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Brief
English National Opera is one of England's national arts companies. Based at London's largest theatre, the London Coliseum, the Company has been committed to world class quality opera sung in English for more than 70 years. From the adventurous Le Grand Macabre, to popular favourites such as Madam Butterfly, The Mikado and On the Town, ENO produces landmark experiences. ENO has redefined what music-theatre means and transformed the audience for opera. Reaching out to new audiences is vital to the continuing success of ENO.
The Company believed that investing in digital and e-marketing would enable us to communicate with a broader audience. Digital platforms are also more efficient and effective, and deliver a larger potential audience for less investment. Online ticket sales have gone from 10% to over 50% in less than three years. ENO has ring-fenced 30% of its marketing and sales budget over 2008-09 to be invested in online and digital marketing initiatives. The Company launched the first digital arts guide in the UK (www.eno.org/operaguide), and wanted to replicate that groundbreaking success with opera’s first iPhone App – the opera guide in an iPhone friendly format.
ENO chose digital marketing agency Neoco to deliver the brief because of their enthusiasm and impressive technical and creative expertise, particularly in emerging smart phone technology. They have also delivered very successful niche marketing campaigns.
Neoco are consistently ahead of the curve, and ENO’s application is a first within the culture and performance world, delivering rich video and audio content along with performance information, photos and ticket purchasing.
Strategy
Research firm ‘Pinch Media’ found iPhone users hardly use Apps, even when they are paid for. The decision was taken early that ENO would give away their iPhone App for free. But even with a free download, the report also suggests 80 percent of people delete the App the day after their first interaction.
ENO wanted users to develop a long-term usage relationship with the Opera Guide App. It needed to be easy to update and add fresh content. Its purpose is to enrich the experience of attending opera by providing surrounding information. It is also a sales tool, aiming to persuade users to buy tickets. It was really important that that functionality was available for users to check prices, the view from a seat and book tickets using the phone itself.
ENO’s remit is to try to counter the stereotype that opera is an elitist art-form. It was crucial to reflect that accessibility in the design, interface and tone of writing.
Time is always at a premium in any marketing department, but at ENO it’s also important to be reactive. Press reviews can help or hinder a show, and there are often two or three productions playing simultaneously.
Execution
The application has an in-built welcome video providing an overview of ENO. Users can then browse the six performances of the booking period,discovering background content, rich video, audio clips, production photos and more. There is also the ability to 'tag' performances as 'favourites' which means ENO can push tailored notifications of new content released before or during a performance. The application fully integrates with the existing ENO booking system so users can book tickets directly from their iPhone having discovered more about the performances through the application.
Wireframes included:
- Entry level contents page with 6x production info sections, 1x contact info page
6x production info sections will each contain:
- Headline image and text
- link to ENO ticket purchase
- production images and video trailer
- enhanced info on production
- contact details for ENO (including ability to tag ‘favourites’)
ENO wanted to launch quickly, to maximize the PR opportunity of having the world’s first opera iPhone App especially with the new season imminent.
Apple have a strict submission process which can take anything from a few days to a few weeks. So, because of its updateable nature, the decision was taken to launch the App with some content, and then to update it with more as soon as it was launched. This would also ensure users became accustomed to the idea that the App was ‘live’ with fresh content.
Schedule: Approx 3 weeks (excluding Apple Approval process)
Results
The application has been very well received by ENO’s audience, staff and board. The first iteration of the iPhone Opera Guide App will be replaced on 12 December 2009. At that point, ENO aim to undertake substantial quantitative research to measure the App’s impact and usage, but sales are definitely very positive for the booking period covered - at this stage.
The immediate aim is to develop the application for Blackberry, and to create a content management system to enable ENO control CRM and content and delivery throughout our seasonal cycle.
Benn Achilleas, Director, Neoco: "ENO are a good client to work with, as they are very forward thinking - particularly for their industry sector. The iPhone app is one of many new projects we are looking to deliver for ENO that enhance the way they reach both new and existing fans of opera”.
Mark O’Neil, Digital Marketing Manager at ENO said, “Neoco managed to turn this around in record time. They’ve been fantastic to work with, from their creative input early on, right through to delivery. The main purpose of the project was to show ENO as the progressive organisation that it is, and to make opera more accessible. The ENO Opera Guide App has certainly been successful in achieving both those goals”.
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