AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT

Heather Maitland

1. What is Audience Development

Since the first large-scale nationwide research to measure participation in the arts commissioned by the Arts
Council of Great Britain in 1986, attention has been focused on the relatively low numbers of people from
particular groups in society who attend the arts and the pre-dominance of white middle class and middle
aged people. Audience development is seen as a way of expanding and broadening audiences for the arts.
Although the term is being used widely within the arts community, there is no shared idea of what it actually
means.
A survey of the directors of the UK’s audience development agencies resulted in the following definitions:
 More people more often
 It’s the same as marketing
 Marketing is about size; audience development is about range
 Building audiences
This has presented difficulties for those engaged in audience development and the organisations funding it
so the following inclusive definition was developed after extensive research commissioned by the Arts
Council of England (ACE):

The term audience development describes activity which is undertaken specifically to meet the needs
of existing and potential audiences and to help arts organisations to develop on-going relationships
with audiences. It can include aspects of marketing, commissioning, programming, education,
customer care and distribution.

With ‘audience’ encompassing attenders, visitors, readers, listeners, viewers, participants and
learners.
Phil Cave, Head of Audience Development, Arts Council England
Rick Rogers expands this definition and in so doing highlights the range of purposes and outcomes involved
in this all-encompassing term:

Sustaining and expanding existing or regular audiences or visitors, creating new attenders and
participants, and enhancing their enjoyment, understanding, skills and confidence across the art
forms.1
Like marketing, the purpose of audience development is to fulfil the organisation’s objectives, whether they
are artistic, financial or social or a combination of one or more.

1.1 Differences in approach

ACE commissioned research2 identified that there were widely differing views among those involved in
audience development, usually education workers, artists and marketers.

1Rogers, Rick, Audience Development: collaborations between education and marketing (London: Arts Council of
England, 1998), p. 1
2 Maitland, Heather, A Guide to Audience Development, 2nd ed. (London: Arts Council of England, 2000)
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 Education workers largely focus on the development of the individual and on the art form as a whole.
Their work usually involves participation, although attendance at events may also be involved. When
they evaluate projects, they tend to measure the quality of the individual participant's educational
experience and the development of their understanding of the arts. The results they want do not
necessarily involve the worker's own organisation but may benefit other arts organisations in the long
term e.g. "creating the audience of tomorrow". Many people see these long term results as
unmeasurable.

Artists tend to focus on improving audiences' understanding of their work. They wish to bring more
people into contact with the work but are often particularly concerned with finding "the right audience"
who will best appreciate it. These projects often lack clear objectives and the results are not
evaluated.

Marketers look for results that directly benefit their arts organisation. They aim to affect a change in
the attitudes, understanding and behaviour of both existing audiences and non-attenders. Their aims
almost always involve attendance although this may be in five or even ten years' time. Their projects
tend to be carefully targeted at specific groups of people and have clear objectives. Most marketers
are aware of the need to monitor and evaluate audience development projects but research shows
that many do not do so because of time pressures3.
For each of these three types of arts worker, the intention, objectives, process and practice of audience
development are different, and each has a different kind of experience to offer audiences and participants.
All three approaches are regarded as equally valid and are not mutually exclusive but the differences do
cause problems in the planning and evaluation of audience development. Different members of an
organisation can have a fundamentally different understanding of what the same project is trying to achieve.
The programmer of a visual arts organisation might, for example, see an audience development project as
creating opportunities for developing artists to have an exhibition of their work. The marketer might take a
longer term view of the organisation’s work and see it as a means of creating a sustainable market for the
work so that its creator can earn a reasonable living and similar exhibitions will gain a bigger audience in the
future. Each is likely to define and measure the success of the project differently and will wish to prioritise
the allocation of resources accordingly. This means that a formal planning process that involves all of these
roles within an organisation is essential to identify and resolve these potential differences in perspective.

1.2 The relationship between marketing, education work, programming and

audience development
Arts workers and funders are currently engaged in a debate about the differences between audience
development and education or audience development and marketing that seem destined never to come to a
resolution. Perhaps these attempts to find the perfect working definition are unhelpful. There is general
agreement that programming, education and marketing each have particular experiences, techniques and
processes that can make a unique contribution to audience development. Not all education work, however,
is audience development and not all audience development is education work and, likewise, not all marketing
is audience development and not all audience development is marketing. We can summarise the interaction
between these different ‘toolkits’ of experiences, techniques and processes like this:

3 Maitland, p. 5
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Artistic Education

Audience
Development

Marketing

The relationship of the marketing and education toolkit can be represented as follows:4

Marketing

High High

Numbers of Quality of
appropriate experience
people (interactivity)

Low
Low

Education

The education toolkit can offer a highly personal, in-depth experience of the arts to relatively small numbers
of people (an interactive process). The marketing toolkit can persuade very large numbers of people to get
involved in the arts but can’t usually offer that depth of experience (a communicative process). Both
approaches are necessary to make a significant impact in a community.
The Arts Council of England funded research into audience development found that effective projects were
always part of a long term strategy developed jointly by the artistic, education and marketing functions of an
organisation even though an individual project might be run by just one of those functions.5 This means that
to develop audiences effectively, an organisation needs also to be engaged in effective marketing as the

4Roberts, Anne, Nothing by Chance: qualitative research into attendance at new and contemporary film and theatre at
Warwick Arts Centre, (Coventry: Warwick Arts Centre, 1997)
5 Maitland, p. 6
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same ‘toolkit’ of processes and techniques are applied to both. Similarly, the education function of an
organisation needs to have an effective education ‘toolkit’.

2. Types of Audience Development

Arts and cultural organisations carry out audience development for different reasons. Overall, though, they
see developing audiences as a way of achieving their objectives, whether these are artistic, financial, social
or all three.
Nobuko Kawashima identified four types of audience development by analysing the groups of people projects
are aimed at and the kind of things they are being encouraged to do.6.
1. Cultural Inclusion aimed at the people least likely to attend the arts to fulfil social objectives.
2. Extended Marketing aimed at potential and lapsed attenders to achieve financial and artistic objectives.
3. Crossover (taste cultivation) to persuade the existing audience to try something new to achieve artistic,
financial and educational objectives.
4. Audience Education aimed at increasing the knowledge and appreciation of the arts by existing
audiences.
These categories illustrate the multitude of intentions, objectives, processes and practices included under the
catch-all banner of audience development. They also highlight the two possible approaches to increasing
involvement in the arts. The first type of audience development (Cultural Inclusion) is most effective when
approached via a framework in which the starting point is not the cultural product but the needs, interests,
experiences and levels of knowledge of the participants themselves. The final three are products of the
desire to make culture more widely available where the product is seen as inherently good in itself.
There is a fundamental difference between these two approaches. Cultural Inclusion projects require
significantly more investment of time, energy and money and have a far lower return on that investment than
those that aim to develop existing audiences and those with a predisposition to attend. Their focus is the
individual not the art.
The term audience development is problematic because it encourages arts organisations and funding bodies
to prescribe and apply a single undifferentiated approach and a single set of benchmarks for the assessment
and evaluation of audience development projects. This is why we need to take a rigorous approach to
planning audience development projects – only then can we be clear what we are trying to achieve, who we
want to get involved and how they will benefit.

2.1 Who should be involved?

Audience development projects only work if they are part of a long term strategy for audience development
which is developed jointly by the artistic, education and marketing functions of an organisation.
Even though one person may be undertaking most of the work on a particular audience development project,
every member of staff and volunteer needs to be involved and fully briefed.
A repertory theatre aimed to increase the number of school parties attending performances by
offering a bigger discount and expanding the teacher's mailing list. They doubled the number of
school children at evening performances. Neither the theatre nor the school parties were happy
with the result as other members of the audience complained about the children's behaviour and
teachers were not made to feel welcome. A series of meetings between front of house staff, the box
office, the marketing department and teachers resulted in school groups being offered seats in
blocks which were easier to supervise than long rows; guidelines for teachers to discuss with pupils

6Kawashima, Nobuko, Beyond the Division of Attenders vs Non-Attenders: a study into audience development in policy
and practice (Coventry: University of Warwick, 2000) p. 8
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before the event; and a better understanding by the stewards of the needs of large numbers of
young people.

2.2 Building cultural competence

We assume that everyone is a potential arts attender or participant and that if we remove the physical,
financial, psychological and social barriers which stop people attending or participating in the arts then the
sections of the community currently under-represented will start to attend or participate.
The concept of cultural competence is helpful in understanding why a different approach to audience
development is needed for Cultural Inclusion projects as opposed to those that seek to target existing, lapsed
and potential audiences.
There is a body of academic work, most notably by Bourdieu, which argues that people need to be trained to
enjoy the arts because a set of unique skills are needed to decode the messages within cultural artefacts and
events. Without an understanding of these messages, the arts experience is meaningless and alienating.
Those who already attend the arts have been handed down these consumption skills by their immediate
family or have been taught them at school. Individuals belonging to social groups currently under-
represented among audiences and participants are less likely to have access to these decoding skills and to
information about arts events which existing attenders gain through their own social networks (i.e. word of
mouth).
Taste Cultivation and Audience Education projects seek to extend the cultural competence of existing
attenders but they are working with people who already have at least a basic level of competence. Some
cultural products need more competence to decode than others so these audiences are able to understand
and appreciate those that require a lower level but need support to enjoy others.
Programming therefore plays an important role as presenting arts events that require less competence to
decode is an effective way of ensuring it is accessible to a broader audience. Ineffective arts marketing,
however, can make even this kind of work inaccessible by communicating about the event in a way that still
requires a high level of cultural competence.
Experienced Inexperienced

Think & discuss Eat & drink Well known

CORE A ‘real’ experience Best seats
Comfort
Live
Close to stage
Nearby
An occasion
The work itself
More than Ease of booking
Reviews Dress up
entertainment
Nice building Good night out
The artists

Parking
Value for money

Millward Brown, Market Research Index for the Arts, (Arts Council of Great Britain, 1989)
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The removal of the physical, psychological and social barriers to attendance by potential and lapsed
attenders through Extended Marketing is relatively effective because the target groups already have the
cultural competence to understand and appreciate the particular arts event on offer. In recent years, arts
organisations and funders have focused on improving physical access to arts buildings, the geographic
availability of arts activity, the way that they communicate with potential attenders and participants, the
customer care that attenders or participants experience once they make contact with the organisation, and
on providing discounts to disadvantaged groups. These initiatives have certainly improved the experience of
existing attenders and encouraged people already pre-disposed to attend or participate to do so.
Unfortunately, audience development projects that focus on the removal of barriers have been much less
successful in encouraging sustained attendance and participation by those groups which are traditionally
under-represented.

‘Many non-attenders of arts events have no understanding or familiarity with the arts. They fear that
they will not understand, feel overawed, unintelligent and inferior and have no reason to believe that
they are going to enjoy themselves’ 7
An example is Sheffield Theatre’s How Much? project which was based on the assumption that price was the
primary barrier to attendance by young audiences and so made tickets available at £3.50, on a level with the
price of cinema tickets. The team rapidly discovered that the primary barrier was the art itself . Attendance
by young people could be increased from 7% to 32% of the audience by programming work that reflected
their lives and interests and telling them about it in a way that sparked their imagination. The cost of tickets
was a secondary barrier.
Audience development targeted at non-attenders who currently do not see the arts as relevant or meaningful
must centre on developing cultural competence from a zero base. This requires a much bigger and
consistent investment of resources over a much longer time. The formal education sector, in partnership with
arts organisations, has the key role to play in achieving this with future generations. The arts infrastructure,
however, has to take responsibility for those who are not currently in formal education through Cultural
Inclusion.
Most audience development projects are relatively short term and organisations seek to target a wide range
of communities in that time. This doesn’t help the effective transmission of cultural competence to those
involved in Cultural Inclusion projects.

3. What is an ‘audience’?
Arts organisations have found that projects aimed at the under-represented sections of the community can
be highly effective if they encourage people to experience creativity for themselves – to participate rather
than attend. Peter Booth goes further:

for some sections of the community the whole notion of the arts as a ‘paid for’ experience taking place
in designated arts buildings is a non-starter.8
Many arts organisations seem confused about what they supposed to achieve with audience development.
They say that they feel strong pressure to bring a broad cross-section of the community into the actual
gallery or auditorium to experience the arts as attenders rather than as participants. Worse, many believe
that the most value is placed on projects that seek to bring together the most difficult product and the most
unlikely audience. Rick Rogers, however, is clear that this is not necessarily appropriate and that audience
development goals are better served by a broader definition of ‘audience’:

7NOP Market Research, Report on Qualitative research into the public's attitudes to "the arts", (Arts Council of Great
Britain, 1991)
8 Booth, Peter, Access to the Arts, Discussion Document for the National Arts and Media Strategy (London: Arts Council

of Great Britain, 1991), p. 8

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It is essential for an organisation to define what it means by its “audience”. Many people involved in
educational events may never get to a performance or show. If the education work becomes too
focused on developing audience in terms of people coming to the venue or main event, an
organisation might ignore those unable to attend because of their economic, social or personal
circumstances.9
Some Scottish arts organisations have resolved this question by targeting particular disadvantaged groups
with tailored projects that only involve attendance at a conventional arts event if this is appropriate to their
needs. This work uses the art form as a tool for personal development and is usually clearly separated from
the organisation’s core artistic product.

4. What makes successful audience development?

Research into audience development in 167 arts organisations in Scotland by Tim Baker and Heather
Maitland in 2000 identified this checklist of key factors for success:
 Those involved in planning and delivering audience development are clear how the activity
contributes to their organisation’s overall objectives
 Projects are part of a long-term plan developed through dialogue between the artistic, education and
marketing functions of the organisation
 Clear aims and measurable targets are set in advance
 Audience development activity is addressed at a distinct target group or groups and there is a close
match between their needs and interests and the benefits the chosen arts event or activity has to
offer
 Those involved collect and analyse information about the target group to use in decision making
 There is a process of consultation with the target group or groups
 The elements of the marketing mix are tailored to suit the needs , experiences and personal
circumstances of the target group or groups, including the product surround and where appropriate,
the core product.
 Activity is evaluated
 The organisation sustains their relationship with the target group or groups in the long term.
Notice how similar the basics principles of successful audience development are to those for effective
marketing.

5. Audience development in practice

Step 1: Choosing who to work with

Too many audience development projects seem to involve organisations first of all thinking up exciting events
or ways of working and only afterwards looking around for sections of the community to which to apply them.
Audience development is about enhancing and broadening specific individuals' experiences of the arts and
so we need to start with those individuals.
Ideally, identify the section of the community you want to work with first (the target group}. You need to
identify a target group of people whose perceptions, behaviour and needs are sufficiently similar to allow you
to talk to them effectively in the same way.

9Rogers, Rick, Audience Development: collaborations between education and marketing (London: Arts Council of
England, 1998), p. 3
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Then create or choose the arts event that is most likely to interest them and to overcome the barriers which
currently stop them attending.
You may be in a situation where the arts event has already been chosen. Find a target group whose needs
and interests closely match the benefits the arts event has to offer. A close match is important - without it,
you will not be able to persuade your target group to attend or participate. If you can't find this match then it is
better not to use this event to develop audiences.

Step 2: Finding out about your target group

You need to collect the information that will help you plan an effective audience development project. Before
you can choose your target group, you need to know what your existing audience and the local population
are like. To overcome the barriers that stop people attending the arts, you need to know what they are. To
help someone make an informed choice about attending or participating in an arts event, you need to know
what information they need. You do not need limitless resources: your organisation will already have
collected some useful information and much of what you need will be available through research published
by other organisations.

Step 3: Making use of the information

You need to pull out the key facts from the information you have collected. These will help you shape your
project. Also find out about audience development projects carried out by other organisations and aimed at
similar target groups -whether these were successful or not.
Your knowledge and understanding of your target group is the single most important factor in making your
planned audience development project a success.
Use the information you have collected about your existing audiences, attenders or participants and about
your local population to:
 choose the right target group
 identify the barriers to attendance you need to overcome
 choose the right product for your target group
 give potential attenders or participants the information they need to make an informed choice
 work out what you are going to say to your target group, how you are going to say it and how you are
going to get your message across.

Step 4: Choosing the arts event

You need to choose or even create an event which is likely to interest the target group and to overcome the
barriers which currently stop them attending. Some of the most exciting audience development projects have
taken an imaginative approach to the arts event at their centre.
Do not choose events simply because you are finding it difficult to reach your attendance target. If your
existing attenders or participants are staying away in droves, you are unlikely to persuade a non-attender to
come along.

Step 5: Planning the project

For your project to be a success, everybody involved must know why they are doing it and what, exactly, they
are trying to achieve. Arts organisations often invest heavily in audience development projects but most are
unable to say whether they were worth the investment, whether they are worth doing again or even whether
they worked at all. The solution is to make sure you plan effectively. Set clear aims and specific objectives,
and work out beforehand how you are going to evaluate the results.
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Step 6: Consultation
Before you carry out the project, you need to check that it stands a good chance of working. Try out your
ideas on your own colleagues, your counterparts in other organisations and people with the relevant
experience in your Regional Arts Board or local authority.
Consult the target group. There are a number of ways to do this:
 bring together a group of eight to ten individuals from the target group to talk informally about your
ideas
 employ a professional to undertake more formal research
 talk to a number of community leaders or other key figures individually
 ask group leaders such as teachers or youth leaders to talk to small groups of their members
 visit a meeting of your target group in their usual gathering place
 try out your project on a small group of consenting "guinea pigs" from your target group.

Step 7: Implementing the project

Attention to detail is important at this stage. This will ensure that there are no unexpected problems that
might prevent your target group attending or participating -or stop them coming back again.
There are seven areas you need to think about:
Product: this doesn't just mean the art that is on the walls or on stage -audiences and attenders see every
aspect of their visit as part of the product you offer.
Price: many audiences see comparatively high prices as an indication of good quality, while several target
groups find that they cannot afford normal ticket prices. A good way of balancing these two issues is to set
top price tickets as high as the market will stand but then offer substantial discounts to the target groups who
find that price is a barrier to attendance.
Place: where your event takes place can be a barrier to attendance by your target group. Many projects
involve a special effort to make the first time attender feel more at home.
Promotion: describes how you communicate with your target group and the offer you are making them. It is
essential that you take into account everything you have found out about your target group to make sure that
you are telling them the things that will persuade them to attend or take part in your event. Ensure that you
have chosen a communication method that will be effective and that you are using an appropriate tone of
voice. People: many non-attenders feel alienated by theatres, concert halls, museums and galleries. Your
front-line staff are the people who can make them feel at home. Some organisations have made sure that
their youngest stewards are on duty to welcome participants in a project aimed at young people.
Process: you need to check every step of the process that your potential attenders or participants will have
to follow to get involved in your event. Is it clear what they should do if they are interested? Will they be able
to find the venue? Do all the box office staff know about any special offers?
Physical Evidence: arts organisations offer an experience rather than a tangible product. Our attenders and
participants cannot be sure they will enjoy our event until after they have experienced it. This means we must
make sure that everything we do or say reassures our target audience that we are offering something that is
of good quality eg the quality of our printed material, the appearance of the foyer, the efficiency of the box
office.
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Step 8: Sustaining the relationship

Just because someone has been targeted by an audience development project does not mean that they
have become an arts attender or participant. Becoming an arts attender involves a series of steps:
Regular attender or participant

Reattendance

Trial attendance

Awareness
We must actively persuade people to take the next step. This means keeping in touch so that we can
develop our relationship with them.

Step 9: Evaluating the project

Evaluate the immediate aftermath of the project. Did your project achieve its targets? Was it an effective use
of your resources? How did it contribute to your organisation's overall artistic, social and financial objectives?
Did it achieve any unexpected results -'spin-offs'? What did your target group ting of their experience? Is
there anything you would have changed? Is it worth doing again? You also need to work out what have been
the medium and long-term effects on your target group's arts attendance or participation.