Aberdeen Performing Arts Audience Spectrum bespoke

Starting in 2019, Aberdeen Performing Arts began working with the Audience Agency as part of the Creative Scotland-funded programme with a key driver of using segmentation across their activities.  The organisations aimed to begin using a universal language within marketing and communications about audiences and to inform wider audience development planning and campaigns. In the first instance this was to help inform their reopening from the COVID-19 lockdowns and then ongoing as the organisation continued to develop its activities and programming profile.

As a larger dataset became available this evolved in 2023 into a bespoke Audience Spectrum project and the development of 20 sub-segments allowing greater detail in understanding different audience groups.  

We analysed ticketing data using Audience Answers to understand artform splits across the venues’ varying programmes and alongside other booker behaviours.  

All data was profiled using Audience Spectrum sub-segments and priority segments both in audiences and the Aberdeen population.   This was then assessed drawing on data on social grade, motivations, marketing preferences, geography and drive distance, enabling us to identify a goal for each segment.  

A set of insight guides for each of these bespoke segments was then produced with a one sheet segment strategy to support everyday marketing and planning.  

To support implementation, APA subscribe to an Audience Spectrum license within their Spektrix system, So they can run profiling and customise marketing lists in-house.  

The bespoke segmentation insight guides allowed:

• much deeper understanding of how the segments related to their audiences  
• internal teams to understand how using segmentation could support and enhance existing work  
• existing teams to enhance planning, marketing and audience analysis activity.  

Implementing Audience Spectrum across their work and marketing activities such as mailing lists and show reporting, has allowed APA to develop further ideas for implementation internally. Using the shorthand guides as key resource and based on these experiences which will be further personalised based on feedback and direct response from audience campaigns.

APA are able to further personalise their audience data and use the segmentation in line with broader audience-based KPIs and financial objectives.