The Chicago Symphony Orchestra is hoping a new customer profile and segmentation study will help it create offers geared to a wider range of subscribers.
While the CSO gets an impressive 84% to 86% of subscribers to renew each year, the subscriber base has been eroding for some time, said vice president of marketing Jane Quinn. The symphony has some 13,000 member households, comprising about 28,000 individual subscribers. Because of changing lifestyles — thanks to things like hectic work schedules, new babies at home or other cultural commitments — music lovers are looking for more flexibility in concert subscription series, both in musical offerings and performance times.
The segmentation study, being conducted by DeCosmo and Associates, Burr Ridge, IL, is a step toward satisfying those concert-goers.
“I think the study will help us reach a better understanding of the customers we have and how they differ from product to product so we can zero in on those segments,” said Quinn.
The symphony's season runs from September to June. A full-season brochure — for both subscriptions and single tickets — is sent each fall. On Sept. 9, 2001, 280,000 were mailed. Because of the terrorist attacks two days later, the CSO didn't see the significant spike in ticket orders it's come to expect after such a mailing. But after the slow start, which drove overall sales down slightly, the rest of the season has sold well, Quinn noted.
The CSO, which performs in a 2,500-seat theater, is trying to make up the difference in lower subscription sales with more single-ticket revenue. For example, a New Year's Eve promotion on the symphony's Web site (www.cso.org) the week before Dec. 31 offered seats for $20.02. Eighty-five percent of the 300 seats allotted for the special offer were sold.
The CSO will begin selling subscriptions on the Web next season. Single-ticket online sales now comprise 10% of all ticket sales, a considerable leap from only less than 1% two and a half years ago. An opt-in e-mail list of 7,000 names is also being eyed for increased promotions.
An annual telemarketing acquisition campaign is slated to start shortly. About 100,000 leads culled from the CSO's house file, including lapsed subscribers and former single-ticket purchasers, will be targeted, as will leads generated through postcard prospecting.
Since the fall of 2000, the CSO has used survey data to develop its customer databases, said Quinn. Subscribers are sent surveys by mail to measure their satisfaction, including quality of experience, preferred performance times, and what they thought of the renewal process and the concession service at the theater. This data — along with data on single-ticket buyers and new, longtime and lapsed subscribers — will be used to group customers looking for similar experiences. The results of the segmentation study were expected this month.
“DeCosmo and Associates will overlay this house data with demographic and psychographic data, providing the CSO with a rich picture and understanding of the distinguishing characteristics of our patrons,” said Quinn.
The symphony's subscriber base is quite loyal, Quinn said, adding that the average subscriber has supported the CSO for 16 years. But with increased competition from other cultural organizations as diverse as museums like the Art Institute of Chicago and sports teams like the Chicago Cubs, maintaining that loyalty is difficult.
And like many cultural organizations, the CSO has a tight budget, so no immediate new direct marketing initiatives will come out of the segmentation study. “It will help us better direct the funds we have,” said Quinn.
