts2. Build Relationships3. Community Outreach


Question:How Do We Engage Students with the Theatre?


Question:How Do We Engage Students with the Theatre?

Go Where the Students Are: On Campus and Online


Twelfth Night Promotion at Sidney Smith

With our volunteer marketing team we set up a booth at Sidney Smith where we gave away prizes, sold specially priced student tickets and informed students about the work at the theatre.



We leveraged our relationship with partners like Yelp to give away unique prizes.



Developed over 100 personal contacts with students and drove awareness of student ticket prices and volunteer opportunities at the theatre.


Wedding Singer Photo-Booth Contest



For our winter musical, The Wedding Singer, we upped the ante with a tie-in photo-contest. We built a custom photo-booth invited students to take their best “wedding” photo, and offered prizes to the photos that received the most likes on Facebook.



The photo-album was the theatre’s highest reaching FB post for the whole season seen by 1,300 unique visitors. https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.585532808192839.1073741833.113093908770067&type=1


https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.585532808192839.1073741833.113093908770067&type=1




Other Applications of Customer Data

1. Segment audiences based on past preferences and behaviour to tailor future communications.

2. Identify lapsed subscribers to target for personal outreach initiatives.

3. Survey audiences to test the viability of new programming initiatives.

4. Celebrate customer milestones and loyalty.35Monday, February 17, 14

Thank you for your Time
