Keep those concertgoers happy

How to expand your audience without offending the faithful? TARA WERNER listens to visting arst marketers.

Picture the typical regular classical concertgoer in Auckland. They are likely to be 40 plus, of European descent, earn more than the average wage and are over-represented in the Auckland Eastern suburbs and lower North Shore. And they are intensely loyal and often conservative in their programming tastes.

Then put yourself in the shoes of the marketing manager of the orchestra, extending and growing this audience base. Aiming, for instance, to attract groups not traditionally going to such concerts, such as people from the Maori, Polynesian or Asian communities.

Or going for the youth market, the 18 to 35-year-olds with either loads of money or piles of student debt.

Targeting and then attracting these groups is not as easy as it may seem. In fact it's a knife-edge feat, a balance between keeping the traditional concert-goers happy, yet providing concert formats that specifically draw these new audiences into the concert hall.

The answer lies in audience development, say arts marketers Susie Hargreaves and Julie Franz Peeler. In Auckland as a joint initiative of the British Council, Montana Wines and Fulbright New Zealand with the assistance of Creative New Zealand, the duo attracted a wide range of arts practitioners to an evening presentation and day masterclass at the Auckland Art Gallery.

While they may come from West Yorkshire and Chicago respectively their similar backgrounds in arts marketing made for a considerable amount of synergy in their approach.

Hargreaves is director of West Yorkshire Arts Marketing, an audience development agency in Yorkshire, while Peeler is director of the National Arts Marketing Project and Arts Marketing Centre in Chicago.

Both believe adamantly that thorough marketing planning will pay off in finding and capturing the paying customers who are the life-blood of any artistic endeavour. They view audience development as a planned process which enhances and broadens specific individuals' experience of the arts.

And they were impressed about what they have seen in arts organisations during their whistle-stop tour of the country.

"We certainly don't see ourselves as gurus from overseas to tell you what you should or shouldn't do," says Peeler. "Arts organisations here are up there with the States in terms of their marketing, both in managerial skills and sophistication. But the perceived value of the arts in New Zealand is just beginning to happen, as well as an increased emphasis on cooperation," she says.

This sense of cooperation was very much in evidence in the day workshop, aimed at those undertaking audience development work in Auckland. A wide range of arts sectors was represented, including orchestras, dance, opera, and the visual arts, with participants willing to share their common experiences.

Focusing on the customer was the main issue, often hotly debated throughout the day. Who are they, what are their concerns, what are the barriers to them coming to a concert or exhibition, and what image does an arts organisation give?

Attendance motivators and barriers came across as strong themes - the cost involved in buying a ticket, the difficulty of parking, and the hassle of getting to the central city after dark, especially for the elderly.

The Auckland Art Gallery ended up as the guinea pig to be dissected; a process involving the workshop breaking into groups and role-playing a typical visitor segment to the gallery halls. Students, businesspeople, retired people and family groups all wandered around the exhibitions, viewing their visit from their own perspective.

And the results came up with some surprises. It showed the lack of facilities for family groups, especially for children. Signage appeared a problem, and there was difficulty finding what was where, especially for overseas visitors.

Geoff Penrose, manager business development and marketing, feels the experience was salutatory but rewarding. "In the past we've done regular audience surveys," he says, "but the rigour of new, experienced eyes going around the gallery was very useful. I learnt a lot about what barriers we might put up without even realising it."

Auckland Philharmonia marketing manager Christine Young endorsed those sentiments.

"Identifying attendance barriers is also a real issue for the orchestra, and the exercise was really useful. And the workshop highlighted the need to think carefully about whom we are targeting with our limited budget.

"We mustn't forget our existing audience when looking for and developing new ones."

Hargreaves and Peeler acknowledged the considerable work arts marketers already achieve in Auckland.

"Often marketing people in an arts organisation are at the bottom of the heap overseas, but here they seem much more part of the management team. What they do on often very small budgets is terrific," says Hargreaves.

Adds Peeler. "If we have focused on just some of the issues involved, then I feel it's a good thing. And we have learnt just as much from the participants as they have, hopefully, from us."