Impact has been using Audience Spectrum to target print-based marketing services for arts organisations since its inception, collaborating with The Audience Agency to create distribution networks of culturally engaged Commuterland CultureBuffs, Experience Seekers and Metroculturals. These networks form the basis of leaflet distribution campaigns for Impact’s many London-based clients, combining box-office data and Audience Finder with their own mapping tools to create bespoke campaigns, targeting specific audiences. GDPR’s implications for direct mail have increased demand for traditional door drops; by combining sophisticated profiling from Audience Finder with street-level mapping, Impact has been able to provide a service that is cost-effective and highly targeted.

The Problem

Late in 2017 Impact was approached by long-standing client English National Ballet to create a data-driven campaign for a ballet double-bill at the London Coliseum, featuring Song of the Earth and La Sylphide. From their box-office data, ENB had identified the key Audience Spectrum groups that they needed to reach – Metroculturals and Commuterland CultureBuffs – as well as the geographical areas to target.

The Solution

Having identified the audience segments and geographical area to target, Impact set about creating a distribution campaign within the parameters of available print quantity and budget. This included a generic print display campaign incorporating leaflet distribution to their core arts networks (including Dance and Classical Music) with additional targeting via their own pre-established Commuterland Culturebuffs networks, offering coverage in affluent areas such as Richmond, Kingston, Sutton and Bromley.

ENB had identified an audience crossover with other classical art forms and venues, so a significant element of the campaign consisted of exit shifts at London venues including Royal Opera House, Barbican Centre, Royal Festival Hall and Sadler’s Wells. An additional quantity of print has been set aside for door-to-door distribution, and it was this element of the campaign where Audience Finder was used most effectively to identify postal sectors with the highest concentration of our target groups. ENB had focused their outdoor campaign in South West London, so it was agreed that door-to-door leafleting could be used to target residents who had already been exposed to ENB messaging.

The Results

Setting Metroculturals as the primary target group, and Commuterland Culturebuffs as the secondary target, Impact was able to identify, down to street level, those neighbourhoods where 70-90% of residents matched their target audience. The campaign ran over an 8 week period in the run up to Christmas. A total of 38,500 leaflets were distributed, including 15,000 delivered via a door-to-door team, to a highly targeted and receptive group, directly aligned with ENB’s core audience base.


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