Ms. Sara Billmann

When a Bigger Audience May Not Be a Better Audience

Posted by Ms. Sara Billmann, Oct 06, 2011 7 comments


Ms. Sara Billmann

Sara Billmann

I’ve been thinking a lot about audience lately, and how we often we fall into the trap of marketing our performances TO certain audiences rather than thinking about what kind of audience experience we can design to attract the ‘right’ audience for the work that we’re presenting.

It’s a very subtle shift in thinking, but one that I’m starting to think can have a big impact on the work we do.

As a presenter, my involvement in the creation of any given work is basically non-existent. While I’m part of the curatorial team that puts together each season for our audiences, I seldom see the work that we present in advance and rely heavily on the press kit, recordings, and YouTube videos to gain a real understanding of the artists we present (ironic, isn’t it, that while we tout the importance of the live performance experience, we rely on digital media to understand it ourselves).

For most performances, that method works just fine – I either have past experience with an artist, or it is a relatively straightforward performance, and I have easy access to understanding the program and the artists.

But each year there are a few events that are outside the box, and those are the events that require a different approach to building audiences. Not attracting audiences, but building audiences.

Case in point: this past weekend, we presented a rather unusual event that matched a well-known actor with a Baroque chamber orchestra for a pseudo-theatrical event that paired a monologue by a serial killer with concert arias representing the angst and anguish of scorned women.

I will be honest in saying that we sold a lot of tickets, hooking people with the presence of the well-known actor. And we generated a spirited debate among audiences, both in person and online.

But I have to be equally honest in saying that were we to do it again, I would structure the marketing effort in a completely different way, one that would probably have generated a smaller audience, but one that might have made the overall experience more successful.

We should have been more thoughtful about whom we needed in the audience to make the event successful, not who would be drawn by the presence of the well-known actor. And then we should have taken the audience on the journey with us of why we programmed it: to explore how new work can be created from old, and how seemingly disparate art forms can benefit each other.

We could have repositioned the luridness of the story to make a statement that would have had more meaning and demonstrated more sensitivity to our audience.

In short, we didn’t design the audience for the performance that was being presented. We took the performance and tried to sell it to as many people as possible, without considering whether it was the right event for them.

That may sound elitist, but I wonder how many people may have been so turned off that it will be years before they trust us again. This was not an event for everyone, and in many respects, we tried to make it one. In the end, the short-term win doesn’t always yield the largest results.

7 responses for When a Bigger Audience May Not Be a Better Audience

Comments

October 11, 2011 at 5:21 pm

I appreciate your comments Sara about the difference between 'attracting' and 'building.' The concept of taking audiences on a journey is resource-intensive for performing arts organizations to think about (requiring as it does long-term planning, additional 'wraparound' activity to contextualize artistic decisions, etc) but really forward-thinking, particularly for building new audiences and new types of audience relationships with the institution.

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Christy Farnbauch says
October 27, 2011 at 9:52 pm

Love your ideas about what success looks like. If we can help people overcome their perceptual (that art form isn't for me), practical (ticket price), and experiential (the way I feel the next day) barriers in one shot, I think the audience member will be more likely to return to your space. Thanks, Rory MacPherson, the Wallace Foundation, and the RAND Corporation for helping us learn this many years ago. Keep up the great work!

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October 18, 2011 at 9:24 pm

Thanks for sharing this. I often engage in similar conversations where the question is asked: How do we measure success? Is it by gross revenue, net revenue, total audience count, or is about setting an expectation and surpassing that expectation with those that attend.
While it is sometimes difficult to determine who 'the right audience' actually means, I measure it a 'success' when the audience goes home feeling great about everything: the ticket price, the drive to the theatre, the meal they had beforehand, the concessions they enjoyed, the performance, and the way they felt next day. I think it gets easy to fall into the trap of 'just sell the damn thing' because of limited resources, escalating expenses, time constraints and a growing rate of delayed purchases from patrons. By focusing on overcoming these obstacles, I have found it is easier to arrive at that measure of success.

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October 07, 2011 at 2:45 pm

Fabulous example, Sara, of how bigger (now) is not always better - long term. I appreciate your observation that this event was not for everyone but you tried to make it one. This reminds me also that not every digital media communication tool is right for every purpose. You mention viewing YouTube videos for you to get a rough idea of an artist's work - which often works fine, along with your prior knowledge - but if you were to do what you mention you would next time, take the audience on a journey of why you programmed it, then a performance video clip probably wouldn't cut it. Instead, maybe interviews with the creative team, or links to sites that recount historical crimes of passion, would give potential audiences a better idea of what they could expect to experience at the event.

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March 14, 2012 at 12:10 pm

Wow. That's some pretty intense reaction. But it looks like you had some good advocates in that forum, too. Thanks for sharing.

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March 10, 2012 at 11:45 am

What feedback did you get that makes you think that people lost trust in you? Were people visibly upset, sent in complaints, etc.? Just curious about the fallout in practical terms.

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Ms. Sara Billmann says
March 14, 2012 at 11:47 am

David, if you want to see the feedback, you can visit our UMS Lobby website, where we invite audience members to comment after each performance. The direct link for this particular concert is here:
http://www.umslobby.org/index.php/2011/10/people-are-talking-ums-present...

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