Projects: The Audience Business

Our work currently focuses on the marketing and audience development needs of over 35 key arts organisations in and around Edinburgh, including most theatres, galleries, festivals and large scale touring companies.

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Current projects

The Audience Business carries out several audience development and core research projects each year for the benefit of its subscribers.

Audience Segmentation
As a logical progression from our Vital Statistics standard reporting, we will work closely with performing arts subscribers to establish robust demographic profiles of their current audiences. We will thus aim to identify key 'target markets' as the basis for future projects i.e. identify potential new audiences drawn from under-represented demographic types with an established propensity to attend and/or participate in any given art form.

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Snapshot Edinburgh
Snapshot Edinburgh is The Audience Business' long term data gathering project focusing on arts consumers living in and travelling to Edinburgh. It is intended to offer powerful new insights into attendance at arts and cultural organisations across the city using box office data. This will provide up to date information on audience and attendance trends, booking behaviour, competition analysis and market analysis across Edinburgh.

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wiZ kidZ
www.wiZkidZ.org.uk is a website which forms part of our ongoing audience development work for the under 12s. It offers a searchable database of children's events in Edinburgh. We send out fortnightly e-bulletins to parents highlighting upcoming events and driving visitors to the website.

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Completed projects

Arts Explorers (completed)
The main objective of this project was to help demystify the arts in the eyes of disadvantaged young people, by identifying 10 groups of excluded young people from 14 to 18 years old living in difficult areas of Edinburgh and giving them the opportunity to participate in enjoyable introduction to the arts. The scheme also benefited youth workers who were offered a place on an innovative training scheme based around experiencing the arts. This project was a continuation of previous successful projects and forms part of our work with Young Audiences.

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Black and Minority Ethnic Arts Ambassador (completed)
This was a year long pilot initiative aiming to explore how best to enhance the links between the Minority Ethnic communities in Edinburgh and The Audience Business' subscribers. A dedicated Arts Ambassador built links with youth and religious groups and other community groups, as well as community and business leaders in order to raise awareness of the arts amongst Minority Ethnic communities. These relationships have been developed through guided visits and a database of contacts for use in ensuring that this participation and awareness continues.

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Music Group Sales Pilot (completed)
This 18-month Scottish Arts Council funded project saw The Audience Business working on behalf of Usher Hall, The Queen's Hall, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra and Edinburgh International Festival to increase group sales. The pilot project was designed in response to a growing need for a dedicated sales force to work with music organisations and venues to target the lucrative groups market.

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Not for the Likes of You (completed)
This project aimed to help cultural organisations attract a broad general audience by changing their overall positioning - rather than by implementing audience development schemes which leave the core of the organisation unchanged. Consultants Morton Smyth worked with 10 arts organisations across Scotland: Wee Stories, Stills, Scottish Dance Theatre, Scottish Book Trust, Project Ability, Horsecross, Edinburgh Filmhouse and Film Festival Partnership, Dundee Rep, Dancebase and An Lanntair.

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