Nz Ballet Case

Summary of findings:

Our research identified 4 customer segments across both users and non-users of ballet with significantly different customer profiles

A. Ballet lovers

This segment is mostly comprised mostly of mature women that are sophisticated & educated ballet goers.. They have practiced ballet as kids venue and have kids that practice ballet. Some of them are housewives and some are already retired and their income is slightly lower compared to other segments despite being skilled professional. Therefore ticket cost is important in their consideration to attend. Their partners do not necessarily like ballet so sometimes they have nobody to go with. They are a bit snobs: who is performing, how famous the cast is are important factors to them. They are in general into arts but they are relatively conservative: they prefer the proven and the familiar

B. Opportunistic goers

This is a segment that is not really into ballet but is willing to go opportunistically, especially if taken. It has a low consideration to buy and have no idea how much a ticket cost. They believe ballet is not enjoyable, is boring, too long etc. They have a moderate preference toward classical and some preference for modern dance. They like jazz and have a preference to dance as entertainment ( they like modern dance, tap, ballroom).

C. Ballet dislikers

This segment is just not into ballet at all. Their consideration to buy is close to zero. They reject ballet. They have no appreciation for it: they find it boring, incomprehensible, elitist. In general, this segments young and rather less educated and skilled. Clearly, prefers other forms of entertainment and watches a lot of TV.

D. Curious seeks

This segment looks for a special experience which should be shared with other people. They are the curious spectators and have a high consideration to go to a ballet. They like the music, the fantasy and more classical stories that are easy to follow and understand. They are more likely to be very supportive of RNZB. At the same time they are concerned about prices due to their lower income situation. They feel restricted by the absence of a partner to go with or even transportation

Recommended Growth Strategy:

Approach

We believe that the company clear opportunity to enlarge the current ballet-goers market by:

* Increasing the frequency of attendances among current customers

* Acquiring new customers who are interested in ballet

Based on the analysis we believe that the company will be in a stronger position if it chooses a blended approach between the two options. While making our recommendation we also considered minimizing the acquisition costs through advertising by picking the segment that is already emotionally connected to ballet.

Suggested targeted segments

We recommend that The Royal New Zealand Ballet should focus its activities on Segment 1: Ballet Lovers and Segment 4: Curious seekers

Ballet Lovers reflects a loyal customer base that needs to be enticed to increase its frequency of purchases in order. They can be our best promoters and attract less frequent users. This can be done by lowering the most important barriers to repeated consumption such as cost of the ticket, lack of someone to go with.

The bulk of Curious seekers still needs to be attracted to ballet and our analysis suggest that this can be done by providing more information and education to the customers in this group. Lowering access barriers by offering more accessible shows, in more locations (getting closer to the consumer geographically) with introductory price discounts could add additional value.

Strategy for Ballet lovers

A. Price

This group is very price sensitive due to a poorer economic situation. The pricing scheme should be focused on rewarding loyalty and making the cost affordable for lower income groups

* Introduce