Opera Australia faced the challenge of attracting new audiences to its 100-year-old productions. Market research found that lack of knowledge about opera and high price perceptions were barriers. To address this, Opera Australia shifted to positioning itself as an entertainment brand focused on delivering high-value experiences. It developed an optimized digital ecosystem to celebrate audiences and generate social proof. Testing found the new experience-focused marketing was more effective than traditional title-led approaches. As a result, Opera Australia has attracted more first-time opera goers and increased website visits.

1. How
we
went
about
building
audiences
in
2016…for
the
pop
songs
of
1886
John
Quertermous
Head
of
Marketing
and
Tourism
Rachael
Lonergan
Head
of
Strategy

2. How
do
you
innovate
and
build
new
communities
of
audiences
when
your
product
is
literally
a
hundred
years
old
or
more?
Opera
Australia
recently
turned
60

3. Source:
http://www.chaostrophic.com/
When
some
people
think
of
Opera,
they
think
of
this…

4. …when
they
could
be
thinking
of
this.

5. The
Challenge
Developing
a
communications
strategy
that
delivers
to
the
entertainment
needs
of
audiences
in
2016

6. When
we
said
we
love
Opera,
we
meant
it
In
order
to
evolve
communications
and
targeting
we
needed
to
prove
our
case
“Better
to
ask
for
forgiveness
than
permission”

7. Source:
ASkU Survey
Commissioned
August
2014
by
Foundation,
P18+,
n=236
Strategic
Insight
#1
#1
barrier
to
ticket
purchase
is
not
knowing
much
about
Opera
Only
5%
said
they
knew
a
lot
about
Opera
63%
were
willing
to
learn
more
Traditional
“arts”
style
marketing
by
title,
assumes
prior
knowledge

8. #2
barrier
to
ticket
purchase
is
perception
of
ticket
price/value
47%
happy
to
spend
$150
or
more
on
a
single
concert
ticket
for
other
entertainment
options
72%
would
be
happy
to
receive
tickets
to
the
Opera
as
a
gift
Strategic
Insight
#2
Source:
ASkU Survey
Commissioned
August
2014
by
Foundation,
P18+,
n=236
Price
perception
tied
up
with
concern
about
value

9. The
opportunity
for
OA
Begin
acting
as
an
entertainment
brand
rather
than
an
“arts
company”
Deliver
high-­‐value
experiences
and
make
them
accessible
to
as
many
ticket-­‐buyers
as
possible
Celebrate
audiences
and
generate
social
proof
that
helps
deliver
ticket
sales

10. New
positioning
:
Sydney-­‐style

11. Then Now

15. It
takes
an
optimised
digital
eco-­‐system…

16. The
risk
is
paying
off
In
testing,
digital
creative
for
“experiences”
works
as
well
or
better
than
title-­‐led
creative
in
converting
to
ticket
sales
We’re
attracting
more
first-­‐time
Opera
goers
than
ever
before
44%
of
the
audience
at
Carmen
in
2016
were
new
to
Opera
Australia
Interest
in
Opera
as
a
special
“night
to
remember”
is
increasing
Visits
to
the
Handa Opera
on
Sydney
Harbour website
are
+80%
in
past
2
years

17. “Last
Night
at
the
Opera”

18. Thank
you