Using secondary research to target new audiences
'Turner Sims Concert Hall (TSCH) is a 450-seat music venue in Southampton. Its international concert series, which runs from October to May each year, features some sixty events performed by artists from the worlds of classical music, jazz, world music and folk. In addition to the series, TSCH is frequently used by local groups and societies for concerts and rehearsals and by businesses for conferences and seminars. The University of Southampton, on whose main campus TSCH is based, also hosts lectures, seminars and graduation ceremonies at the venue. In total some 200 events happen in TSCH each year.
Audiences come from a wide area across the South of England with concentrations in Bournemouth, Salisbury, Winchester, Portsmouth and Southampton. In total some 50,000 people pass through TSCH's doors every year.
The project
Distributing the autumn 2001 Turner Sims brochure to a new and potentially fruitful audience.
Our reason for doing it
A mix-up at the printers resulted in an extra 5,000 copies of our autumn 2001 brochure being produced. Rather than letting these gather dust in the concert hall we decided to experiment with two new forms of distribution that in the past had not been possible. The forms were:
- expanded geographical distribution of the brochure through Caxton, a commercial company delivering to and replenishing stocks in local tourist information centres, hotels, business and retail outlets
- distribution via the Southampton Advertiser, a 190,000 circulation free weekly newspaper. The paper is produced by the Southern Daily Echo, the main paid-for newspaper in the Southampton area, and, like the Echo, is part of the Newsquest Media Group. The Turner Sims already had a relationship with both newspapers although this was principally through regular editorial coverage and occasional advertising
How we selected the distribution through the Southampton Advertiser
Newsquest - owners of both newspapers - offer four distribution options:
- newspaper title - inserted into every copy
- postcode sector - specifically targeted areas
- newspaper round - specifically targeted streets
- Mosaic - specifically targeted audiences
With a limited number of brochures available - we allocated 6,000 - we needed to be very clear about our target areas. In consultation with Arts Marketing Hampshire, we decided that of the four options the Mosaic profiling offered the best chance of reaching a similar audience to our current attenders and therefore potential new visitors.
The three areas all fitted the age groups 25-65 and were:
Within these groups we then selected the following:
What we achieved and the lessons we learned
- distributing through free media is fraught with problems. According to Newsquest's figures 85% of recipients only glanced at the paper whilst only a third retained it
- the vast amounts of promotional literature in the newspaper could have meant that the brochure was swamped by other advertising
- choosing to distribute a complete brochure rather than an event- or series-specific piece of print was ideal for promoting the complete Turner Sims brand to a range of recipients (ie it not only promoted our own events but also detailed sponsorship options, hiring possibilities and other activities which the building hosted)
- whilst direct mail letters to existing customers remain the most productive promotional tool for Turner Sims, the Advertiser distribution proved more successful than we expected. Many of those requesting tickets or wanting to be added to the mailing list had been unaware of the Turner Sims' existence before. Adding them to the mailing list ensured that even if the events in the brochure they received weren't of interest we were able to continue mailing them brochures for forthcoming seasons
- the initiative produced a far better response than previous advertising initiatives with the Daily Echo and Hampshire Chronicle (the local broadsheet weekly paid-for paper) had done
Conclusion
The use of Mosaic profiling made such an exercise far more attractive than the random promotions and distribution that we had been offered by other publications in the past. Whilst we have not had sufficient copies or funds in future seasons to repeat the exercise we do plan to do it again.'
Kevin Appleby, Concert Hall Manager, Turner Sims Concert Hall, Southampton
'Audience development agencies such as Arts Marketing Hampshire (AMH) are able to provide arts organisations with a wealth of market intelligence information to help them target their promotional activities effectively. For example, AMH were able to help the Turner Sims Concert Hall (TSCH) by defining a catchment area based on the geographical distribution of their existing bookers. AMH were then able to supply a demographic profile of that catchment area which broke the population down into 'lifestyle' groups. This enabled the TSCH to identify potential bookers who shared similar lifestyle characteristics with their existing bookers, and to target them specifically through a local newspaper distribution service which allowed TSCH to select only the relevant prospects.'
Leo Sharrock, Market Intelligence Officer, Arts Marketing Hampshire