Market Research Summary

West Australian Opera Strategic Direction Research Board Presentation

Prepared by: Jessica Henderson – Account Manager Nicole Biagioni – Account Manager Kristy Willoughby – Account Director

Today’s Agenda

Where we stand today Setting the Scene

1

2

3 The need for evolution

2

Setting the Scene

3

Methodology & Sample

4

Methodology

Qualitative Research • Both internal and external qualitative workshops and focus groups were conducted from 17th – 19th April 2018.

• 3 x internal perspective workshops were run with WAO Staff, Board Members, and Stakeholders.

• 2 x external focus groups were run with WAO Attendees, and general population Non-Attendees.

Quantitative Research • Following the completion of the qualitative component of the research, a quantitative survey was developed informed by the qualitative research findings.

• An online survey was conducted from 11th – 20th May 2018.

• The survey was distributed to two samples: • Perth general population via an online panel (n=320 completes) • Those engaged with WAO, obtained via sample lists and links posted to WAO’s Facebook & Twitter pages. (n=629 completes) • Responses from the Perth GP sample were weighted according to Perth Metropolitan ABS age and gender figures to assure population representativeness.

• Significant differences (95% C.I) between groups are indicated by this symbol: 5

Cutting to the chase‌.

6

Sneak Peek of Key Insights…

We’ve got a lot to be proud of

Internal and external perceptions of WAO are positive overall.

Awareness of us is fairly high, and we’re seen as crucial to arts & culture in WA and the development of new talent, and our internal stakeholders are passionate about us.

Some of our strengths can also be our weaknesses

We’ve got a strong history and heritage and a loyal customer base who see going to the opera as a special occasion. However, there is also the perception that WAO is outdated, expensive and inaccessible to the masses.

We’re not appealing to the majority of the general population

Attracting new Evolution is seen audiences is as inevitable, seen as WAO’s and there’s four biggest main areas of opportunity for opportunity the future

Most say they don’t have an interest in opera, but even those who do aren’t necessarily likely to attend a WAO performance in the future. Ticket price and perceptions of value are major barriers for those who don’t currently attend aside from general disinterest.

Both internally and externally it’s seen as important to attract new, and youth audiences. By offering different ticket pricing and package offerings, engaging more in schools, and performing in more accessible locations, we can potentially attract a new audience demographic.

By increasing awareness through communications, growing our audience, branching out in terms of our content, and offering attractive ‘trimmings’ to our experience, we can evolve to ensure the sustainability of WAO.

There’s a few barriers we’ll need to overcome

Our dependency on funding, our finite resources, the perception of being stagnant, and current public perceptions are seen as potential barriers that we’ll need to overcome in order to evolve successfully.

7

Where we stand today

8

What are the perceptions of WAO?

9

We’ve got plenty to celebrate‌awareness of WAO is relatively high, our internal stakeholders are passionate about our success, and we have some strong positive perceptions.

10

Around two thirds of the General Population have heard of WAO before.

Those aged over 60 are most likely to be aware of WAO. Meanwhile, awareness of other opera companies is much lower

86%

58%

86%

39%

84%

20%

82%

2%

66%

2%

62% 61%

18-39 years

50%

40-59 years

60%

60+ years

83% ď‚Ť

Q2. Tell us which of these organisations you have heard of before today. Base: All respondents (General Population n=320)

2% 2%

I have not heard of any of these 11

And they agree that WAO is critical to developing talent in WA and to the future of arts and culture in WA.

However, they also associate us with being traditional, and only a third say that we attract new audiences or provide entertainment that reflects the community’s interest.

%6-10/10 Is critical to developing opera talent in WA

44

Is traditional

3 6

Is critical to the future of arts and culture in WA

10

Present high quality opera productions

6 5

Acts with integrity and responsibility

44

Ensures opera remains relevant in WA

10

Is artistically vibrant

12

Retains and keeps existing audiences engaged

7

6

Is innovative in the way they deliver opera to WA

9

Keeps up with the times Provides entertainment that reflects the community's interests Attracts new audiences to experience opera

37 10

13 14 Strongly Disagree 0-2

9

9

25 36 39

8

7 5

Is entertaining

30

30 37

11

28 39

23

39

54

21

33

23

32

55

22

32

54

22

31

53

22

30

52

27

25

52

25

24

49

24

43

62

21

45

23

19

42

39

22

19

41

13

39

20

16

38

19

10

3-4

5

Q8. How much would you say that you agree or disagree with these statements about WAO? Base: All respondents (General Population n=320).

16

36

14 6-7

33 Strongly Agree 8-10

12

S

Internally, WAO is seen to have many important responsibilities…

B

SH

“It’s part of being a civilised society and having the arts at the centre of all of society” Staff Member

To contribute to the culture of WA To entertain and celebrate

To educate “It’s really important to have live performance.

Make sure that young people can see live opera rather than just hear about it.”

Stakeholder

To sustain Opera and make the arts available.

0

To inspire

To position WA as a current and ‘grown’ up state To nurture talent in WA / train young artists 13

S

B

SH

And has many strengths to be proud of and maintain.

Have an amazing product to work with (the artists, organisation, standard of performance) ✓✓✓✓ Internal knowledge & management ✓✓ ✓✓

Artistic excellence ✓✓✓✓

“We’ve got fantastic singers, we’re incredibly lucky.”

Staff Member

Relatively secure funding ✓✓✓ Provider of opportunities for young artists ✓✓✓

Opera in the Park ✓✓✓ Heritage & history ✓✓ Loyal & captive audience ✓✓ 14

But where are we falling behind?

15

Our internal stakeholders see a lack of innovation, direction, and inflexibility are as our main weaknesses.

16

S

B

SH

Our weaknesses Lack of innovation (not enough new works, slow to change, using same artists) ✓✓✓✓✓ Narrow repertoire ✓✓✓✓ Lack of identity, purpose & planning ✓✓ ✓✓

Inability to react to changing trends ✓✓✓ Aging customer base ✓✓✓ Unclear artistic vision ✓✓✓

“There’s a degree of inaccessibility that’s stepping over the threshold of the theatre. That’s why Opera in the Park is so powerful because it’s just an open space.”

Staff Member

Marketing – limited, not innovative or branded well enough to young people ✓✓ Perception as snobby / inaccessible ✓✓ Expensive artform ✓✓ 17

Externally, we’re not appealing to a large proportion of the General Population, as we haven’t piqued their interest, and they perceive us as inaccessible, expensive, and outdated.

18

While close to 1 in 3 members of the General Population are interested in opera, only 18% say they’re likely to attend in the next 12 months.

How interested are you in opera?

How likely are you to attend a WAO performance in the next 12 months?

8

8

20

45

17

Not at all interested / likely 0-2 Q4. How interested are you in opera? Base: All respondents (General Population n=320) Q6. How likely are you to attend a WAO performance in the next 12 months? Base: All respondents (General Population n=320)

17

57

3-4

10

10 8

5

6-7

Extremely interested / likely 8-10

19

The main reasons for not attending a WAO performance before are a lack of interest in opera, not considering it before, and high prices.

Many of these barriers may be misperceptions that could be overcome by experiencing opera first-hand.

100 90

“It’s the unknown. You could go to an opera show that you haven’t heard of before and be like oh, I wasted $150 on this.”

80 70 60

50 40 30

“I think I’d feel out of place, like I shouldn’t be there. I feel like it’s sold to an elitist part of society and I’d be looked down upon.”

Non-Attendee

43

Non-Attendee

32

29

28

26

23

20 10

18

16

16

11

5

8

5

0

Opera I'm not sure if I I choose to I have never I do not know generally would enjoy / attend considered that the does not understand different Arts / attending the performances interest me the opera Cultural opera are on events

Prices are too high

The type of I don't have I would feel Before today, Arts / Cultural events WAO anyone to go out of place at I was not events hold do not with the opera aware generally do interest me of WAO not interest me

Q9. What are the main reasons you have never attended a West Australian Opera production? Base: Those who are not WAO subscribers or attendees of a performance or event (General Population n=292).

Other

None of these

20

And for those Engaged with WAO who haven’t attended before, the price of attending and other competing events are what’s stopping them.

This group doesn't lack interest in the opera, so they’re a key target market for WAO!

100 90

80 70 60 50

38

40 30

22

25

21

20

12

10

8

3

1

1

1

1

The type of events WAO hold do not interest me

Before today, I was not aware of WAO

I have never considered attending the opera

0

Prices are too high

I choose to attend different Arts / Cultural events

I don't have anyone to go with

I do not know I'm not sure Opera generally that the if I would enjoy / does not performances understand interest me are on the opera

Other

Q9. What are the main reasons you have never attended a West Australian Opera production? Base: Those who are not WAO subscribers or attendees of a performance or event (Engaged with WAO n=76).

None of these

21

Those Engaged with WAO are willing to pay $106 on average for a standard ticket. The General Population however, are only willing to spend $58 to attend.

General Population

Engaged with WAO % of responses

Av. $106

20

15

15

10

10

5

5

0

0 0

50

100

Av. $58

20

150

200

250

0

50

100

150

200

250

$ willing to pay Q13. How much would you actually be willing to pay for a standard adult ticket to a WAO performance? Base: All respondents.

22

It’s no surprise then that the majority of the General Population don’t perceive a $100 ticket to provide good value for money.

Those who are Engaged with WAO, on the other hand, who appreciate opera see this as providing good value for money.

79%

Engaged with WAO

27

13

25

54

45%

General Population

20

Extremely poor value for money 0-2

25

26

3-4

5

19

6-7

11

Extremely high value for money 8-10

Q12. An average adult ticket for a WAO performance costs $100. Do you think this offers value for money? Base: All respondents (General Population n=320, Engaged with WAO n=629).

23

The need for evolution 24

Is there an appetite for evolution?

25

Yes! Both internally and externally, it is seen as inevitable that WAO evolve and grow to ensure its future success.

26

S

“A lot of it is about empowering an AD and ED to do it, because it is going to be scary and challenges from others, but we need to give them confidence when it gets scary.”

“The thing is that change is here and it’s now and it’s almost irrelevant if we’re ready or not, we just have to go and get it.”

Board Member

A

NA

“What we're really looking for is a company that can respect the collective interest of knowledge, educate young through to old about what it is we've been through, what the humanistic story of opera is and how can we tell that in new and innovative ways to foster a sense of community, intelligence, and elite form of thought in our state.”

“It’s about knowing the roadmap that we all on together, having a leadership team and board that tells us where we are going.”

Stakeholder

SH

B

Stakeholder

Staff Member

“Change, you know, rock'n'roll, something like that. Not that they're gonna do that.”

Non-Attendee

“They’ve definitely been improving over the last five to seven years, I think. Definitely getting better and better, but you need to be constantly doing that.”

Attendee

“Clearly, something's gotta change. It won't be this art form.

It won't be this company, this delivery, these things in 50 years time. It won't be in five years or ten years. It will be quite a different place. It's how we evolve it to be the best.

Board Member

27

Where are our opportunities to evolve?

28

S

B

SH

A

NA

We explored four key areas in which WAO could look to evolve...

 

Communications

Audiences

Content

Experience

Increasing our presence in both advertising and engagement in the community, building on momentum that has been created in the past few years and trying new and exciting things.

Reaching younger and new audiences through different mediums including our website, social, videos, and pop ups.

We should look to grow our audience in both numbers and diversity by collaborating with other groups and targeting new audiences. For our regular Attendees, their love of opera was triggered by a memorable experience as a young child. By leveraging the youth audience better, we can set them up for a lifetime of opera appreciation and regenerate our audience for years to come.

It will definitely involve some risk, but we need to innovate in terms of what we offer. From our repertoire and productions to locations and sets, there’s a broad scope for branching out.

There’s appetite for us to provide a mix of contemporary and popular works.

By offering attractive ‘trimmings’ to our core offering, reviewing ticket pricing options and packages, we can provide more value and engagement to our Attendees to drive acquisition and retention, particularly among the general population.

29

When asked to name specific operas they’d like to see, Madame Butterfly came through as the most preferred popular opera.

Madame Butterfly

While these titles dominated the mentions, a variety of other styles and eras of operas were also mentioned by both samples.

20%

17% La Traviata

14%

17%

Carmen

10% La Bohème

Madame Butterfly

La Bohème

14% 9% Carmen

Aida

14%

Q14. Which four operas would you most like to see WAO perform? Unprompted. Base: All those interested in opera at Q4 (General Population n=86, Engaged with WAO n=599).

30

And when asked to prioritise where the focus should be, it’s about engaging and inspiring audiences, and exploring different price and package options.

Engaged with WAO 49

General Population Engage audiences from a young age to build an appreciation of opera

45 Inspire new audiences to attend and experience opera 42 Explore new ticket offerings / packages at different price points 39

Present a mix of classical and contemporary performances

25 Present performances in a variety of different venues across Perth 23

Enhance the experience of going to the opera with pre-show functions and specials

22 Collaborate with other organisations to leverage their audiences and exposure 21

Maintain existing audiences

14 Be more innovative in the way they present opera

Explore new ticket offerings / packages at different price points 45 Inspire new audiences to attend and experience opera 44 Engage audiences from a young age to build an appreciation of opera 39 Be more present with online / social media marketing Present a mix of classical and contemporary performances

27

Present performances in a variety of different venues across Perth 27

Collaborate with other organisations to leverage their audiences and exposure Produce performances / events that are more entertaining

19 18

Be more innovative in the way they present opera 16 Become more contemporary

10 Produce performances / events that are more entertaining 7 Be more present with online / social media marketing

29

15

Enhance the experience of going to the opera with pre-show functions and specials 13

4 Become more contemporary Q22. If you had to choose three areas that WAO should focus on, which of the following would you choose? Base: All respondents (General Population n=320, Engaged with WAO n=629).

Maintain existing audiences 9 31

But what might hold us back?

32

Many of the barriers to change identified were also acknowledged as weaknesses of the organisation.

1

Dependency on Funding

2

Resources

3 4

S

B

SH

Therefore, overcoming these barriers would help to strengthen and facilitate the implementation of these necessary changes.

Governed by current government requirements Increased competition for funding, partnerships and donations Naturally expensive art form both to create and attend Finite and small number of full time staff Scheduling constraints in terms of orchestra, artists, theatre Lack of clear and concise vision and strategy

Perceived to be Stagnant

Strong sense of tradition and history both within the organisation and the art form itself Lacking innovation Inability to quickly adapt to change or be open to change Aging and older audiences

Public perceptions

Not relevant and accessible to every audience Elitism status Lack of diversity in content Perceived high price point driving low value for money Lack of exposure to opera

33

Hunt Smarter.

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