From Clubs to Communities. From Tourists to International Friends. Crisis Legacy in Music Organizations with Revenue Management and Relationship Marketing

The prompt and cost-effective segmentation of audiences and stakeholders is, today, as essential as revenue diversification in US symphony orchestras and opera houses. The lack of resources was particularly heavy during crisis years and as from 2008. Fundraisers of these music organizations engaged both with clubs and communities. At the same time, marketing officers explored new audiences and their segmentation. Relationship marketing was a pivotal strategy, in order to enhance stakeholders’ engagement and loyalty. The crisis legacy allowed these organizations to survive with revenue management and relationship marketing. The purpose of this study is a profiling of a sample of 120 USA symphony orchestras and opera houses, with different marketing and fundraising. Thanks to a k-means cluster analysis of diversified revenues, expenses and gains from 2008 to 2015, the paper will separate this sample into two poles, according to average variations of economic performances and to the focus on relationship marketing in the whole period. One pole grew as concerns relationships, revenue management and diversification. The other pole was affected by diminishing intensity of marketing and increasing fundraising and, as a consequence, retrenchment of some revenues apart of contributions. Relationship marketing was in this cluster supported by volunteers. This pole profited by the highest increase of gains.