FULL HOUSE Turning Data into Audiences - ARTS Australia

1. The heart of marketingThe customer database is the heart of the information needs aboutcustomers, and should pump out accurate and comprehensive datawhen requested.KEY items– Strategic and Tactical QuestionsIn organisations which charge for admission, ticketing is atthe heart of marketing, providing data to drive relationshipsof all kinds with customers. Someone in every group ofpeople attending an event has to contact the point-of-sale,traditionally the Box Office, directly or indirectly, to purchasethe tickets. Whether they telephone, turn up in person,buy on the Internet, write a letter, fill in a booking form orcontact a ticket agent, there is an opportunity to collectsome information about the customer and that transaction.Ticketing is a derived demand – the primary demandis for the event. The ticket is merely a means to an end,the end being attendance of the event. No one buys aticket for an event without marketing having persuadedthem to be interested in buying it first. Simply tellingpeople ‘what’s on’ has the limitation of ‘preaching to theconverted’ and only reaching people already appreciatingwhat is on offer. Marketing sets out to create audiences, toidentify potential attenders and persuade them to attend.For marketing purposes, it is essential for organisationsto have full access to information collected on thecustomers. The box office owned and managed by theorganisation is obviously the best way to guarantee thecustomer care and customer relationships needed. It isalso the best way to ensure that data on customers canbe appropriately collected and compiled through eachbooking method, and made fully available for subsequentuse. Other business arrangements of the sales channelsare possible, but it is essential that the data is collected inthe first place and effectively ‘owned’ by the organisation.The booking methods which involve dialogue with thecustomer provide the opportunity to find out more.Internet transactions guarantee capture of key informationabout the purchaser and can be extended with collectionof personal preferences and online surveys. It is nowpossible, according to some organisations, to compileinformation on 99% of the ticket-purchasers. This can thenbe enhanced by specific information from memberships,Friends and ‘loyalty schemes’, subscriptions, donationsand fund-raising, and from all the other points of contactwith people. This is a powerful resource of information.“Good information is a facilitator of successfulmarketing, and indeed, seen in this light, marketingmanagement becomes first and foremostan information processing activity” . M. Christopher, and others, Introducing Marketing, 1980,Pan, London.FULL HOUSE: Turning Data into Audiences © Roger Tomlinson & Tim Roberts