Time for a spring clean Scanning the outside world Friends reunited - Marketing audit
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> Marketing audit ISSUE 26 | JULY 2007
Time for a spring clean
Scanning the outside world
Friends reunited
> Getting away > How did we
from it all get here? > Day-to-day dataContents JAM is published by JAM is sponsored by JAM is supported by
> Regulars
Spotlight…………………………………………………… 3
Research round-up ………………………………… 4
Building a marketing audit ………………… 11 www.a-m-a.co.uk www.cantate.biz www.aduk.org
What gets my goat ……………………………… 15
(g)
Resources ……………………………………………… 22 Ma
Too rke
l us ti ng
ed acti
v itie
s
> Marketing audit Th
is y
Time for a spring clean ………………………... 6 Spe
nd
Case study: Getting away from it all …… 8 – le
afle
ts
Case study: How did we get here? …….10 Research round-up Time for a spring clean Building a marketing
Scanning the outside world …………………16 audit and review
crea lecte
s in e
Case study: Day-to-day data ……………… 18 P E ST i tors (s
c
al u e of fied fa
Friends reunited …………………………………… 20 v ti
iden TOR un
the FAC it y f
l a u thor
a
gory • loc ur
nal c
d u c atio
CAL •e
L
ICA
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ls of
What gets my goat Scanning the Friends reunited
outside world
This issue of JAM was edited by JAM is published four times per annum.
Kate Sanderson with assistance UK subscription rates £17 per annum
from Helen Bolt Overseas subscription rates £35 per annum
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2 > JAM 26> EDITORIAL
Really knowing Spotlight on
your audience Chris Tucker
Before I became a freelance consultant, I was director of communications at I thought (very briefly) about carrying
West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds and I have a confession to make. I never on with Hannah’s musical analogy
wrote a marketing plan. Ever. In nine years. (last issue of JAM), but the closest I’ve
It’s not that I have anything against marketing plans or that I advocate sloppy come to anything musical was playing
thinking. On the contrary, I’d be the first to bang the drum for marketing tambourine in junior school.
planning. Lists, processes, analytical tools? Bring it on. Give me a matrix and, as I am the latest recruit to the AMA
many will testify, I’m one happy marketer. team although I have been here for a
So, I might not have written anything with Marketing Plan on the cover, but while now. My role is membership
what we did have was a really in-depth knowledge of our audiences and some and events administrator and I have
pretty sophisticated ways of analysing information. We knew exactly where our taken over looking after the Member
audiences were coming from for each show. We knew how often they were Reps Scheme from Neil –a very hard
coming, how they booked, how soon before the show and on what kind of act to follow.
discounts. We knew the response rate of each direct mail campaign. We knew My background is in environmental
how each show compared with the last, with other shows and with this time biology and most of my working life
last year. We knew exactly how much we’d spent on marketing each show and has been spent in conservation,
each ticket, and we knew how many new people we’d brought to the theatre. including a long spell with the Royal
And we talked to each other about all that information, sharing it among the Society for the Protection of Birds
team and the whole company to build up a really strong bank of knowledge. (RSPB), where I worked in the
Oh, and then we set targets each year based on some of those performance membership team, and arranged
indicators. And compared how we were doing with a few other key theatres. training for nature reserve wardens.
All of which means that I don’t feel like too much of a fraud. Surely all that I came to the AMA from
marketing theory is just a way of organising your thinking, giving you some Cambridgeshire County Council
starting points and some structure? How you choose to apply it needs to be where I was working with members
right for you and your organisation. of the Parish Paths Scheme and the
I hope that this edition gives you some of those starting points and inspires Local Access Forum, as well as
you to find the right way forward for you; whether it’s beginning a full-scale organising various projects.
marketing plan or integrating your ‘where are we now and how did we get here’ I am also a weaver, taking my
into your everyday thinking. Or, ideally, both. inspiration for my textiles from the
natural environment. I have just
finished a course in Handwoven
Textile Design at Bradford College,
Kate Sanderson and I am honourable secretary of the
Arts Management and Marketing Cambridgeshire Guild of Weavers,
e kate@katesanderson.co.uk Spinners and Dyers. My other half is
a potter and wildlife artist, and I
regularly get involved in a range of
creative events.
Finally, a mention for I believe very strongly in
Thinking BIG! – a guide to encouraging people to participate.
strategic marketing Involvement in the arts can be a vital
planning for arts outlet for creativity, therapy, or just
organisations by Stephen an escape from everyday cares, but
Cashman. It’s quoted at most of all it is fun – whether a
length throughout this spectator, an amateur or a
edition and I’m sure you’ll professional, there is something for
find its wise, pragmatic but everyone. I look forward to meeting
rigorous advice of great as many of you as I can at AMA
help. And it’s got some events and conference.
lovely matrices …
Chris Tucker
Membership and Events
Administrator AMA
e chris@a-m-a.co.uk
JAM 26 > 3In the know
Heather Maitland advises you to think about what you want to know
– it may be that someone has already done the work for you.
he point of marketing Information about organisations information about audiences from
T planning is to make informed
decisions about what will get
your organisation from where
it is now to where it wants to go. So
where can you get the information to
and audiences
Arts Research Digest at
www.arts-research-digest.com is a
journal that summarises research
findings. It’s worth subscribing
around the English-speaking world. You
can find the resulting mix of research,
arts marketing case studies, articles,
trend reports and marketing and
audience development tools at
support those decisions? because these abstracts save you www.fuel4arts.com. Access is free but
Wait before you reach for that reading lots of reports that turn out you have to register as a member. The
questionnaire, because someone has not to be relevant to your particular site has a sophisticated search function
probably done the work for you. needs. Subscribers can also access a set up by someone with an eye for the
There is such a lot of readily available searchable online archive. Hosted on keywords we marketers really use. Sign
information about audiences (by the same site is an electronic library up for their What’s New service and
audiences, I mean readers, visitors, of the research funded by Arts every month they will e-mail you the
participants – whoever it is you want Council England (ACE) over the past editor’s top five pick of new resources.
to engage with). The abundance of 15 years or so. This is searchable by Their marketing e-journal Gas Quarterly
information has its down side; if you keyword. ACE’s own site, is free if you register.
are not to drown in paper, you need www.artscouncil.org.uk, features a The Scottish Arts Council has
to decide in advance what you need range of relatively recent publications assembled a useful research resource
to know, why you want to know it and to download. ACE has placed a at www.scottisharts.org.uk/
what you will do with the information. treasure trove of publications, project 1/information including Taking Part
Your shopping list will include two reports and evaluation studies by 2006, which gives levels of
sorts of information: about independent researchers from the five attendance and participation in the
organisations and audiences similar years of its New Audiences Programme arts among the population in
enough to yours for you to make at www.newaudiences.org.uk Scotland, and Peter Verwey’s paper on
parallels; and about the wider The team at the Australian agency marketing planning, downloadable
communities your organisation Fuel4Arts must spend countless hours from www.scottisharts.org.uk/
seeks to serve. ferreting out up-to-date and relevant DownloadPublication.aspx?pub=994.
4 > JAM 26> RESEARCH ROUND-UP
Arts Council Wales also offers a range appointment. Hi~Arts in Scotland report using the order form at the
of research and statistics at even offers a loan service by post. back. If you are based in England or
www.artswales.org.uk/publicationsche Most of these agencies have some Wales, you will need to get an order
me.asp?pubcatid=67. kind of online catalogue. Find your form by e-mailing
Many of the audience development regional agency at areaprofiles@artscouncil.org.uk or by
agencies offer downloadable research www.audiencedevelopment.org. writing to Philip Cave, director of
reports on their websites. You can link audience and market development,
to individual agency sites through Information about communities Arts Council England, 14 Great Peter
their umbrella organisation’s website The government has made Street, London SW1P 3NQ. Area
at www.audiencedevelopment.org. demographic statistics, mainly from Profile Reports for Northern Ireland
The Museums, Libraries and Archives the censuses, available by region, local include similar information but not
Council’s site at www.mla.gov.uk is authority district, ward and the projections for arts attendance
packed with research and advice but sometimes even smaller areas at and are available to members of
the exceedingly long list of http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk. Audiences Northern Ireland only.
publications is only searchable by date Statistics about Northern Ireland’s Finally, several audience
or title so finding what you want is economy, population and development agencies will, usually for
time consuming. demographics at national and local a fee, analyse both your existing
Research and statistics about level are downloadable at audiences and the population in your
domestic and overseas tourists are www.ninis.nisra.gov.uk and statistics catchment area using a
available at www.visitbritain.org/ about neighbourhoods in Scotland geodemographic profiling tool such
ukindustry and www.visitscotland.org/ are at www.sns.gov.uk. You can find as ACORN or Mosaic. These tools give
research_and_statistics.htm. data on national social and economic each individual postcode in the UK a
Other websites worth a look are trends at www.statistics.gov.uk. classification based on a range of
Arts Research Monitor at Area Profile Reports give data sources. This classification
www.artsresearchmonitor.com and demographic information about a indicates lifestyle as well as family
National Endowment for the Arts catchment area defined by you, stage, income, type of housing etc.
(USA) at www.arts.gov/pub. broken down by postal sector. They You can find out the ACORN type of a
Don’t forget the Arts Marketing also include projections for the postcode at www.upmystreet.com.
Association’s own site at number of people likely to attend a
www.a-m-a.co.uk The reports from range of different cultural activities,
conferences, away days and seminars again broken down by postal sector.
are packed with useful information. Start by reading Peter Verwey’s paper
Much research commissioned on Area Profile Reports and
before the mid-1990s can still offer Catchment Area Analysis which you
useful insights but is only available on can download at
paper. Several of the longer- www.scottisharts.org.uk/
established audience development 1/information/publications/ Heather Maitland
agencies have libraries which their 1003111.aspx. If you are based in Consultant and author
members or clients can consult by Scotland, you can get an area profile e hmaitland1@aol.com
JAM 26 > 5> FEATURE
Time for a spring clean
Kate Sanderson prepares to rummage at the back of your cupboards to
find out where your organisation is and how it got there
o, you’re about to embark on a Yes, it’s time for a spring clean. analysing the issues facing your
S journey towards a new
marketing plan. Maybe you’re
new to your organisation,
maybe you’ve taken on a new role
within it, or maybe you’ve been there
Let’s start with thinking about the
process a bit. We’re in the territory of
the situational or strategic analysis
and the marketing audit. Figure 1,
taken from Thinking BIG! – a guide to
organisation and, ultimately, of
informing the marketing that you will
decide to undertake.
All of which can seem rather
daunting, so it’s useful to have a
for some time and feel the need to strategic marketing planning for arts shopping list to refer to. There are
refresh your knowledge and re-define organisations (Stephen Cashman, various shopping lists that you could
your strategy. Whatever the reason, 2003) shows where this fits within a look at and it’s important for you to
you’ll need to start your journey with a strategic marketing planning come up with the right things for your
thorough look at your organisation; framework. A strategic or situational organisation. There’s a list in Thinking
you’ll need to rifle through those filing analysis is the process of looking not BIG!, and you could also look at Peter
cabinets, dust those old reports down, only internally but also at the external Verwey’s Marketing Planning paper,
even dig out those 500 questionnaires factors around you and the context in written for Arts Council England and
that the artistic director insisted you which you’re working. It isn’t about available to download at
did but you never got round to identifying solutions or strategies www.scottisharts.org.uk/DownloadPu
analysing (oops, was that just me?). (that comes later) but about really blication.aspx?pub=994. It has a really
detailed and helpful list to follow.
Briefly, here are some of the things
Figure 1: a strategic marketing planning framework you will probably need to look at:
SMP phase 1 • Product – what exactly is your
ORGANISATIONAL MISSION organisation selling? What types of
STRATEGIC shows, exhibitions, programmes?
GOAL Are you selling less obvious things
SETTING Marketing objectives like workshops and talks? Are there
things like subscriptions and Friends
SMP phase 2 Internal analysis External analysis
schemes which might have started
• Marketing audit & review • Trends
out as incentives or promotions but
STRATEGIC OR have actually become products in
SITUATIONAL • Competition
• Markets
their own right? And beyond the ‘art’
ANALYSIS itself, is there an ‘experience’ that
SW OT customers are buying that might be
SMP phase 3 just as important? You might also
TOWS (SWOT rearranged) want to look at your organisation’s
MAKING & brand values; is its reputation and
SELECTING Matrix based strategy assessment history as important to customers as
STRATEGIES & selection of strategy sets the current show on offer?
• Income – look at the figures for
SMP phase 4 the past three or five years if you
Positioning & Marketing Implementation can and, where appropriate, plot
STRATEGIC branding plan mix plan plan ticket income as well as other
ACTION income like sponsorship or earned
EVALUATION income from merchandise.
• Ticket sales – How many tickets
do you sell and are there any
6 > JAM 26trends? You might want to look at case study on page 10. If you are beginning to create some order out
days of the week (are Mondays going to do some new research, of all of the facts and figures you’ve
really as bad as you think?) or at there’s some very good advice to be been uncovering so far. See pages
seasonality (how have you found on the AMA website in the 20 and 21 for some practical advice
performed in January for the last ADUK resource sheets by Cath on how to use SWOT.
three years?). Hume, Liz Hill and Beth Aplin – see
• Pricing – if you charge for entry, resources on page 22. When you’ve sorted out that little lot,
look at three to five years’ worth of • Marketing resources – how many you’ll have a really clear and
information about pricing. Has the staff are there in the marketing team comprehensive picture of where you
organisation’s broad approach to and what budget is available for are and how you got there. And you’ll
pricing changed in this time and marketing? You might want to look be ready to move on to thinking
what’s its current policy? Is there a at how this breaks down in terms of about what the implications of that is
need to balance income with access spend per earned pound or spend for your future marketing strategy. It
and, if so, what’s the overall approach per customer. And if you think this is may seem like a laborious and time-
to this? What levels and types of a particular issue, you might want to consuming task but the case studies in
discounts are offered and how has look at other similar organisations this issue give some really practical
the uptake of these varied over the and see if they’d be prepared to examples of how to make it work, and
time period? For theatres, you’ll also share information about their of how individual organisations have
need to look at how your house is budgets so that you can compare tailored the situational analysis to suit
priced and any pricing for different with yours. their own needs, picking out key
days of the week. • Marketing approach – in overall indicators and developing their own
• Booking and/or selling facilities terms, how do you do your ‘shopping lists’ to speed up the
– how and where do you sell your marketing? Are most of your efforts process for next time. Yes, it’s an
tickets? What proportion of tickets spent on seasonal brochures or print investment in time but, just like an
do you sell online? Do you sell in general? How customer-focused annual spring clean, it’s good for the
tickets through agents? are you? Do you know how effective soul, clears out all the cobwebs and
• The market – this is where you’ll each element of your marketing is? puts you in the right place to face the
need to look at some of the sources Again, you might want to share rest of the year ahead. Good luck.
of secondary research detailed in some information with other
Research Round-up (page 4) to give organisations, whether through a
you a really clear idea of the nature formal benchmarking project or
of your potential market and how simply by chatting to colleagues.
you’re performing in relation to this. What do they do, how effective is it
If you still think that there are some and is there anything you can learn
gaps in your knowledge, you might from them?
decide that you’ll need to do some • PEST analysis – using PEST can
new research. If so, it’s a good idea really help you to get a clear picture
to talk to your regional audience of the external factors facing your
development agency first and see organisation. See pages 16 and 17
how they could help. And perhaps for more information on this tool.
think about working with some other • SWOT analysis – finally, looking at
organisations to get the most out of the Strengths, Weaknesses,
your research (and your money) – Opportunities and Threats for your Kate Sanderson,
Alan Stacey from Talawa gives a organisation is always a useful Arts Marketing and Management
really good example of this in the exercise and an excellent way of e kate@katesanderson.co.uk
JAM 26 > 7> CASE STUDY
Getting away from it all
Sam Skillings explains how investing time with her whole organisation
has helped her marketing planning
ompton Verney is an award- such as the Eden Project, Baltic and the
C winning art gallery in
Warwickshire housed in a
Grade I listed Robert Adam
mansion surrounded by 120 acres of
Capability Brown landscaped parkland.
Lighthouse. We combined this with a
PEST analysis looking at external
factors that would affect
our performance.
From here we went on to
The gallery opened in March 2004 re-address each of our strategic
following a ten-year restoration project aims, asking ourselves whether:
and I joined Compton Verney in June • the objectives were specific enough
2004. At this point, the organisation • the measures put in place were
was starting to re-evaluate itself now working and how we had performed
that it was fully operational. This was so far
done at a series of away days attended • the objectives were still achievable
by permanent members of staff where now that we had an idea of how our
we reviewed the SWOT and PEST business would perform in reality
analyses (originally drafted in January • the objectives were still realistic and
2003) to identify the current whether we could still achieve them
environment, agreed our vision and within the time frame set.
strategic aims and decided on the
process for monitoring our objectives The resultant document helped us
over the forthcoming year. establish what our key performance
indicators were so that we could build
How we did it them into ongoing monitoring. For us,
With such a large The process started with reviewing this monitoring included visitor figures
our mission statement and core values and customer feedback.
group, this process to ensure that we were all clear about
where we were going. We then moved Why was this useful?
could have become on to the SWOT analysis, returning to I feel very lucky to work for an
the previous draft and looking at what organisation that takes its business
unwieldy but, thanks to had changed since 2003: planning seriously and involves a wide
good facilitation, • Had any new strengths come to light number of people in it. With such a
since opening? large group, this process could have
everyone’s voice was • Were our strengths in the eyes of our become unwieldy but, thanks to good
audience what we thought they facilitation, everyone’s voice was heard
heard and the key would be? and the key decision makers were in
• Had any new opportunities emerged? the room so decisions could be agreed
decision makers were • Were the opportunities being fully instantly. It was also helpful to hear
in the room so exploited? other departments’ perspectives and
• Had any of the threats changed? And we had important discussions about
decisions could be had we under- or overestimated any? our mission, aims and objectives.
• Were there any weaknesses we Finally, it was a much more interactive
agreed instantly. hadn’t anticipated? way to plough through a complex
document; the onus was on all of us to
In our next away-day we looked at contribute, which made pulling the
some case studies of other venues final version together much easier.
8 > JAM 26Where next? • Have any new unique selling points other galleries within the region.
This process feeds into my annual (USPs) come to light? Personally, I find this bit of time
marketing planning and it has evolved • Will there be any new products invested in the planning stage helps me
to a simple checklist of internal and this year? work much better throughout the year.
external factors. These include: • What’s the profile of our audience I still have plenty of room for
• Looking at the local tourist economy and has it changed? If you’re lucky improvement but it’s a good place to
– I use the Heart of England and enough to have a box office you can start. In the future I’m hoping to spend
South Warwickshire Tourism websites do a simple geographic profile. Or get more time using this process to inform
for information more sophisticated and get a my planning for individual exhibitions
• What’s the strength of the pound MOSAIC or ACORN profile. so that I stop fire-fighting and work
and how might this affect tourists? • How many people made a return visit smarter, not harder.
• What have our competitors done last year?
that has been successful and what • What was the average ticket yield?
can we learn from them? • What are our competitors charging?
• What are the lessons from last year’s How much has it increased?
marketing plan? For us this includes • Look back over our Area Profile
looking at the relative success of Reports – are we maximising our
exhibition titles. audience potential?
• What do our customers think of us? Sam Skillings,
Customer feedback led us to remove In the future I hope to take this a stage Marketing Manager,
our Art, Architecture, Landscape, further by joining an Audience Data UK Compton Verney,
Learning strapline from certain market- benchmarking scheme to get an idea Warwickshire
ing materials to avoid confusion. of how we are doing compared to e sam.skillings@comptonverney.org.uk
JAM 26 > 9> CASE STUDY
How did we get here?
Alan Stacey explains how he’s been getting to grips with Talawa
Theatre Company’s history and current position
embarked on what has become a difference in the way they perceived
three-stage process. Talawa. White respondents felt
First, I made use of anecdotal excluded by the concept of Black
evidence. According to patrons, theatre, whereas most Black
founders and friends, between 1986 respondents recognised the need for
and the late 1990s Talawa the company to exist. Both groups
productions were attended by felt they would be interested in seeing
predominantly white middle-class a show, but both felt detached from
audiences. Depending on who I spoke the company because they were
to this was either a travesty, because unaware of its existence.
it failed to engage Black audiences, or It has become clear that there is a
a triumph, because it engaged the role for Talawa not only in
mainstream. Then, with a change in programming to culturally diverse
programming, there was an influx of audiences but in research. There is a
predominantly Black audiences. So need to build awareness of the
now, in 2007, with a mandate to ‘give company’s activities and for the
voice to the Black British experience’, company to better understand its
alawa is Britain’s foremost Talawa hopes to attract a culturally audiences. Fortunately, several other
T Black-led theatre company.
We give voice to the Black
British experience and we
nurture, develop and support talent.
We cultivate Black audiences and
diverse audience.
It was becoming clear that
anecdotal evidence would only get
me so far, and it would often leave
confusing or contradictory
theatre buildings and touring
companies were looking to do the
same, so stage 3 of my process has
been to form a partnership, under the
umbrella of Audiences London, to
audiences for Black work. In so doing impressions. So the second step was research booking patterns,
we enrich British theatre. to analyse previous research. When it preferences and motivations in
In my opinion, the mission statement comes to touring companies, culturally diverse theatre audiences.
of Talawa Theatre Company is audience research documents are Data will be shared between all the
excellent – ambitious, clear and to the often in short supply but with Talawa, partners and should lead to greater
point. However, there is one sentence I was relatively lucky. In the 2000- understanding and more informed
that will stand out to marketers: 2005 drive for a building of its own, marketing. Collaboration is the key,
‘We cultivate Black audiences and Talawa had commissioned a wide- and each partner will inevitably get
audiences for Black work.’ ranging marketing research survey. something different from the project.
After three months as Marketing The results were surprising. And for Talawa, the project will go
Manager at Talawa I have that phrase Despite its 21-year history and some way towards defining the
ingrained upon my brain. At different relative high profile, very few phrase ‘audiences for Black work’.
points it has meant different things to occasional to regular theatre-goers
me. It has also meant different things had actually heard of Talawa. It is a
to different people. This case study problem many touring companies will
charts my attempts to examine and be familiar with – the interviewees
define this focus on ‘Black audiences might have been to shows, but they
and audiences for Black work’ in order hadn’t heard of the company. Overall, Alan Stacey, Marketing
to inform my marketing planning. there was little difference between and Press Manager,
New in my role, it seemed vital to me White and Black respondents in terms Talawa Theatre
that I understand the company and of entertainment preferences and Company
its objectives as fully as possible so I disposable income, but there was a e alan@talawa.com
10 > JAM 26Building a marketing audit and review
Taken from the downloadable Thinking BIG! worksheets which can be
found on the AMA website at www.a-m-a.co.uk/publications.asp, the
following will guide you in carrying out a marketing audit and review.
You should first acquire (as far as possible) the data and information needed to fill in sections (a) to (h). Then, having
reviewed this material, please consider and respond to the questions posed in sections (i) to (k).
(a) Product and offering information
Core propositions underpinning the marketing of your organisation’s products:
Programming policy:
Types of events, exhibitions or shows put on:
Venues and spaces used:
Na m e L oc a t ion Ca pa c it y No. of t ime a nd da t e s us e d
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
JAM 26 > 11> Building a marketing audit and review
(b) Attenders and user data, and trends (
(NB Current financial year = 0, previous year = -1 and so on).
A. B. C. D. E. F.
Financial year Total attenders Total no. of events Average attenders Change in number Change in average
and users per event of attenders since number of
(= B / C) previous year attenders since
previous year
0
-1
-2
-3
-4
(c) Income data and trends
(NB Current financial year = 0, previous year = -1 and so on).
A. B. C. D. Average income E. F.
Financial year Total income (£s) Total no. of events per event (£s) £s change in total £s change in
(= B / C) annual income average income
since previous since previous
year year
0
-1
-2
-3
-4
(d) Pricing
(NB Current financial year = 0, previous year = -1 and so on).
Pricing policies:
A. B. C. D. E. F.
Financial year Maximum price Minimum price Average price Average Change in top
charged charged charged concession price since
provided previous year
0
-1
-2
-3
-4
12 > JAM 26 25> Building a marketing audit and review
(e) Booking and selling facilities
Box office opening hours:
Average no. of sales staff:
Sales points made available:
S a l e s c ha nne l s No. of t ic k e t s s ol d in c ur re nt ye a r v ia % of total tickets sold in last year via
this channel this channel
Walk-in customers
Telephone calls
Postal booking
Via agencies
Via internet
Other
(f) Marketing resources
(NB Current financial year = 0, previous year = -1 and so on).
A. B. C. D. E.
Financial year Total marketing Total no. marketing Resources contributed Data resources
budget staff and job titles or acquired from
outside
0
-1
-2
-3
-4
JAM 26 > 13(g) Marketing activities and approaches
Tool us e d This ye a r P rev ious ye a r Ye a r be fore prev ious one
Spend % of total Results of Spend % of total Results of Spend % of total Results of
marketing spend marketing spend marketing spend
budget (income and budget (income and budget (income and
attendance) attendance) attendance)
Print – leaflets
Print – brochures
Print – flyers
Print – posters
Advertising – press
Advertising – broadcast
Direct mail
Sales promotions
Special offers
Other tools:
(h) Conclusions based on marketing audit data and information
Marketing aspects and activities the organisation is (and has been) good at:
Marketing aspects and activities the organisation is (or has been) not so good at:
Thus desired changes/improvements/enhancements are:
14 > JAM 26
Requiring the following resource changes:> TALKBACK
What gets my goat
Matt Cawardine-Palmer’s goat needs to be welcomed and valued,
not left on the shelf
moment and press on. Well, we all
know the theory: a PEST/environmental
analysis and a SWOT analysis that’s
essentially an audit of capability. An
audit of capability = facing up
(honestly) to weaknesses. That can be
an interesting process.
Is the organisation ready for this,
and is it willing to change? Is it geared
up for some investment in marketing
and committed to a new approach?
Or does it think that if you just
managed to put up a few more
posters in the local shops everything
would be better? Is there a
commitment to invest in resources
for marketing and to take risks? Ditch
mm. Marketing audits. exercise resulting in just another the brochure. Stop last-minute
M Those are two words that
can strike fear into the
heart of the most seasoned
arts marketer. Where to begin?
We know that taking the first steps
spiral-bound document destined for
the filing cabinet.
I’m sure I’m not alone in having
worked at some point for an
organisation that failed to include a
discounts. Fine until the next show
that doesn’t sell well and the strategy
thinking is conveniently put aside by
the immediate pressures to deliver
audiences in the short term.
on the strategic planning journey is single mention of audiences in its So the amount of work that goes
Good for Us and makes us Better vision for the future. So when into a process that might not be
People. Perhaps it’s the professional audiences are not on the agenda, is it welcomed, valued or supported is
equivalent of the January detox – get any wonder that doing a marketing what really gets my goat. And the
away from the bad habits and self- audit – or indeed any strategic really galling thing? That despite these
inflicted excesses and clean out the marketing planning – can feel like a barriers and pressures that get in our
system once in a while. You know waste of time? There’s nothing more way, we’ll carry on doing the research
you’ll relapse but at least you’ve made frustrating than doing a piece of work and putting in the time because, as
the effort. that just doesn’t bear any relation to professional marketers, we care about
But hang on; if it’s a Good Thing, the wider organisational objectives. getting it right. And we’ll go on caring
why does it also sound like a negative Then there’s the pressure of and making the case for audiences
experience? First, it can make the undertaking the task while keeping all even when we might be lone voices
heart sink as it’s the necessary first the other departmental plates doing so. I’ll get my coat.
step of what’s likely to be a long and spinning: how to give the marketing
arduous journey in creating a full audit due consideration while
marketing strategy or plan. But apart simultaneously dealing with the day-
from being a somewhat daunting to-day operational business of
prospect, it can also sometimes be working hard to find an audience for
the reality that the hours, days, weeks next week’s show.
and months ahead will ultimately So there can be several reasons not Matt Carwardine-Palmer,
appear to be pointless. The fact is to want to even start a marketing MCP Arts Marketing
that it can feel like an academic audit. But let’s ignore that for a e matt@mcpartsmarketing.co.uk
JAM 26 > 15> FEATURE
Scanning the outside world
Stephen Cashman identifies competitive threats, environmental
opportunities and the trends they represent
hile an internal and assessment can be used to draw up
W retrospective
examination of an
organisation’s past and
present marketing activities is a key
part of strategic (marketing) analysis,
a checklist of factors and trends that
are thought likely to have a big impact
(either positive or negative) on the
implementation of a strategy and
thus the achievement of that
so is a detailed consideration of its strategy’s desired results.
environment and the things going on Figure 1 shows some of the factors
in it. On the face of it, this can seem and trends that might legitimately be
like a big and rather challenging task included in a PEST assessment.
but fortunately, an approach to However, to really make the most
simplifying it exists so that the ‘wood of PEST, a number of tips and
can be seen for the trees’; this is the techniques should be noted:
acronym PEST. • Look for the positive as well
PEST stands for political (and as the negative
legislative), economic, social and Remember that as well as being a
technological factors. PEST means of detailing the competitive
threats faced by the organisation,
PEST can also identify and record
aspects that may be opportunities.
• Making PEST specific to your
Figure 1: examples of potential PEST factors affecting the organisation
marketing activity of arts organisations Some of the factors shown in
Figure 1 are probably relevant
POLITICAL ECONOMIC factors to all arts organisations. However,
and legislative factors • levels of household income it’s important to develop a PEST
• national arts funding policies • levels of disposable income assessment from the particular
• local authority funding policies • levels of unemployment perspective of your organisation.
• health and safety legislation • prevailing interest rates It is likely that each organisation’s
• child protection legislation • rate of inflation interpretation of PEST will differ in
• data protection legislation some way from its peer
• the educational curriculum organisations; there are no right
answers here – only ones that are
appropriate to the organisation’s
SOCIAL factors TECHNOLOGICAL factors particular circumstances.
• demographic trends (e.g. • local and regional • Triggers or prompts and not
composition of families and communications infrastructure just pigeonholes
overall ageing of population) • increased availability of internet The headings that make up PEST
• levels of unemployment and CD-ROMs as sources of are only meant to provide triggers
• levels of disposable time entertainment to thinking. So it doesn’t really
• degree of social exclusion • increased number of leisure matter where you put a factor as
• levels of educational attainment alternatives long as it makes a kind of sense
• fragmentation and proliferation and is put somewhere rather than
of media being left off.
16 > JAM 26Figure 2: the value of PEST is increased by teasing out the marketing implications
of the identified factors (selected factors)
PEST category FACTOR SO LIKELY IMPLICATIONS ARE
POLITICAL • local authority funding policies • Budgetary restrictions may reduce available resources
POLITICAL • educational curriculum • More limited emphasis on arts may reduce market for
schools groups, but may increase need for schools to
access external provision
ECONOMIC • levels of disposable income • People may not consider organisation affordable
ECONOMIC • prevailing interest rates • May diminish feeling of economic optimism
SOCIAL • increasing average age • Providing dedicated events for the elderly becomes
of population an opportunity
SOCIAL • low levels of educational • Restricts size of potential markets
attainment
TECHNOLOGICAL • increased leisure opportunities • Increased level of competition from alternatives
• Still a need for some clarity organisation because its Today) and current affairs
with definitions participative events make them feel programmes on TV and radio as
While it doesn’t really matter where involved and fulfilled, a community- potential sources for such research, as
things are put, it is important to focused programme of sports well as to the list of secondary
have some clarity as to the meaning development may well be seen as a research sources detailed in Research
of some of the PEST terms. Here potential alternative. Round-up on page 4.
‘politics’ refers to politics with a • Go a step further and elaborate Whether you decide to build a PEST
small ‘p’ and relates to any factor or the implications assessment alone or by working with
trend that has a governmental or Merely listing the PEST factors facing colleagues, carrying out the sorts of
legislative origin. Similarly ‘techno- an organisation only really forms a thinking described above and
logical’ should not be restricted to starting point. To make the most of recording your conclusions will form
things such as sophisticated this exercise, it is worth teasing out an important component of your
machinery and high-tech electronics the implications of each factor for strategic marketing plan.
but can refer to less sophisticated the organisation’s marketing activity. You can find downloadable
equipment such as a paper-based Figure 2 does this for a number of worksheets on the AMA website at
filing system or a manual ticketing selected factors. www.a-m-a.co.uk/publications.asp to
agency selling hard tickets. help you with your marketing audit,
• Limit the factors included by Building a PEST assessment PEST and SWOT analyses.
concentrating on ones that are It’s completely possible to build a
relevant and important PEST assessment by working alone.
With such a potentially wide-ranging But it can also benefit from the Edited by Kate Sanderson, this article is an
exercise there is a constant danger of involvement of a wide range of people extract taken from Thinking BIG! – a guide
an avalanche of facts. So keep from within your organisation who will to strategic marketing planning for arts
checking that each element is relevant bring to it different thoughts and organisations by Stephen Cashman,
published by Arts Council England.
or important to your organisation. If it knowledge. Running meetings,
is neither, leave it out. seminars or working groups devoted
• Seek things that offer an to building a PEST assessment can also
alternative to the needs served be a powerful tool for creating internal
by your organisation consensus on the issues that are really
Anything that forms an alternative important to the organisation.
means of satisfying your customers’ It can also be important to draw
needs can represent a competitive knowledge and ideas from a range of
factor and should be included in the published and broadcast sources. You
PEST assessment. For instance, if may wish to refer to quality
your customers are seeking newspapers and magazines (for Stephen Cashman
entertainment, then DVDs might instance the Economist), trade Strategic Arts Manager,
provide a similar satisfaction. If your magazines and newspapers (e.g. Arts Hartlepool Borough Council
users currently value your Professional, the Stage and Television e stephen.cashman@blueyonder.co.uk
JAM 26 > 17Day-to-day data
Sarah Ogle explains how Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse Theatres
has taken a new approach to constantly monitoring its position
t the Liverpool Everyman and time, drive time and postcode
A Playhouse Theatres we’re
fortunate to be in the
position of having a
marketing planning manager on the
team (see JAM issue 24, February
analysis. We evaluate this report in
our weekly team meetings and also
look at elements of it in relation to a
series of benchmarks we have created
for particular programme strands and
2007 to find out how this came visiting companies.
about). One year on from Scott’s We now review each season using a
appointment and I’m delighted to say series of key performance indicators
that we’re integrating our use of data which relate more broadly to recency,
into our day-to-day marketing and, frequency and value. This allows us to
quite frankly, I wouldn’t go back. build a picture of customer loyalty
As an organisation we’re still (retention and frequency), customer
Top: Photo by Stephen Vaughan: relatively new, with the Trust being retention (including new, lapsed and
Arthur Miller's All My Sons formed in 2000 and the new returning bookers), and the crossover
Bottom: Photo by Keith Pattison: programme of more home-produced between the two theatres, as well as
Improbable Theatre's The Wolves work, Made in Liverpool, beginning in seasonal trends. This is increasingly
in the Walls 2004. Since then, the main drive of informing our season marketing
marketing activity has been to activity, from measuring the impact
expand the audience base – both in of our brochure to targeting our
terms of raw numbers and of social lapsed attenders.
and cultural diversity – and to foster A good example of this approach
stronger engagement, loyalty and was with our 2006 autumn/winter
customer retention. Having someone season when we radically reduced the
dedicated to monitoring this has number of brochures we sent out,
been invaluable, as we can see focusing on targeting more frequent
growth in audiences from production bookers and those that book within
to production, season to season and six weeks of the brochure being
year to year, fine-tuning our marketing received. These ‘planners’ who book
activity as we go. in advance want to ensure their
favourite seats, as well as to fit in their
So what do we do and how do visits with attendances at other arts
we do it? events across the region. Looking at
First, we have developed a standard our autumn programme with a better
Excel report which we create at the understanding of audience behaviour,
end of each production. This we created two targeted direct mail
combines information from a number campaigns focusing on classic theatre
of reports either generated in PASS or attenders and lapsed attenders. The
Vital Statistics, including: sales and results were fantastic. Our classic
seats sold against target, ticket yield, drama checklist generated a 22 per
buyer types, number of bookers cent response rate, representing 14
(including first timers), crossover with per cent of income and 12 per cent
other productions, response to direct of tickets for the first Made in
mail, groups (including the value of Liverpool production that season
our partnership schools), booking (Arthur Miller’s All My Sons). Our
18 > JAM 26> CASE STUDY
by Nonconform
Photo montage
mailing to lapsed attenders saw a 9 Since 2004 we’ve learnt so much
per cent response rate but, more about our audiences and how they
importantly, an investment of £2,500 are responding to the new
in this project generated sales of over programme of work. Because it’s now
£35,000 net in that season. so integrated into the work of the
These two strands of analysis – marketing team, it’s not an annual
production and season – then feed chore but a source of living data
into an annual customer review, which gives us more confidence as a
bringing everything together to form department and which is helping us to
a clear picture of year-on-year growth build a memory for the organisation
and highlighting any areas for which is accurate rather than
concern. At this point we bring in anecdotal. This knowledge bank
external data, using our local impacts on our marketing activity
marketing agency (TEAM) to map our daily, seasonally, as we plan for the
audiences, look at Area Profile future direction of the theatres with
Reports and consider market share. Liverpool’s year as European Capital
This approach informed our Family of Culture in 2008 and as we embark
Campaign in the autumn of 2006. on a major capital re-development
Looking at our audiences in relation project from 2009. It is informing
to postcodes and potential, we used decisions at every level of the
MOSAIC profiling to identify a series company, from how many
of ‘hotspots’. We worked with TEAM programmes to order to the work
to refine this further and to target we produce on our stages.
family postcode sectors with a
bespoke piece of print to over 30,000
homes and 470 outlets. For an
investment of about £4,000 in print
and distribution we generated over Sarah Ogle, Marketing
£16,000 net, generating over 200 new Director, Liverpool
bookers and encouraging over 50 Everyman and Playhouse
attenders back. e s.ogle@everymanplayhouse.com
JAM 26 > 19Friends reunited
Kate Sanderson helps us to get re-acquainted with an old friend …
o you’ve gone through your to make the most of this old but very
S shopping list and looked in
detail at areas such as product,
price and marketing approach.
You’ve looked at the secondary
research that’s available to help you
valuable tool.
First of all, there’s the issue of
internal and external; Strengths and
Weaknesses should be internal factors
over which your organisation has
understand the market you’re working some degree of control.
in and you’ve identified any gaps in Opportunities and Threats, on the
your knowledge that might need other hand, should be external
addressing through some primary factors. It’s worth being quite rigorous
research. Finally, you’ve used PEST to in your use of this.
analyse the external factors that Second, apply the same kind of
impact on your organisation and its rigour to deciding whether a factor is
future marketing. How are you now allowed to go into more than one
going to pull all of this together, box. You might find that you need to
summarise your findings and begin to be a bit more specific in order to
think about the implications of it all? really get to the heart of the issue. For
Fortunately, there’s an old friend example, just putting ‘car parking’ in
waiting to help you; SWOT. two boxes isn’t really doing it. You
The example here gives you an need to work a bit harder and put
at-a-glance guide of how to use ‘Council’s planned redevelopment of
SWOT but let’s just remind ourselves adjacent car park’ in Threats and
briefly of how SWOT works and how ‘excellent City Council car park next
At-a-glance guidance on where factors go in a SWOT analysis
POSITIVE NEGATIVE
STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES
Good things about how the Bad things about how the
organisation is now / has organisation is now / has
INTERNAL
been in the past, or things it been in the past, or things it
currently / formerly has / currently / formerly has / had
had control over. no control over.
OPPORTUNITIES THREATS
Good, uncontrollable, things Bad, uncontrollable things about:
about: • the environment as it is now
EXTERNAL
• the environment as it is now • the environment as it might be
• the environment as it might be • the organisation as it might be.
• the organisation as it might be.
20 > JAM 26> FEATURE
door’ in Strengths to really identify ‘We then take it a step further and
the issues facing you. go through an exercise of countering
Finally, don’t be afraid to play with the objections with the strengths of
SWOT a little to make it work for your the production. It’s basically doing
organisation. For example, at West SWOT into TOWS (see below) but
Yorkshire Playhouse, we used SWOT using simpler language, and it’s very
analysis all the time in our marketing practical. We do have to be careful
planning but we re-packaged it slightly that the director of a show isn’t too ... for each show we
to suit our needs. Nick Boaden, depressed by the end of the list of
current head of marketing, explains: reasons not to attend, but we can create a list of ‘10
‘We have campaign planning manage that. And at least they
meetings, often with members of the understand what we’re up against reasons to go’ and then
creative team for a production, where sometimes. Usually we have great fun
we’ll discuss at a very early stage how and end up with a really good shared
‘10 reasons not to go’.
we’re going to approach the understanding of the production and These are basically
marketing. It’s a great chance to the marketing approach that we’ll
involve everyone and make sure that need to take to sell it most effectively.’ strengths and
they’ve had an input at a point where Once you’ve finished your SWOT
it’s useful. We used to do a SWOT for analysis, you’ll be relieved to hear that weaknesses but
each show but found the SWOT labels your situational analysis is complete.
weren’t always very helpful for our You’re ready now to move onto the
somehow the different
relationships with directors and next bit of building your marketing labels make the exercise
designers – it was a bit too business- plan: thinking about strategies. And
speak and felt rather brutal to talk the good news is that SWOT leads work better for us.
about the ‘weaknesses’ of a production, you seamlessly through this process.
often before they’d even started work By turning SWOT into TOWS, you can
on it. Fortunately, I went on an AMA quickly start to see ways forward and
course and came back with a new develop clear and focused strategies.
idea; for each show we create a list of Thinking BIG! gives you much more
‘10 reasons to go’ and then ‘10 reasons information about how to approach
not to go’. These are basically this and how to take the next steps.
strengths and weaknesses but Happy planning!
somehow the different labels make the
exercise work better for us. We then
look at Opportunities and Threats from
an external perspective. Opportunities
therefore becomes about partnerships;
opportunities for us to work with
external organisations to promote the
production (the Council, community
groups, etc.) while Threats is about
anything that we can’t control which
might impact on the success of our Kate Sanderson,
marketing (the football World Cup, Arts Marketing and Management
school holidays, etc.). e kate@katesanderson.com
JAM 26 > 21> RESOURCES
Thinking BIG! - a guide to strategic marketing Stringing the pearls together - how do I actually
planning for arts organisations go about doing this?
Stephen Cashman Beth Aplin, Henderson Aplin Partnership
(2003, Arts Marketing Association, £10, ISBN 1 903315 06 9) Picking up the baton from Identifying the pearls, this will
Commissioned by Arts Council England and published by guide you through planning a small in-house research
the Arts Marketing Association, this has a deliberately project doing face-to-face questionnaires to existing
wide-ranging set of purposes. These are: visitors.
• to enable readers to understand the basics of strategic
marketing planning; and
Audience intelligence - a guide to desk
• to generate the ability, understanding and interest to
researching audiences and visitors
create and implement a strategic marketing plan for their
Leo Sharrock, amh
own organisation.
This guide offers an overview of some of the most useful,
To order your copy for £10 + £7.50 post and packing,
readily available secondary sources of information on
e-mail chris@a-m-a.co.uk
audiences. It will also explore how these sources might provide
more information on your audiences to support your business
Thinking BIG! worksheets to download from or marketing planning.
www.a-m-a.co.uk/publications.asp
Thinking BIG! is accompanied by a set of worksheets Learning more about your catchment area - a brief
(download only) that can be applied to your organisation introduction to area profile reports
to help you form the core materials and elements of a Eric Hildrew, Sheffield Galleries
strategic marketing plan and by completing them you can For audience-focused cultural organisations, hunches based
build such a plan for your organisation. on observation are insufficient grounds on which to base
important business planning or audience development
Download the following resources from the ADUK pages of decisions. Accurate information is required about the
the AMA website at www.a-m-a.co.uk marketplace you are operating in and this resource explains all
you need to know about area profile reports.
Chapter 2 - writing a research brief, taken from
Commissioning Market Research
Liz Hill, ArtsProfessional
(2000, Arts Marketing Association, £5, ISBN 1 903315 03 4) A great little book
Referred to in this issue’s first feature, Time for a spring
clean, on page 6, this offers advice on writing a research
brief and can be used in conjunction with …
for great small
Research brief samples
organisations
Cath Hume, Smart Audiences.
This book, written by Caroline
Based on real briefs from various organisations, these Griffin, de-mystifies the
examples will give you an idea of how to construct a processes and explains each
research brief. step in creating a marketing
To purchase a copy of Commissioning Market Research for plan: ‘… arts marketers often
£5 + post and packing, go to www.artsprofessional.co.uk/ don’t have the time for this
cont02.cfm?part=5, www.a-m-a.co.uk/publications.asp or and This Way Up enables us
e-mail chris@a-m-a.co.uk to effectively do what we all
know is so important.’
Louisa Cox, the Merlin Theatre
Identifying the pearls - what data is important for
my organisation? Why is all this visitor
information so important?
Beth Aplin, Henderson Aplin Partnership AMA members £10.00 + post and packing
This resource is designed to help you develop insight, Non AMA members £15.00 + post and packing
knowledge and understanding of potential visitors and will To order a copy e-mail chris@a-m-a.co.uk
help you to decide what you know already, what might be Word and PDF versions are also available
missing and what you can do about it.
Written by Caroline Griffin, Programme Director at Audiences
Central. This Way Up was produced in collaboration with Arts
Council England, with the support of Audiences Central.
22 > JAM 26You can also read
