Opera North's Market Information Needs

1.0 Introduction

A recollection of Opera North’s (ON) journey in UK’s entertainment industry reveals a company that has fought through the tides of business since the 1960s to date. According to Hickling (2012), ON became a fully-fledged entertainment company in 1978. Nonetheless, ON’s main theatre, The Royal Opera House, has been operating since the 1940s although its history can be traced back to the 18th century (Ashley, 2011). Briefly, ON‘s roots trace back to Lillian Baylis family, whereby the theatre idea emerged as an alternative entertainment to what was considered “rowdy and alcohol-soaked music halls” in the late 1990s. Today, based in Leeds, ON operates as an English opera company that also serves audiences in several other cities within the UK and beyond. Its main home theatre is the Leeds Grand Theatre but also makes several performances at various theatres including Lowry Centre, Salford Quays and Theatre Royal Nottingham (Ashley, 2012). Its orchestra, Orchestra of Opera North owns a right through which it regularly records and performs. According to Dreyer (2015), Orchestra of Opera North usually performs in the original language of the Roberto or in English Translations. The company offers a wide range of artistic products and services through concerts, gigs, film, and spoken word. According to Hickling (2016), the company is motivated by its mission to “make bold, innovative, ambitious work and share it in new ways”. Through this, the company purposes to champion diversity by bringing together repertoire, artists, and audiences of diverse backgrounds. The main aim of this report is to evaluate Opera North’s marketing information needs. The report will be divided into sections. The first section will identify ON’s products, services, competitors and the general market circumstances within which the company operates. Next, the report will identify and explain various secondary sources of data for ON’s new product market research. The third and last section will highlight the possible primary sources of data the company can use in conducting a new product’s market research.

1.1 Opera North’s Products

The main music and entertainment products of ON are delivered by the Orchestra of Opera North. It delivers a range of music concerts and is currently considered the only orchestra in the UK that has a year-round performance both in the concert hall and opera house (Brown, 2011). According to Ashley (2011), Orchestra of Opera North participates in various concerts within the region including its current collaborations with Kirklees Council which has led to a series of latest performances such as the Kirklees Concert Season. The ON also works with the UK’s education department to deliver skills to young musicians and get in contact with new audiences.

Other products offered by ON include music, poems and words, and visual arts, which are uniquely combined to give the audiences a great experience (Dreyer, 2015). The company also engages in small-scale touring shows where they engage with both the local audiences and local talent through a program dubbed ‘resonance’. Moreover, the company is currently developing other products including video playlists of lullabies sang by experienced artists, installation such as The Height of the Reeds, and new products called FILMusic which combines music and Films. Another prominent product offered by ON is the early years and family which targets to deliver an enjoyable experience to the audience through family-friendly performances by award-winning professional performers (Ashley, 2011). The family package is aimed at delivering an entertainment experience to families while getting them involved through workshops and shows on a weekly and monthly basis. The programs are meant to enable families to learn, play, and express themselves.

1.2 ON’s Competitive Environment

While details of Opera North’s market share are scanty, the company, through its website (operanorth.co.uk), claims that it is one of the leading opera companies in the UK. Nonetheless, the UK’s opera market consists of various market players such as the Beecham Opera Company, Bampton Opera Company, Birmingham Opera Company, and the British Youth Opera (Dreyer, 2015). Of interest is the Bampton Classical Opera due to the unique nature of its products, and the British Youth Opera because it is a charity organization that competes with ON’s in the market. First, Bampton Classical Opera has operated alongside ON in the UK and offers several competitive products that pose a challenge to ON. For instance, as opposed to ON, Bampton specializes in the production of lesser known opera, and the performances are sung in English (Dreyer, 2015). According to Hickling (2012), this uniqueness is especially a challenge for other opera companies including NO.

Another major competitor for ON is the British Youth Opera (BYO) that focuses on giving young instrumentalists, singers, production staff and directors experience in the opera industry. According to Hickling (2012), the British Youth Opera mainly operates in periodic performances especially the annual workshops that occur at Peacock Theatre – September every year.

1.3 Opera’s Need for Market Information

Recently, Opera North introduced a new product package for students under the age of 30 years dubbed U30. According to NorthOpera.com (n.d), this products targets to give a range of entertainment experiences (e.g. live music) to interested full-time students at a discounted price. Specifically, the new product includes discounted tickets for selected performances, discounted Howard Assembly Room in leads, food, and drinks – at discounted prices.

However, with other opera companies such as the BYO targeting the same youthful market that ON is targeting, there is a need for ON to have a comprehensive understanding of the target market in terms of their product preferences and needs. According to Aguirregabiria & Siuzuki (2014), market research provides an opportunity for companies to have an insight into their competitors, latest market trends, economic shifts, latest customer buying patterns, and consumer demographics. Hence, for a smart introduction of the U30 product into the market, there is a need for ON to conduct comprehensive market research, targeting their potential customers (i.e. the youth under 30). According to Bradlow et al (2005), this will not only enable ON to leverage on effective marketing strategies but also to develop efficient and cost-effective marketing strategies for the success of U30.

2.0 Types of NO’s Information Needs

Broadly, market research consists of two main types of information i.e. primary and secondary information. Chen et al (2011) state that primary market research majorly focuses on identifying the effectiveness of existing business operation, sales, service quality, and communication tools. Moreover, Anderson et al (2014) stipulate that primary research enables the assessment of the market’s current state of competition by examining the competitors’ business plans. Contrariwise, according to Barasch et al (2014), secondary market research entails a collection of existing relevant data used by the company to conduct situation analysis.

2.1 Types of Secondary Data recommended for ON

2.1.1 Sales and Purchase Records

NO can use its sales and purchase records as an internal source of secondary marketing data for developing effective marketing strategies. According to Zarzosa (2018), some of the most valuable information contained in sales and purchase records include consumer purchases and their corresponding dates, amounts, payment methods, products, and addresses; which consist of a rich source of data for marketing research.

Ideally, ON can analyse data from their sales and purchase records to determine its most likely customers, the most appealing marketing approaches to attract them, and the best product range. For instance, they can identify, from their ticketing system, the frequency with which consumers of age 30 years and below have been attending the concerts, so that they can develop an appropriate timing for the U30 concerts. This data can also be used to determine ON’s market position because it can generate the practical numbers of tickets bought within a period of time (e.g. yearly), for comparison with the sales levels of other companies – to determine how the company ranks in the market in terms of sales revenue.

A major advantage of sales and purchase records is that they are owned by the company and there is no one else in possession of similar data (Gundala et al, 2014). Moreover, according to Kumar et al (2017), the use of this data in market research is more economical because data is readily available. On the flipside, Witkowski & Poehlman (2017) contends that whereas this data is readily available, it is not readily usable because some of the data may have to be processed.

2.1.2 Data from Past Special Events

ON can also use information from the past special concerts and events as a source of data for the new U30 product. According to Williams & Poehlman (2017), such data give crucial information with a direct link to specific marketing strategies under consideration. For instance, NO has worked with several higher education institutions in the UK during various research projects such as the DARE Art Prize in partnership with the University of Leeds. Hence, if U30 targets students neighbouring universities, the data collected from such institutions could be useful in developing marketing strategies by helping to identify the number of youths who could have participated in such projects and whether a specific product can be developed for them, having known that they have some level of interest. This data is advantageous in the sense that it is readily available from the information records taken when such projects were being undertaken. However, according to Morales et al (2017), data from past events also need to be processed and interpreted to make useful inferences from it.

2.1.3 The Public Media

An external source of secondary data, advertising media such as periodicals, magazines, radio, television, and daily newspapers provide a wide range of information for market research. According to Eryigit (2017), the media can be used as a source of information for marketing research because they deliver real-time information regarding what is happening in the market, market competitors, new products in the market, and analytical commentaries on useful information such as the current market rankings of opera companies within the UK. For example, Wicker (2016), through an online periodical called The Stage, mentions various statistics about the UK’s opera industry which may be useful in developing marketing strategies.

This information could be crucial for ON’s U30 project because it gives a snapshot of which demography the project should target. Besides, data from the media could be useful in developing the most suitable performances for the U30 project by comparing what the media currently considered as ‘most preferred’. For instance, CNN’s Gonzales (2018) reported that the queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody’ was the most streamed song from the 20th century. Through this information, ON can develop similar performances, with similar likeability, in a bid to target more audiences. Nonetheless, a major disadvantage of media sources is the credibility issues which arise as a result of the user not being able to verify the sources and accuracy of the data provided.

2.1.4 Marketing Research Firms and Consultants

There is a wide range of services offered by Marketing research firms and consultants, which can be useful in developing effective marketing strategies. While some market research firms offer a full package of secondary data with accompanying data analysis, others may be willing to offer paid secondary data separately (Macer & Wilson, 2017). According to Ban et al (2015), some of the most useful secondary data that can be acquired from these consultants include access to market research databases such as OneSource, Zawya, OneSource, and Bloomberg. ON can use these databases to identify potential business partners for the U30 project, conduct competitor analysis, market plan development, and borough attractiveness (Lee & Lee, 2017). This source could be of great use to NO because of the effective and accurate analytical tools that the firms are well-endowed with.

A major advantage of consultants as a source of secondary data is that they have readily available data, tools for interpreting the data and experienced personnel capable of conducting sophisticated interpretation of the data (Takhar-lail & Ghorbani, 2015). On the contrary, according to Erickson (2017), the data must be bought and this might cost ON huge sums of money.

2.1.5 Government Statistics

ON could also use government statistics as an external source of secondary data. For instance, ON can use published statistics from the Art’s Council England to identify useful information regarding the target demographics (Seric & Ljubica, 2018). A typical example is the report by Arts Council England that in the year 2013/14, only 4% of adults in the survey had watched opera as opposed to 23% who had watched drama or plays (Wicker, 2016). Such information is crucial to the U30 project because it identifies crucial market realities that might be of important consideration when developing a market strategy for U30.

A major advantage of government statistics is that the data is readily and freely available for access and use (Sarstedt & Mooi, 2019). However, according to Bradley (2013), this data is not ready for use because it may have to be processed and interpreted within the context of the market research to make meaning or provide useful information.

2.2 Primary Research Recommendations

2.2.1 Surveys

Surveys can be an effective form of data collection for the U30 project. This is because according to Belk (2006), they can be executed in a variety of methods including feedback on the tickets or websites. U30 targets a specific population (i.e. the youth under 30 years) and therefore the company would like to know their subjective opinion on, for example, the most preferred performances. In such a scenario, according to Desai (2002), surveys become the most appropriate data collection methodology because they promote objectivity in market research.

Surveys are also appropriate in situations where the target population is too large, leading to the need for a relatively large representative sample (Kaden, 2006). Because the potential audience for U30 are spread all over UK, surveys emerges as an appropriate research methodology of ON. Through surveys, ON could gain the most objective data from a sample of the target audience to understand what could be their preferences in regards to the new product.

A major advantage of surveys is that they are effective in conducting satisfaction research because they facilitate effective measurement of attitudes, gather facts and information regarding pricing (Mcnulty, 2014). Moreover, according to Kaden (2006), surveys are advantageous in the sense that they can be delivered in various ways such as direct mail, face to face, over the phone and in web forms. For ON, the survey can be done face to face at the performance venues because the audiences physically attend the events.

Contrariwise, there are several limitations of surveys that ON must take note of. For instance, according to Bradley (2013), surveys are not good at the early stages of product development when the researcher still does not have an idea of the specific questions to ask the potential customers. Moreover, ON could only use surveys if they are at the comfort of time because surveys are time-consuming (Macer & Wilson, 2017). If ON chooses to use surveys, there are several ethical considerations that will have to be made, especially because surveys involve human subjects. For instance, to conduct a survey with students at Leeds University, ON will have to gain ethical approval from the University’s management. Similarly, according to Bradley (2013), there will have to be a negotiated access to the sample population. Importantly too, the company may find it difficult to access the students especially when the survey is conducted during exam periods.

Data collected through surveys can be analysed through different approaches, one of them being simple excel approaches. In this case, the data is analysed using percentages and presented using graphs and pie charts depending on the variable under measurement. For instance, a possible outcome of the survey is that a majority (e.g. 67%) would like the performances to begin 7 pm rather than 7 am. This data could then be analysed and compared with other similar events in the market to arrive at the best decision.

2.2.2 Focus Groups

Collecting data through focus groups involves gathering a group of people (fitting within a specific target demographic) depending on the product under investigation; then undertaking a discussion guided by a moderator with an aim of developing a conversation and gathering information regarding the product (Mcnulty, 2014). Therefore, to conduct a focus group on U30 product, representatives of ON should accompany the research team at the meeting and take notes without interfering with the discussion.

A major advantage of focus groups is that they are effective in gathering exploratory information about the product (Ban et al, 2015). For example, in the case of U30, focus groups can reveal various necessary attributes of the project that might have not otherwise been considered. However, according to Bradley (2013), focus groups are not as effective as other methods of market research because the members may not be honest when expressing their perceptions and opinions of the topic at hand. This may especially be eminent when their opinions do not agree with the opinions of other members.

Accessing focus group participants may also not be easy because it may require them to disrupt the schedule while attending. Hence, there is a need for the researcher to make several ethical considerations such as informed consent, where the researcher gives the participants adequate information regarding the study before they agree to participate (Mcnulty, 2014).

To conclude, the development and launching of new products, in any business, requires a beforehand test of waters - through market research, to see whether the product can be of great interest to the targeted market and customers. This report has established that in order to conduct an effective market research, both primary and secondary data is required. The report equips managers at Opera North with a wide range of primary and secondary data sources that can be useful in making strategic marketing decisions. The primary sources include surveys and focus groups while the secondary sources include government statistics, marketing research firms and consultants, public media, and sales and purchase records.

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