Qualitative research for a world-renowned symphony orchestra

This world-renowned orchestra is experimenting with a variety of new concert formats, expanding and differentiating their “product lines” with the goal of better meeting the unique needs of audiences and increasing frequency of attendance, particularly among single ticket buyers. The museum’s marketing department invited Slover Linett to help them explore the appeal of three specific concert formats each focused on a different theme (providing educational context, incorporating visual elements along with music, and imbuing the concert experience with a more casual atmosphere along with food and drinks). We used “experience sampling,” a method we developed to understand experiences through the eyes of someone who might not have ever attended on their own. In this case, we sent a group of infrequent ticket buyers to two concerts; they all attended a traditional classical music concert and each went to one of the three new format concerts. We spoke by phone with each participant before their concert to better understand their percpetions and awareness and then we spoke again with them after the concert in focus groups to understand their concert experiences. Overall, we found that while program remains the primary decisionmaking criteria, many also consider elements of the concert format, indicating that a strategy of product differentiation is valuable. However, for that strategy to be successful, it must be both well-executed in alignment with the needs of that audience and easily recognized through marketing so that the appropriate audiences find their way to it in the future.