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9.28.2005
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Volume Three
Issue Nine
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Welcome to our September Monthly Update. This issue features an interview with the London Sinfonietta's Marketing and IT Product Development Manager, Alison Atkinson, who discusses the new music ensmble's complex web presence and recent marketing innovations. Read on...
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Client Feature: The London Sinfonietta
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Alison Atkinson, Marketing & IT Development Manager for the London Sinfonietta
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Client since: May, 2005
Current e-list size: 1,000
The London Sinfonietta is one of the world's top new music ensembles, performing late 20th and 21st century music written by established and emerging composers. They give about 50 performances each year in London (UK) and on tour around the world.
As Marketing & IT Product Development Manager for the London Sinfonietta, Alison Atkinson has a very broad job description which encompasses all marketing and press work for the ensemble. This includes strategy and budget setting as well as managing the London Sinfonietta's own CD label and developing other products involving new music. Alison is also responsible for implementing Web-based campaigns and managing the structure and content of the (almost 2,000 page) LS Web site.
In the Q & A that follows, Alison describes the challenges of promoting a new music ensemble and reveals how the organization's Web site acts as much more than a marketing tool...
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Q & A with Alison Atkinson, Marketing & IT Product Development Manager
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One of two print pieces used to market a London Sinfonietta concert to newer audiences
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Can you give us a sense of where new music sits in the arts arena?
Contemporary classical music has a small niche within the wider classical arena, and traditionally has had a small but loyal and enthusiastic following. However, we've also found that it can have enourmous appeal to audiences who don't necessarily have previous experience of live classical music but who regularly attend live events and club nights where the exploration of sound is very similar to the music that we're performing.
Whether we're playing the music of avant-garde composers Luigi Nono or Karlheinz Stockhausen, mixing classics with the work of left-field electronica artists such as Aphex Twin and Squarepusher or collaborating with filmmaker Peter Greenaway, the London Sinfonietta has the exciting opportunity to offer many people the chance to discover new music.
The LS has a very complex Web site with many components and interactive resources. Can you describe some of the elements and the goals behind them? Which sections get the most visitors?
The current London Sinfonietta Web site was created with a dual role. The obvious one is as a promotional tool for our concerts and selling our CDs, and we're currently updating the site to make it easier to navigate, and quicker for us to update!
However, we also believe that the ensemble has an important part to play in the wider life of new music globally. Where possible, we use our contacts with composers and creative collaborators to add material to our site that is of interest to the general public, students and researchers. For example, the site includes Q&A sessions with John Adams and Louis Andriessen, interviews with young British composers, and an innovative game '3D Music' which allows you to alter the sounds that are triggered as you move around a virtual space.
This content remains available long after the specific events are over, building an important resource for anyone interested in new music. Interviews include composers Mark-Anthony Turnage, Michael Gordon and Luciano Berio, plus John Adams and Louis Andriessen replying to questions sent in by vistors to the website.
We've also got a far-reaching education programme, and have created four composer minisites around creative projects held with school children. These include composing games, simple analysis of works aimed at specific age-groups and curriculum requirements, and teachers' notes to encourage inclusion of creative composition in the classroom.
The site has so much depth that visitors often go directly to the pages of interest which they've accessed via search engines. However, around 75% of vistors go to the events pages, mostly starting there before being drawn further into the site.
How does e-mail fit in with your Web presence in general? What strategy have you put in place for e-mail communications? What are the primary objectives of your e-newsletters?
We've had an e-mail newsletter for the past five years, sending it out monthly with news about our concerts, broadcasts, recordings and occasional special offers. Its main aim is to let people know what our events are and to sell tickets, but it's also an important way of keeping in touch with people worldwide who have heard us when we've toured and want to know when and where we're going to be playing again and flagging up our new recordings.
Now that we have implemented PatronMail, we can at last send newsletters to segments of our list based on location and stated interest, as well as tracking the response to specific offers.
You recently tried a new Web strategy to market two of your concerts. Can you tell us what you did and what kind of results you were able to measure?
Last season we worked with a team of recent graduates to create (print) marketing campaigns for two of our concerts. This was aimed at people like them who listen to an eclectic range of music centred round electronica and sound exploration but don't normally go to concerts in concert halls.
The print material that was produced was very different to our usual flyers, and had very little hard information on it. Instead the flyers directed people to specially created pages on our Web site. The box office for our concerts is run by the venue, so it's always hard to be precise about the results of our campaigns, but from questionnaires filled in at the concerts we know that around 20% of the audience had responded to the print campaigns, and the number of hits on the specially constructed pages of our Web site showed that people did follow up from our print to find out more.
You have been using PatronMail for less than six months. What plans do you have to further develop your e-marketing strategy over the coming year?
We've only just begun to experiment with PatronMail!
In the immediate future we're planning to send e-postcard reminders in the week before each of our London concerts, as well as dedicated newsletters for our Friends and Patrons. We've also started a student list which we use to offer affordable tickets and to encourage them to come to hear the composers speaking about their new works at pre-concert events, plus a CD release bulletin to send to those who can't get to our concerts but are interested in our recordings.
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Visit the London Sinfonietta's website
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Patron Technology is Hiring!
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Patron Technology is now hiring for the following positions:
Account Executive
This is an entry-level position, primarily involved with the sales aspect of our PatronMail system. You do not need sales experience to apply, but should have a strong interest in the arts and technology.
Director of Marketing
Responsible for the strategy, management, execution and tracking of marketing programs for PatronMail and other Patron Technology products and services.
To apply for any of these positions, please send a resume and cover letter to mpaul@patrontechnology.com.
If you have any questions, contact us by e-mail, or call Michelle at (212) 271-4328 x114.
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Click here to read more and/or buy online
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Please watch for our next Monthly Update, coming October 25, 2005.
Our mailing address is: 850 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10019
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