Chicago Symphony Orchestra
TRG Database Services
Then and Now
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) ranks among the world’s most celebrated musical ensembles. But because of its location in an expensive media market, attracting audiences requires a significant investment of resources. The orchestra routinely mailed hundreds of thousands of brochures, fliers, and other printed collateral at substantial production and mailing costs. Despite the considerable investments the CSO was making in Direct Response, it was recognized that there was room for improvement in sales.
The CSO first retained Target Resource Group’s (TRG) Database Services to support its 2002-2003 subscription and singlet ticket campaigns. While the mail plan had already been developed by the time TRG came on board, marginal increases were realized through more aggressive response tracking. TRG was subsequently engaged to prepare a mail plan for the 2003-2004 campaign. As a result of TRG counsel, response rates and revenues increased substantially, while the cost-of-sale dropped dramatically. TRG continues to assist the staff in ensuring that direct marketing campaigns deliver on their investments.
Objectives/TRG Counsel
Analyze historic sales trends and response rates to subscription offers.
TRG consultants analyzed historic sales trends and response rate data. Based on these results TRG advised substantial changes for the 2003-2004 season: mail to fewer but more responsive segments and increase the frequency of offers.
Develop a successful mail plan for the 2003-2004 subscription campaign.
TRG consultants helped develop a mail plan, including list selection criteria, quantities, timeline, and pacing of all subscription collateral. After every round of mail, a response analysis was performed to measure the success of the mailing and to make adjustments to the lead matrix for subsequent mailings.
The Numbers
In the first full year of TRG counsel, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s direct marketing efforts delivered double-digit revenue increases—46% over the previous season—increasing the response rate from .11 to .29%, while reducing mailing costs by 42% and cutting the cost-of-sale from 30% to just 9.5%.
| 2002-2003 (Pre-TRG) | 2003-2004 | |
|---|---|---|
| No. pieces mailed | 615,000 | 353,000 |
| Total cost | $212,000 | $123,000 |
| Revenue | $700,000 | $1.3 Million |
| Revenue Increase | - | 85% |
| Response Rate | .11% | .29% |
| Cost-of-sale | 30% | 9.5% |
Next
TRG continues its consultancy through its Database Services division.
Learn more
For additional information, or to speak to a member of the TRG team, please call (719) 314-5830.
