ICO AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT PLAN – NOVEMBER 2013

The Irish Chamber Orchestra

Audience Development Planning Programme in partnership with the Arts Council of Ireland.

Without an audience - there is no concert.

CURRENT ENVIRONMENT

Challenging economic conditions:• Box-Office• Arts Council Funding• Staff Reduction• Marketing Spend

Reduction

THE POSITIVES

GÁBOR TÁKACS NAGY PRINCIPAL ARTISTIC PARTNER

JÖRG WIDMANN PRINCIPAL GUEST CONDUCTOR/

ARTISTIC PARTNER

• Music excellence• Artistic leadership• International profile• Community engagement

• Artistic Planning – ICO Artistic Committee • Marketing challenge / disconnect relating

to programming• Need to change how we think and do things• Touring - our window of opportunity• Collaborations• Diversity of people and places• Find a balance of popularity in programmes

THE PRIORITIES – PROGRAMMING & CONCERTS

Strengths • A world class cultural ambassador• Arts Council Funding• A spirited, loyal and committed orchestra and staff.

Exceptionally high quality product.• Two of the finest Artistic Directors in Europe.• World class Soloists• A growing international reputation and audience.• Major increase in European profile and presence.• Ability to adapt to changing market conditions. • Much improved CD output• Competitively priced tickets• Successful community engagement programme with

national recognition.

Weakness• Small audiences on the domestic market. • Lack of budget and staff resource to raise our

profile.• An inability to demonstrate our international

audience successes to our own Irish audiences.• Progressively, decreasing Arts Council funding.• Lack of sponsorship opportunities. • Venue challenges• Centralised booking through Ticketmaster in

Dublin’s RDS• Artistic planning does not marry with marketing

Opportunities • Exploit successful Community engagement

programmes.• Encourage Artistic directors to be worthy

ambassadors both home and abroad.• Develop more diverse & imaginative programmes

to win new audience segments• Attract more students to concerts• Develop new and imaginative ways of growing a

young audience from our Sing Out project

Threats• The overall financial crisis in both Ireland and

Europe.• The older age profile needs to be continually

refreshed and nurtured• Venue challenges : Limerick – out of town; Dublin

– online booking• Lack of music education for young people in

Ireland.• Competition from other arts organisations for

limited audience/potential audience spend• Lack of internal resources i.e. staffing

SWOT

MARKETING AUDIT

• Venue Relationships • The Price/Ticketing /Promotion • Resources • Audiences

LOCATION ANALYSIS

Graph indicates a closer personal relationship between orchestra/ audiences in Limerick, whereas Dublin shows heavier reliance on word of mouth, indicating a much less direct relationship with audiences.

AGE ANALYSIS

In Limerick, our audience is strongest in the 50-70 year categories.

In Dublin the 50-60 year category rings through. Concurring with TGI, classical music has shown an increase of older attendees, particularly in the 65+ category.

OBJECTIVE

This graph indicates the age profile that the ICO wants to raise over the next three years.

STRATEGIES

Market Penetration• Grow audience for core programme

Market Development • Social Inclusion; corporate market

Product Development• Develop ICO product awareness

UNDERSTANDING AUDIENCES

• Engagement • Surveys/Feedback• Digital Media Analytics• Box Office Feasibility Study

by 2015*

* Subject to available resources

BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS

• Mailing Lists

• Contact cards / Surveys

• Audience Engagement/concerts

• Loyalty programmes

• Player engagement & participation post-concerts

ENGAGE BROADER AUDIENCE

• Audience Development – include in ICO Planning

• Program/Audience diversification

• Collaboration / New venues

• Audience quotes / endorsement

• Campaign -> UL Students

• Open rehearsal strategy – schools/community

DIVERSIFICATION

• Alternative venues• Lunch-time concerts• Corporate patron

venues• Streaming concerts

online

AUDIENCE SEGMENTATION

Baby Bachs5-14 Year Olds

Double Incomes30-50 year olds

Cold Feet15-20 Year Olds

The Yuppies 21-30 Year Olds

Maturing Upwardly Mobiles50-65 year olds

Golden Oldies66+

IN SUMMARY…

Changing Lives Through Music

ReputationBuild on ICO’s international reputation in the home audience.

CommunityWe need to marry the needs of our community segments

AudienceWe need to retain/ build audiences and drive to be more relevant

Music PresentationWe need to develop new and innovative ways of presenting music.

Break the MouldWe need to be less formal, be innovative and be collaborative.

LegacyWe need to be inclusive and leave a lasting impression.