Faced with declining attendance (subscription and single ticket), a large deficit and a “sluggish” economy, you along with three executives…

Faced with declining attendance (subscription and single ticket), a large deficit and a “sluggish” economy, you along with three executives of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra (VSO) ponder the results of an audience survey. NOTE: Background information and Survey questionnaire can be found at the end of Chapter 18 CASE III-I The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. Download the You Decide Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and the VSO RESPONDENT PROFILE BY SUBSCRIBER STATUS x files from Doc Sharing. Your Assignment You are in charge of preparing a memo for the Board of Directors analyzing how to best build ticket sales for the remaining four months of the season. Write a three to five page Report to the Board of Directors addressing the following questions: What management questions you are hoping to resolve and how did the data help? What decisions did you make? What are the strengths and weaknesses of this market research project? What trade-offs have been made? Explain any sampling bias? What issues would you address in future surveys and studies?

MKTG320 Week 6 You Decide Transcript

You Decide Title:

The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra

Scenario Summary:

Your Role/Assignment:

You are in charge of preparing a memo for the Board of Directors analyzing how to best build ticket sales for the remaining four months of the season.

Activity:

• Write a three to five page Report to the Board of Directors addressing the following questions:

• What management questions you are hoping to resolve and how did the data help?

• What decisions did you make?

• What are the strengths and weaknesses of this market research project?

• What trade-offs have been made?

• Explain any sampling bias?

• What issues would you address in future surveys and studies?

Key Players: Key Players – Image	Title/Role/Character	Script – Text & Audio
Ed Oscapella	We’ve got to do something, and do it fast, to get out of this difficult situation. Time is running out for the season. I think we should really stress to the board our most important recommendation based on the results as given. I just don’t know what it is.
Jane Corbett	From my point of view, I’ve got to find out who wants what: Do subscribers want something different than nonsubscribers? If so, what is it? We’ve got all this information that needs analyzing and I’m hoping it will be useful in marketing the rest of the season. Whatever we decide it must specific and actionable.
E. Douglas Hughes	I’ve got to decide on an appropriate theme or themes to communicate to the segments we go after. We’ve got to give the printers sufficient lead time to get our brochures out, so I need to know what to focus on in the promotion.

504

Sum of Degrees of Mean Sum
Source of Variation Squares Freedom (df) of Squares F-ratio

Advertising 360 3 120 3.0a

Store size 88 2 44 1.1

Interaction 984 6 164 4.1b

Unexplained variation 480 12 40

Total 1,912 23

TABLE 18-8
Analysis of Variance of Sales Changes

a Significant at the .10 level.
b Significant at the .05 level.

Cases for Part III
Data Analysis

CASE III-I
The Vancouver
Symphony Orchestra1

Daniel Gardiner and Charles Weinberg

At an afternoon meeting at the Vancouver Symphony
Orchestra (VSO) offices, three executives, concerned with
the marketing of the VSO, were discussing some of the
challenges they currently faced.2

Ed Oscapella: We’ve got to do something, and
do it fast, to get out of this diffi-
cult situation. Time is running
out of the 1987/88 season.

Jane Corbett: From my point of view, I’ve got to
find out who wants what: Do sub-
scribers want something different
than nonsubscribers? If so, what?
We’ve got all this information that
needs analyzing and I’m hoping it
will be useful in marketing the
1987/88 season.

E. Douglas Hughes: I’ve got to decide on an appropri-
ate theme or themes to communi-
cate to the segment(s) we go after.
We’ve got to give the printers
sufficient lead time to get our
brochures out, so I need to know
what to focus on in the promotion.

Armed with the computer data from a recent audi-
ence survey completed January 6, 1987 (four weeks ear-
lier), the three knew that they had to sift through all the
information very carefully. Within two weeks, they had
to come up with a set of specific and actionable recom-
mendations. The VSO’s Board had already voted to
cancel many concerts in June so as to lower its deficit.

All three agreed that perhaps their immediate task
was to build ticket sales for the remaining four months
of the 1986/87 season. The guest artist and concert
schedule from February through June is shown in
Marketing Research in Action III-1. During this time
period, two subscription series were offered. The first
was a six-concert “Seagram Pops” series. The second
was a five-concert celebration series. In the prior year, a
“Musically Speaking” series and “Jubilee” series were
both offered.

Background
Situated midway between Asia Pacific countries and
the United Kingdom and approximately 40 miles north
of the United States, Vancouver is Canada’s third
largest city. Home to more than 1.3 million people, Van-
couver is the largest metropolitan area in Western
Canada and is an emerging center of international
trade and investment.

Vancouver is rated one of the five most beautiful
cities in the world, and in addition to varied recre-
ational and sports attractions, Vancouver has many cul-
tural and theatrical attractions as well. These include

1 Ed Oscapella, Executive Director; Jane Corbett, Director of Marketing; and E. Douglas Hughes, Director of Communications for the Vancouver
Symphony Orchestra.
2 The data for this case are available; see your instructor.

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VSO Guest Artist and Concert Schedule
February–June 1987

Date Series Conductora Soloist

Feb. 7, 9 CS#1 R. Barshai I. Kipnis, harpsichord

Feb. 13 Recital V. Ashkenazy, piano

Feb. 15, 16, 17 J#8 R. Barshai C-L Lin, violin

Feb. 19, 20, 21(2) Bal #2 P. N. Balet
Vanc-Cantata Singers

Feb. 24(2) School P. McCoppin K. Rudolph, pic., E. Volpe, hp.

Feb. 27, 28, Mar. 2, 3 POP#2 S. Dankworth No soloists

Mar. 8, 9, 10 J#9 H. Holliger Cond & ob soloist

Mar. 12 Recital M. Perahia, piano

Mar. 14, 16 CS#2 G. Sebastion B. Tuckwell, hn

Mar. 18 Benefit Concert M. J. Fox, T. Banks, B. Zarankin, piano/E.
Northcott

Mar. 19, 20, 21(2) Bal #3 E. Stafford Royal Winnipeg Ballet

Mar. 24 SP Bal P. McCoppin R. Nureyev and Friends

Mar. 29, 30, 31 J#10 Y. P. Tortelier W. Klien, piano

April 3, 4, 6, 7 POP#3 R. Hayman The Cambridge Buskers

April 6 Tea & Trumpets P. McCoppin E. Northcott, sop, O. Lowry, host

April 12, 13, 14 J#11 K. Akiyama L. Lortie, piano

April 18, 20 CS#3 T. Otaka A. de Larrocha, piano

April 21 SP P. McCoppin Visions: Mission Andromeda

B. Buckley

Apr. 24, 25, 27, 28 POP#4 M. Miller No soloists

May 3, 4, 5 J#12 R. Barshai Bach Choir: J. Coop, piano: M. Collins, sop;
S. Graham, mezzo; G. Evans, tnr; D. Garrard, bass

May 9, 11 CS#4 R. Barshai E. Mathis, sop

May 22, 23, 25, 26 POP#5 J. Everly and Bach Choir S. Woods, sop/M. Paris, mezzo D. Eisler,
tnr/B Hubbard, bari

May 30, June 1 CS#5 K. Akiyama C. Parkening, guitar-May 30
Norbert Kraaft, guitar-June 1

May 31 F. Pops#3 P. McCoppin Jarvis Benoit Quartet

June 5, 6, 8, 9 POP#6 K. Akiyama M. Martin, soprano; B. Zarankin, piano
Y. Guilbert, piano

a Rudolf Barshai is Music Director and Principal Conductor and Kazuyoshi Akiyama is Conductor Laureate of the VSO.

MARKETING RESEARCH IN ACTION III-1

SOURCE: VSO files.

the Vancouver Museum, the Queen Elizabeth Play-
house, the Arts Club, the Vancouver Art Gallery, the
Vancouver Opera Society, and the Vancouver Sym-
phony Orchestra.

The VSO is one of the oldest cultural institutions in
Vancouver, with its inaugural concert held in 1897. Reg-
ular seasons were offered in the 1930s when the orches-
tra came under the patronage of Mrs. B. T. Rogers. The
orchestra’s original repertoire included mostly big band

music. Over the years, the repertoire expanded to
reflect more classical and romantic symphonic works,
changing in response to the tastes of the various musi-
cal directors. As well, the regular season was length-
ened and the number of scheduled programs and series
increased.

The orchestra, among the 10 largest in North
America, has been plagued with financial, managerial,
and artistic problems over the past two years.

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Subscription revenue has steadily declined in the last
five years, putting pressure on the symphony to empha-
size sales of single tickets and to heavily promote each
event. With 122 scheduled performances in the
1986/87 season, a 15 percent decrease in regular sub-
scribers (to the “Jubilee” and “Musically Speaking”
series), the sluggish economic climate in Vancouver
post-Expo ’86, and a deficit of $811,000, the Vancouver
Symphony Orchestra faced an enormous challenge just
to maintain the status quo, let alone reduce its deficit.

While small consolation, symphony orchestras
throughout North America were going through difficult
times (Newsweek, January 5, 1987, pp. 54–56). In September
1986, the Oakland Symphony declared bankruptcy and
closed its doors; others, such as the San Diego Symphony
and the one in Halifax, Nova Scotia, had suspended oper-
ations for a season or more. The Chicago Symphony,
despite playing to a 98 percent capacity, was able to pay
back only 62 percent of its $20 million operating budget.
On the other hand, the symphonies in Montreal and
Hamilton were enjoying record attendance levels and
renewed financial support.

Decline in Attendance
At one point in the 1970s, the VSO enjoyed the largest
subscription base of any orchestra in North America.
However, the number of subscribers has been steadily
declining. In 1985/86, subscriptions dropped by 18 per-
cent. In 1986/87, the decrease in subscriptions could
approach 20 percent, for an overall decline since 1984/85
of over 30 percent. Plans were being made to revise the

subscription packages for the 1987/88 season in order
to reverse this trend. However, the program for the cur-
rent season was set.

Single-ticket sales had also been decreasing, but at
a slower rate than subscriptions and were becoming
relatively more important in terms of total attendance.
They accounted for 36,701 tickets sold in the 1985/86
season. In 1984/85, regular subscribers accounted for
79 percent of the total attendance. However, the pro-
portion of subscribers for 1986/87 was projected at
only 70 percent of total attendance.

The Free Concert
One of the ways to offset declining revenues may

be to focus on nonsubscribers. After a date to make a
recording of the VSO was postponed, it was decided in
early December that a “free concert” be given in order
to obtain “trial” by the nonsubscriber group. This con-
cert was held in the evening on Tuesday, January 6, 1987.
People had to go to the VSO’s administrative office
located three miles away from the Orpheum Theater
(where the VSO performed) to pick up tickets. After
being heavily promoted on a local FM radio station, the
concert was an immediate “sellout” with all 2,761 tickets
distributed. So as to obtain information about the concert-
goers in a cost-effective manner, a questionnaire was
developed and given to audience members. Because of
time constraints, an initial draft of the questionnaire was
pretested only on VSO office employees. A photore-
duced copy of the survey is shown in Marketing
Research in Action III-2 along with relevant response

Audience Questionnaire

VANCOUVER SYMPHONY

Audience Questionnaire

Dear Patron,

We at the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra want very much to provide the best possible musical
experience for our audiences and the Vancouver community as a whole. In our continuing efforts
to improve our performances and make your concert-going as satisfying and enjoyable as possi-
ble, we ask that you take a little time to answer the following questions. Your opinions and sug-
gestions are extremely important and will be most useful in helping us to evaluate our programs,
as well as our manner of presentation.

When you leave tonight’s concert, please be so kind as to place the completed questionnaire
in one of the special boxes located near the exits and the VSO Gift Shop. If you do not have time
to complete it this evening, we would request that you mail it to us at your convenience. On
behalf of the members of the orchestra and the staff, thank you very much for your assistance.

Edward Philip Oscapella
Executive Director
Vancouver Symphony Orchestra

400 East Broadway, Vancouver, B.C., V5T 1X2—875-1661

MARKETING RESEARCH IN ACTION III-2

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MARKETING RESEARCH IN ACTION III-2 (continued)

1.aAre you a subscriber (i.e., purchase series tickets) to the VSO?
19% 1-1 ___ Yes, currently
29 1-2 ___ No, but formerly
51 1-3 ___ Never subscribed

2. Have you ever purchased tickets to an individual VSO event?
22% 2-1 ___ Yes, since September 1986
51 2-2 ___ Yes, but only before September 1986
26 2-3 ___ No

3. Since September 1986, how many times have you attended a VSO performance?
56% 3-1 ___ I haven’t attended a VSO performance since September 1986
18 3-2 ___ Attended once
12 3-3 ___ Attended 2–3 times
7 3-4 ___ Attended 4–5 times
5 3-5 ___ Attended more than 5 times

4. If you have ever attended previous VSO performances, we would like to know why. Please
indicate the THREE most important reasons from the list below. (1 � Most Important, 2 �
Second-Most Important, 3 � Third-Most Important). Write 1, 2, or 3 on the appropriate lines.
i.b ii. iii.
42%a 19% 39% (4- ) ___I wanted to see and hear classical music performed live
2 16 81 (5- ) ___The VSO under Maestro Rudolf Barshai is an excellent

orchestra
7 44 49 (6- ) ___I think the Orpheum is an excellent setting for great

music
13 31 54 (7- ) ___The choice of music appealed to me
13 37 50 (8- ) ___I wanted to see famous guest artists and conductors

Please list any additional reasons below:
(9- ) ___ _________________________________________________________________________

(10- ) ___ _________________________________________________________________________
(11- ) ___ _________________________________________________________________________

5. Overall, what is your rating of the VSO on the following characteristics? Put a checkmark on
the appropriate lines.

EXCELLENT GOOD FAIR POOR
(4) (3) (2) (1)

___ Performance of Orchestra 65%a 33% 1% 0% (12- )
___ Guest Artists 43 53 2 2 (13- )
___ Music Selection 22 59 10 8 (14- )
___ Acoustics in Orpheum 56 39 3 1 (15- )
___ Prices of Tickets 13 46 35 6 (16- )
___ Convenience of Parking 12 41 33 13 (17- )
___ General Atmosphere of Orpheum 63 34 2 1 (18- )
___ Service from VTC-CBO 26 57 13 4 (19- )

6. Please give us your opinion about the amount of each type of music played by the VSO.

TOO ABOUT TOO
MUCH RIGHT LITTLE
(3) (2) (1)

___ Classical (e.g., Bach, Mozart) 6%a 72% 22% (20- )
___ 20th century music (e.g., Debussy, Stravinsky) 14 71 14 (21- )
___ Pops (e.g., Mantovani, Williams) 20 62 18 (22- )
___ Canadian (e.g., Schaeffer) 24 60 16 (23- )

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MARKETING RESEARCH IN ACTION III-2 (continued)

8. What concert times do you prefer?
12%a 32-1 ___ Matinees (2:30 P.M.)
34 32-2 ___ 7:30 P.M.
55 32-3 ___ 8:00 P.M.
7 32-4 ___ 8:30 P.M.

9. What day of the week do you prefer to attend concerts?
18%a 33-1 ___ Sunday
21 33-2 ___ Monday
27 33-3 ___ Tuesday
17 33-4 ___ Wednesday
17 33-5 ___ Thursday
25 33-6 ___ Friday
32 33-7 ___ Saturday

10. From where do you get most of your information about VSO events?
47%a 34-1 ___ From VSO mailings
46 34-2 ___ From ads in daily newspapers (e.g., Sun, Province)

3 34-3 ___ From ads in community newspapers
32 34-4 ___ From radio ads

3 34-5 ___ From television ads
10 34-6 ___ From reviews and feature stories

34-7 ___ Other—please specify

11. Which daily newspaper do you read most often?
71%a 35-1 ___ Vancouver Sun
24 35-2 ___ Province

7 35-3 ___ Globe and Mail
6 35-4 ___ Other—please specify ________________________________________

12. Are you
39%a 36-1 ___ Male
61 36-2 ___ Female

word-of-mouth 9%
nonword-of-mouth 3

International
Performers &
$20 price

Orchestra &
$20 price

International
Performers &
$14 price

International
Performers &
Balcony

vs.

vs.
vs.

vs.
33

27-2
67

27-1

23
26-2

77
26-1

70
25-2

30
25-1

56%
24-2

44%a

24-1
New,
Promising
Performers &
$8 price

Balcony &
$14 price

New,
Promising
Performers &
$8 price

New,
Promising
Performers &
Orchestra

Orchestra &
$20 price
International
Performers &
$20 price

Orchestra &
$14 price

International
Performers &
Orchestra

vs.
vs.
vs.

vs.

31-2
59

31-1

54
30-2

46
30-1

37
29-2

63
29-1

74%
28-2

26%
28-1

Balcony &
$8 price

New,
Promising
Performers &
$14 price

Balcony &
$8 price

International
Performers &
Balcony

7. Below are presented eight pairs of events characterized by reputation of performer, seating
arrangements, and single ticket prices. Assuming everything else about each pair is identi-
cal, please check your preference in each case.

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509

13. To which age group do you belong?
2%a 37-1 ___ Under 18
6 37-2 ___ 18–24

16 37-3 ___ 25–34
17 37-4 ___ 35–44
21 37-5 ___ 45–54
22 37-6 ___ 55–64
19 37-7 ___ 65 and over

14 Please specify your postal code See EXHIBIT

15. If you prefer to purchase tickets to individual events (as opposed to subscription tickets),
why is this so? Please indicate below.
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________

16. All things considered, what would it take to get you to attend VSO performances on a
regular basis?
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________

THANK YOU FOR YOUR COOPERATION IN COMPLETING THIS QUESTIONNAIRE, AND
THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATRONAGE OF THE VANCOUVER SYMPHONY.

When you leave tonight’s concert, please place the completed questionnaire in one of the special
boxes located near the exits and the VSO Gift Shop. If you do not have time to complete it this
evening, we would request that you mail it to us at your convenience.

Audience Survey
c/o Vancouver Symphony Society
400 East Broadway
Vancouver, B.C.
VST 1X2

a Percentages given in questionnaire are for all respondents.
bi � most important; ii � 2nd or 3rd most important; iii � not ranked in top 3.

V
38

MARKETING RESEARCH IN ACTION III-2 (continued)

frequencies for each question for the entire sample.
Respondents had the choice of dropping off the instru-
ment at various places in the Orpheum or mailing it in
later. A total of 614 completed questionnaires from the
2,400 people actually in attendance were returned.
Since almost everyone attended in groups of two or
more, this was considered a good response rate by
management.

The data from the survey is in a file called VSO.
Marketing Research in Business III-3 provides a
sequential listing of the variables in the file and each
variable corresponds to a specific question in the sur-
vey. For example, SUBSCRBR is the first variable and
corresponds to Question 1 on the questionnaire. POST-
COD5 is the last variable and refers to the sixth digit
of the respondent’s postal code as asked by Question

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510

14. RESPID refers to respondent identification and was
inserted after receiving the research instruments. It is
to be noted that no quantitative analysis can readily be
performed on Questions 15 and 16.

Given all this information, Ed, Jane, and Doug sat
down to analyze it and work on a report for the Board
of Directors. They knew that any recommendation(s)
they make must be supported by the data.

Variable Listing

Variable Rec Start End Variable Rec Start End

SUBSCRBR 1 1 1 MATINEE 1 32 32

INDPURCH 1 2 2 SVNTHRTY 1 33 33

ATTEND 1 3 3 EIGHT 1 34 34

LIVEMUS 1 4 4 EGHTHRTY 1 35 35

VSOGOOD 1 5 5 SUNDAY 1 36 36

ORPGOOD 1 6 6 MONDAY 1 37 37

CHOICE 1 7 7 TUESDAY 1 38 38

FAMOUS 1 8 8 WEDNESDAY 1 39 39

OTHER1 1 9 9 THURSDAY 1 40 40

OTHER2 1 10 10 FRIDAY 1 41 41

OTHER3 1 11 11 SATURDAY 1 42 42

ORCHSTRA 1 12 12 VSOMAIL 1 43 43

GUESTS 1 13 13 PAPERADS 1 44 44

SELETION 1 14 14 COMMPAPR 1 45 45

ACOUSTIC 1 15 15 RADIOADS 1 46 46

PRICES 1 16 16 TVADS 1 47 47

PARKING 1 17 17 STORIES 1 48 48

ATMSPERE 1 18 18 OTHRSRCE 1 49 49

SERVICE 1 19 19 VANCSUN 1 50 50

CLASICAL 1 20 20 PROVINCE 1 51 51

TWENTITH 1 21 21 GLBEMAIL 1 52 52

POPS 1 22 22 OTHRPAPR 1 53 53

CANADIAN 1 23 23 GENDER 1 54 54

PAIR1 1 24 24 AGEGROUP 1 55 55

PAIR2 1 25 25 POSTCOD1 1 56 56

PAIR3 1 26 26 POSTCOD2 1 57 57

PAIR4 1 27 27 POSTCOD3 1 58 58

PAIR5 1 28 28 POSTCOD4 1 59 59

PAIR6 1 29 29 POSTCOD5 1 60 60

PAIR7 1 30 30 RESPID 1 61 61

PAIR8 1 31 31

MARKETING RESEARCH IN ACTION III-3

Questions for Discussion

1. What are the strengths and weaknesses of this mar-
ket research project?

2. What information can you derive from the data?
State specifically the managerial questions you are

hoping to resolve and how the data would help you.
Make at least one specific recommendation based on
the results of this research.

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