Fast Company: Marketing managers for major orchestras had always assumed that convincing people to give the symphony a try was the key to gaining subscribers. "Get people through the doors!" was their mantra, assuming that the sheer beauty of the music would lure them back. But when they actually studied the numbers, they discovered that getting new people wasn't the problem. They weren't passing the audition. Customer churn was killing these orchestras.
Thursday, October 13, 2011
How Symphonies Grew Strong Audiences By Killing The Myth Of The Average Consumer
Fast Company: Marketing managers for major orchestras had always assumed that convincing people to give the symphony a try was the key to gaining subscribers. "Get people through the doors!" was their mantra, assuming that the sheer beauty of the music would lure them back. But when they actually studied the numbers, they discovered that getting new people wasn't the problem. They weren't passing the audition. Customer churn was killing these orchestras.
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6 comments:
This is sad. The article basically says, it doesn't matter where you do your performance or in fact how good your performance is, it just matters if it's easy to park near it and if purchasing and returning tickets is easy. People want to be entertained and they will pay for it but what keeps people coming back are the extras, if it is easy to make an arts experience a tradition or a routine treat then people will go back. They don't want to deal with hassle while they are trying to enjoy themselves. I think that this makes a lot of sense.
When I was in my undergrad I went to the symphony about 4 times a year. There was a shuttle that went up to Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis and we got student tickets for a about 5 bucks. It was a good, cheap date that made me look very cultural . I really enjoyed but since that time I have only been to the symphony one time and that was to see Pattie Lupone. To, say as much as I love the symphony and the experience, why have I not gone in the last 15 years? I cannot say. It seems the symphony has fallen down on the list of events that I am willing to spend a Saturday night on. I am not sure what will bring be back. Perhaps it is the pieces they select. I imaging if PSO was doing Drovak, "From the New World", I would be there in a second. I do know that when my daughter gets a few years older we will go to the symphony to giver that exposure. This article has inspired me go to the web site to see what is playing at Heinz hall and how much it will cost. It has nothing at all to do with parking.
I think that the wide accessibility of recorded music may be a contributing factor to the results of the study. When it is so easy to acquire music with a click of the mouse, there is much less incentive for an audience to take the time and expense to go to a symphony. Though it is sad, like any "small business" (compared to the e-music industry), symphonies must focus on what they can do better than any itunes download, customer service and an overall "experience." It's the same with other types of concerts, why were there a zillion people at Kid Cudi's concert a few weeks ago? It's not just to listen to his rapping virtuosity, but to experience the lights, the crowd, and the overall atmosphere.
I am going to agree with the first comment I think this kind of makes sense to me in a sad sort of way. Live performances are great, they are better than listening to them on any sort of sound system. The problem is there not great enough by them selves to get people in the door. So things like parking and deals would help to make up that difference. I think that it would be cooler if they would combined orchestra concerts with other events and or occasions that would make me want to go to both.
I rarely go to the symphony, but when I do I almost always enjoy it. Of course, discounted tickets and ease in purchases and returns are helpful and can be incentives, but I wouldn't consider those to be a reason to go. Perhaps a problem lies in advertisement. Many probably consider other musical performances to be more exciting and more of an overarching sensory experience than the symphony. Symphonies are certainly not widely portrayed as exciting and are at times even associated with people of older generations - which is absurd because there's no reason why symphonies performances shouldn't be appealing to younger people. I think that this problem could be remedied if it the symphony experience was either adapted to be more like other types of more popular concerts and/or advertised in a more appealing way that would attract a larger base of consumers.
As entertainment becomes increasingly easily accessible from at home on the internet, it seems that many live entertainment industries are suffering. Performing a study on the types of people that come to see live entertainment (be it symphony, or theatre, or whatever) is a great idea, and will hopefully be used more in the future as an attempt to counteract the effects of the digital age of entertainment.
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