The Young Vic wanted to understand:
- more about their people, including ticket bookers, participants, creative collaborators and workforce
- any differences between these groups, including between donors, members, and general theatre attenders so that they could engage with them in meaningful and relevant ways
- why some people don’t come, particularly younger audiences and those from the global majority.
The goal for the project was to create and embed a new audience segmentation so that they could look at all their audiences through a joined-up lens. They wanted a shared language when talking about the different groups who engaged with them and to speak to people in more personalised ways. Finally, they needed to work out who was missing and how they might find and appeal to them
Our Approach
We worked in partnership with Baker Richards to combine behavioural segmentation (based on booking data), attitudinal research (through surveys) and collaborative workshopping. Baker Richards created cluster analyses to build likely behavioural segments. We then surveyed through these lenses to understand the perceptions and motivations of each group and refine our understanding. We identified distinct audience segments, ranging from loyal frequent attenders to those who attended infrequently but were driven by “star power” or well-known titles. We also carried out non-attender surveys and gathered data from creatives, staff and participants to give a rounded picture of audiences.
Workshops with Young Vic staff brought the segments to life and set objectives and action plans to increase engagement with them.
The Outcome
The insights gained from this project have reshaped how the Young Vic engages with its audiences. The team now has:
- a deeper understanding of audience motivations, barriers to attendance, and booking behaviours
- strategies to encourage loyalty and increase attendance frequency, particularly among “Star Seekers” and “Show Driven” segments
- enhanced targeting of non-attenders, especially younger and global majority audiences,
- a segmentation model that is integrated into the Young Vic’s CRM, ensuring long-term application.
They have seen vastly improved return on investment on tailored marketing campaigns, and have embedded the segments into their systems.