Segmentation strategies of changing markets for Opera Philadelphia 1

Segmentation strategies of changing markets for Opera Philadelphia

Marketing strategies and tactics used in Operas industry

The opera industry has faced difficulty in marketing to its consumers. According to the case,

there has been a reduction in U.S. attendance to the operas. The first marketing strategy that is

adopted by the firms in the opera industry as described by the case is sales promotion. Sales

promotion as described by Heerde and Neslin (2017) is the use of temporary short-termed

campaigns to increase sales and boost the firm's reputation. Operas have seasonal performances

as well as scheduled performances during seasons. This means that their products are

occasionally consumed by customers during live performances. The sales promotions, therefore,

aim at increasing the sales of the tickets during their seasoned performances. Sales promotions

are an effective strategy as it works to increase the sale of tickets as they inform the customers of

upcoming events and performances. With the use of sales promotions, the opera firms aim to

attract both the subscriber and single-ticket household groups to its performance and hence

increase their sales.

Multichannel advertising has been used by opera firms in this case. According to the case,

the firms in opera industry utilize multi-channel advertising as an initiative to increase the

engagement of their consumers and also increase their sales. The use of multi-channel

advertising, as found by Li et al. (2015) aims to increase a wider reach and hence have its

message conveyed to the existing and new customers. This strategic implementation targets the

potential consumers of the opera performances and interacts with the marketing

messages/information from their preferred or most used communication channels. While this

strategy uses more resources and finances, Li et al. (2015) note its effectiveness in

communicating the message to the consumers and increasing the effectiveness of marketing. The
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seasoned performances of the operas necessitate fast and effective marketing methodologies to

achieve a wider reach. Since the performances are themed, the advertising messages are designed

to achieve an attracting to the intended customer base.

The case explains the existence of changing consumer behaviours and preferences. The

evolution of consumer behaviours and preferences has been identified through proper research

developed to understand the customers, their needs, and the changing trends on the same.

Leading consumer research is a strategy that is utilized by the Operas in their marketing

strategies. While working to inform the consumers of upcoming events and performances, the

operas as working to increase customer retention. Customer retention remains a prime strategy

for operas. The customer research undertaken by firms such as Opera Philadelphia aims at

informing the production of the firm to meet the customer needs and value propositions and,

thus, achieve customer retention by offering exemplary performances. Guest experience

initiatives, therefore, become a marketing strategy that the operas in this case use as a means to

increase customer retention, customer satisfaction, and hence higher consumption of its products

and services. With these strategies, operas have been able to achieve sales despite the presence of

competition from other non-direct substitutes such as music festivals.

Profiling the Opera Philadelphia market segments

Opera Philadelphia has categorized its customers based on ‘opera engagement’ and ‘festival

interest’ as presented in the case. However, the report in 2014 shed more light on more potential

segmentation strategies that the firm should use to complement the existing strategies. First and

foremost, Opera Philadelphia should profile its customers based on customer demographics.

Camilleri (2018) defines demographic segmentation as a ‘more precise’ audience identification

faced on numerous demographic facets such as age, gender, marital status, income, and
 Segmentation strategies of changing markets for Opera Philadelphia 3

education among other groupings. The first customer segment that should be used is the age

segmentation methodology where the customers should be grouped into age-group-based

segments. From the data of the 2014 report, it is evident that the consumers of Opera

Philadelphia span from 19 years to 82 years old. The age of the consumers is wide and hence

needs to be regrouped to achieve better targeting and content presentation that matches their

expectations and satisfies their needs. Through age segmentation, the firm will be able to

increase its marketing effectiveness through the use of methods and channels that are age-

appropriate. The use of age grouping will increase targeting strategies that will undoubtedly

improve the attraction and retention of consumers of the firm.

Needs-based segmentation of the market should be used by Opera Philadelphia in its

marketing strategy. While assessing the ‘festival interests’, it is evident that most of the

respondents (60%) attend music theatre and play events. However, 45% of the respondents

attended opera festivals. With segmentation based on consumer needs, the firm will be able to

improve its targeting strategies and implementations to increase the sale of its services. There are

differences among the consumers that entail culture, age, and perspectives that change the

products/services that the consumers use (Lutz and Newlands, 2018). With the segmentation of

the consumers on their needs, there will be a better designing of the products of the firm to suit

the specific consumer needs and hence eradicate the one-for-all products which may not attract

other consumer groups. Various aspects such as cultural orientation, the language of the operas,

and the demand for innovative and contemporary presentations will be identified in this type of

segmentation and hence improved strategy formulation for consumer targeting, attraction, and

retention.
 Segmentation strategies of changing markets for Opera Philadelphia 4

Lastly, Opera Philadelphia should implement a psychographic segmentation of the market to

advance its marketing strategies and increase its effectiveness. Psychographic segmentation

groups consumers into smaller groups based on their beliefs, lifestyles, social status, and

opinions. Psychographic segmentation is more effective in increasing organizational targeting

according to Gajanova et al. (2019) since it identifies the motivation for the behaviour and not

tracking the behaviour itself. This implies that Opera Philadelphia will gain a better

understanding of the motives of its customers towards consumption and hence will develop a

mapping of its customers. The implementation of infographic segmentation will aid in grouping

customers based on their incomes, reasons for attendance, and perspectives on operas. This

strategy will inform better strategic development to aid increase sales through better targeting.

Positioning of Opera Philadelphia

Although Opera Philadelphia is the only opera firm offering grand opera in Philadelphia, the

firm is facing competition from other non-substitute products such as music festivals.

Considering the customer segments of the firm, the correct positioning strategy is the use of

competitive positioning. Competitive positioning is a positioning strategy that works to prove the

uniqueness and compare with the other competing products to attract consumers. Competitive

positioning will place Opera Philadelphia in a position to compete with other live performance

providers such as music theatre, play, and symphony. An analysis of the findings of the 2014

research depicts that all the customer segments consume other products as much as they consume

the operas. The use of competitive positioning will, therefore, place the firm amid the

competition and eradicate the existing perspective of lacking competition for being the only firm

offering grand opera. With the strength at hand for offering authentic traditional operas and

being the only firm in Philadelphia, Opera Philadelphia has a better competitive advantage.
 Segmentation strategies of changing markets for Opera Philadelphia 5

Being competitive in the market with many firms offering competing products necessitate

proper strategic implementations. The customers of operas complain of issues such as foreign

language, high ticket prices, and lengthy performances. Such challenges are reducing the

competitive advantage of the firm and hence Opera Philadelphia may lose its customers. The

implementation of the competitive positioning strategy will necessitate the refinement of various

aspects of the product to ensure that they remain competitive in the market. First and foremost,

the firm should align the product specifications to consumer needs. This will help ensure that it

meets or exceed the customers' specifications. Meeting or exceeding the expectations of the

customer will increase their product liking and will consume the product more. To meet these

expectations, Opera Philadelphia should continuously engage the consumers to identify points of

weakness and eliminate them by implementing appropriate strategic interventions. Increasing

consumer engagement is necessary to ensure that there is continuous assessment of the products

and hence continuous identification of strengths and weaknesses of the products and services of

Opera Philadelphia.

A competitive positioning strategy necessitates the use of competitive pricing strategies.

Currently, the customers perceive the opera to be attended by the people of the ‘upper crust’

implying the higher end of the market. The pricing strategy utilized by the firm is currently

aligned with its existing strategy and perception of the superior product to the market. However,

the use of a competitive strategy will require refinement of the pricing of the firm to achieve

competitiveness in the market. The prices, therefore, will be redesigned to compare with the

existing market prices. The management of Opera Philadelphia should investigate the market

price trends and determine the prices for its performances. Similarly, Opera Philadelphia should

assess other aspects determining the consumption of its competing services such as the inclusion
 Segmentation strategies of changing markets for Opera Philadelphia 6

of creativity, contemporary themes, and use of technology. The determination of such factors

will aid in designing a performance that will compete fairly with the products of its competitors.

With such implementation, the positioning strategy will be effectively implemented and hence

the firm will gain more new subscribers and single-ticket buyers as well as more loyal

subscribers.

Product strategy proposition for Opera Philadelphia

Opera Philadelphia depends on authentic traditional opera performances. Being the only firm

in Philadelphia to produce grand operas, Opera Philadelphia is facing small or no competition in

presenting opera to its consumers. However, the challenges presented in the case depict evolving

tastes and differing preferences among opera consumers. To achieve dominance in the market

despite these challenges, Opera Philadelphia should maintain the presentation of unique products

and performance in its market niche. This strategy will be implemented by ensuring that the firm

remains authentic in its performance and continue to present traditional operas. Apart from

maintaining a loyal customer base, this strategy will see the firm capitalize on its product and

performance to compete among other firms in the market. This strategy, thus, will ensure that

Opera Philadelphia capitalizes on its product as its principal strength. Since it is the only opera

firm in Philadelphia, its market and loyal consumers remain intact as the firm implements this

strategy to meet their needs and preferences.

The evolving consumer needs, however, will impact the strategy that will be used by Opera

Philadelphia. Since the strategy aims to major on the product of the firm as the main element to

compete in the market, consumer needs play an important role in designing and implementing

this strategy. The performances of the firm need to be aligned with the consumer needs which

keep changing. Similarly, the firm is acquiring new consumers with different needs and hence
 Segmentation strategies of changing markets for Opera Philadelphia 7

needs to ensure that they are taken into account. While this may look cumbersome, the case

presents the need for technological and preferential factors to determine the way people consume

operas. This means that there are no other means to achieve the consumption of opera products

without proper consideration of the consumer's preferences. The different consumer segments

will have different preferences and hence the use of product positioning will work towards

designing the products that match these consumer preferences and take into account the changing

environment.

The successful implementation of the product strategy proposed herein depends on a holistic

approach towards the implementation of the strategies. This should also be supported by well-

designed and highly-effective promotional activities. The contemporary environment

necessitates that Opera Philadelphia adopts the latest beneficial technology in its production and

sale of the performance. Technological advancements such as internet platforms offering live

performances should be implemented to increase the reach of the customers and hence solve the

challenges of access and customer preferences. The consumer research implemented by Opera

Philadelphia should continue to aid the firm in aligning the strategic formulations and decisions

to suit the market dynamics. With the offering of a unique authentic product with a competitive

price to a targeted segmented market, the chances for positive growth will be achieved.
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References

Camilleri, M.A., 2018. Market segmentation, targeting and positioning. In Travel marketing,

tourism economics and the airline product (pp. 69-83). Springer, Cham.

Gajanova, L., Nadanyiova, M. and Moravcikova, D., 2019. The use of demographic and

psychographic segmentation to create a marketing strategy of brand loyalty. Scientific

annals of economics and business, 66(1), pp.65-84.

Heerde, H.J.V. and Neslin, S.A., 2017. Sales promotion models. In Handbook of marketing

decision models (pp. 13-77). Springer, Cham.

Li, Y., Xie, Y. and Zheng, E., 2015. Competitive analytics of Multi-channel Advertising and

consumer inertia.

Lutz, C. and Newlands, G., 2018. Consumer segmentation within the sharing economy: The case

of Airbnb. Journal of Business Research, 88, pp.187-196.