The Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra, Jacksonville, Fla., is used to having people listen to its music. Recently, the JSO took time out to listen to area residents to find out how it can stimulate season ticket sales and broaden its base of support.


A series of focus groups and a telephone survey were conducted in July-October, 1987, to find out residents' perceptions of the symphony and attending performances, what the needs were of current subscribers and why other subscribers had lapsed in their season ticket subscriptions. The project was managed by West & Company Marketing and Advertising, Jacksonville, and the Atlanta office of Message Factors, a national marketing research company.

"Historically, symphony orchestras have directed their efforts toward a rather narrow market segment," says Ben West, president of West & Co. "As a result, feedback in the form of trust and estate contributions, grants and other financial endowment programs has been restricted to the same approximate demographic group. The market research has enabled the JSO to reach out beyond the audience to whom it currently appeals."

Dean Corey, the orchestra's executive director, explains: "While our product of classical performances is enjoying an ever-increasing appeal, maintaining a solid subscription base for the future will necessitate the use of new packaging techniques. Only sophisticated marketing research can point us in the right direction. In the past, we have relied on our intuition and experience. Now, we will have valuable data to add to the decision making process."

Focus groups

The initial phase of the research, six focus groups, was conducted by Sun Research Corp., Norwalk, Conn. Three types of subscribers were selected to participate: 1. Current JSO subscribers, both long?time and recent patrons and pops program subscribers. 2. Lapsers, long?time and recent subscribers who had not renewed their subscriptions, and 3. Aware non?subscribers, including single?evening and never attendees.

The screening specifications for the individuals involved in the study were based primarily on education and income, says West. These individuals, among them college professors, attorneys and accountants, had a college degree or better, held managerial/professional occupations and had a household income of at least $40,000. They also had to be listeners of classical music and to have attended a live symphonic performance in their adult lifetime.

There were a number of concerns addressed in the focus groups, says Russell Boyd, managing director of Message Factors. One was where to hold the JSO performances.

Two locations had been used. For a long time, both the pops and classical series had been in the city's Civic Auditorium. While the acoustics are not ideal in this facility, there are more opportunities for people to socialize and it has a greater "comfort level." The performances were later moved to the Florida Theatre but some of the pops patrons complained it was too small and provided less of an opportunity to socialize. It was then decided to move all of the classical performances back to the Civic Auditorium and the pops series in the Florida Theater. The pops series patrons, it was learned, usually attend performances with many other people they know so the need to socialize and move around is not a prerequisite for them to attend. The classical series patrons, on the other hand, do not attend in groups and therefore, want the opportunity to socialize and meet other patrons.

The focus groups also addressed how familiar the participants were with the program in terms of the guest artists and conductors in each of the classical and pops series and which of these individuals had the strongest appeal.

Participants were also asked about: Their awareness of the program series (pops, classical and connoisseur); their attitudes about the symphony in terms of its location, guest artists, and the social experience of attending; their purchase intent, for example, if they were "heavy" users (people who attended seven or more times in the past year), or "light" users (people who attended one?six times in the past year), and the characteristics of each; the night of the week they like to attend the symphony, and what they thought about different concert packages so that the JSO could examine the price-value perceptions among its patrons.

Telephone interviews

The key issues addressed in the focus groups were quantified in the telephone interviews, says Boyd, whose firm handled this phase of the research.

"We carefully identified different audiences by degree of involvement within the Jacksonville metropolitan area. The purpose of the interviews was to allow the respondents to present their viewpoints on a variety of issues. We talked to them about different classical presentations, their likes and dislikes, new product concepts like 'sample packages' of short duration and other scheduling issues, what nights of the week they found most attractive and other issues that relate to attracting large audiences and interest in the symphony."

This portion of the research involved 502 telephone interviews. These were completed from the telephone directory and to assure quantities of current lapsed subscribers, from supplied lists as follows:

1. 101 from the current classical list;
2. 101 from the lapsed classical list;
3. 300 randomly from the telephone directory to screen people who were predisposed toward classical or pops music.

Screening specifications

The screening qualifications for these respondents included: 1. Living in the Jacksonville area for more than one year; 2. 25 years old or older; 3. Listen to classical music or pops music very often or occasionally, and 4. Attend live performances of classical music or pops music very often or Occasionally. Of these, at least two-thirds of the respondents listened to classical music. The remaining respondents listened to pops music.

According to Boyd, the telephone survey helped JSO learn more about why people subscribe, why they fail to renew, and how to identify ways and means of increasing subscriptions.

Findings

The following is an outline of some of the findings from the telephone survey:

1. The JSO was locally perceived as fourth in quality below the New York Philharmonic, the Boston Symphony and the Pittsburgh Symphony but above the Atlanta, Houston and Florida Symphonies.

2. Overall, current and lapsed subscribers rated the symphony favorably. It was rated as being a good value for the money (87%) and quality has shown improvement (86%).

3. The lowest ratings dealt with the Florida Theatre and not with the symphony. For example, the Florida Theatre is a good location (66%), has good acoustics (59%), and a comfortable atmosphere (57%).

4. The overall prospect evaluation rating for the symphony was favorable. Respondents said attending a JSO performance would be an enjoyable evening (82%), and tickets are affordable (70%).

5. Heavy users (respondents who attended the JSO seven or more times in the past year), consist of 42 % of concert?goers but account for 65 % of attendance. They went to an average of 10 of the 19 concerts.

Light users (respondents who attended the JSO one-six times in the past year), consist of 58 % of concert-goers, but account for only 35 % of attendance. They went to an average of four of the 19 concerts.

6. Friday night is the most preferred classical concert night (40%), followed by Thursday night (21%). Sixty-one percent of heavy users preferred concerts to be held on Friday night.

7. Overall, 65% of the respondents were familiar with the classical series, 63% the pops series, and 42% the connoisseur series. Familiarity with the series was greatest among current and lapsed subscribers and lowest among prospects.

8. With the exception of Doc Severinsen and Rita Moreno, respondents had very low awareness of the other guest artists evaluated. In most cases, less than one-third of the respondents were aware of the guest artists being evaluated.

9. Most frequently mentioned factors which would influence attendance were special concerts and special guest artists. Current subscribers, lapsed subscribers and prospects all agreed special concerts and special guest artists were most important, but each group placed emphasis on somewhat different factors.

10. Prospects and lapsed subscribers were grouped from least likely to be influenced to attend the symphony to most likely to be influenced to attend. The "most likely to be influenced to attend" group was then analyzed to determine what would influence them.

Recommendations

According to West, this project has been a researcher's dream because JSO has heeded the recommendations. The following describes the recommendations:

Among those interviewed, awareness and overall image of the JSO appear to be good. However, problem areas seem to exist in: 1. Awareness of individual concert series; 2. Awareness of selected guest artists, and 3. Problems with the Florida Theatre facility. Therefore, aggressive communications (advertising/public relations) with television and outdoor advertising will be in full force this spring to aid in educating the public, thereby reducing the problem areas.

Special events (i.e., special concerts and well-known guest artists) are being planned to provide an opportunity for attracting prospects and light users. This will also provide an opportunity to increase awareness of current concert series.

Special events such as tie-in promotions with restaurants, charitable organizations, educational institutions, and theatres are being planned. Such packages increase perceived value among both current subscribers and prospects.

Additionally, the special events of such tie-ins can result in increased awareness among prospects. They also provide an opportunity to increase awareness of current concert activities.

Finally, since negative comments about the Florida Theatre seem to be greatest among classical subscribers, the pops series will be left in the Florida Theatre and the classical series returned to the Civic Auditorium.

Corey said the research has helped the JSO tremendously in giving it direction. "It's really turned things around. Research of this kind is also quite unique."

"Arts marketing is in its embryonic stage," adds Ben West. “This research will serve as a model or template for what others should do with research and planning.”

"To the best of our knowledge, no other symphony has ever conducted research exactly like this," explains West. Typically, only subscriber opinion surveys are mailed out, but the problem with this method is that the surveys don't reach the general community which does not attend.

"This project is considerably broader," continues West. "Our research measures lifestyle, marketing issues, explores entertainment alternatives, and hopefully, will give us some clues to what future audiences will want and expect of the JSO."

It is already apparent the JSO is giving its new and current subscribers what they want and expect. As of last February, when subscription renewals are due, the number of these renewals more than quadrupled over the number received last year. To JSO officials, it's sweet music to their ears.