Jul
Vancouver Symphony Orchestra
Sarah Fletcher, Community Engagement Co-ordinator & Marketing Assistant at Vancouver Symphony Orchestra tells us about her ambassador programme and answers some questions:
The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra introduced its first Ambassador programme in September 08 with the ‘Student Ambassador Programme’. The idea was to start with just one Ambassador Programme and examine its success at the year end.
We chose to focus on Students because despite the VSO’s unarguably affordable $10 student ticket deal very few students were taking advantage of it and in fact as the season progressed, I discovered an alarming number of students even knew about it. Plus it gave me a remarkably good weapon to go out into the Student world: they were helpless to resist!
Things got going in September 08 about a month prior to the start of VSO’s 08/09 season and when all the universities and colleges in Greater Vancouver were going back. I sent out a mass e-mail to anyone and everyone aimed at department heads and secretaries. It talked about the Student Access Pass and about the Student Ambassador programme. I posted ads up on university volunteering websites and I also made the trip out to a couple of open days.
Our aim was to discover anyone with a keen interest in music, regardless of their background or education and to get them to simply try the programme. Their role would be to spread the word about the VSO and the Student Access Pass in any way possible, put up posters, hand out flyers, e-mail their friends/professors/peers and suggest going to the Symphony, tell them why they think they should go, from their own perspective. I reminded them about the power of word of mouth, how talking to friends and suggesting they go, even just once is far more valuable than any marketing campaign. I suggested that if they ever find themselves making small talk with strangers, talk about the symphony. When they’re at bus stops and that person talks to you, in bars and you’re queuing for a drink, standing next to the water cooler in the library, where ever it is, where ever they happen to be just telling someone about a great night they had at the Symphony can leave a lasting impression. It was our belief these small suggestions would make a big difference in the purchasing habits of everyone the VSO Student Ambassadors came into contact with.
We offered rewards for their time and efforts in the shape of special events, free tickets, a backstage tour, the opportunity to meet the musicians and to basically become a part of the VSO.
We had a great response from the start and people kept coming back. I kept up almost a constant correspondence with them and I like to think they all felt comfortable to come to me with updates on their progress and with idle conversation.
Further in, when I felt able to trust the majority I sent them numbers of two for one vouchers to hand to non students, professors, people of influence. I created the opportunity for them to suggest groups who I would consider giving comps to so they can try it out. I asked them to come to me with ideas, some did and we more often than not followed through with their suggestion. With a couple of very reliable and trustworthy Ambassadors I routinely offered them comps to use with their discretion so to invite their various contacts. From all of this and keeping it personalized I received resoundingly positive feedback from people saying they hadn’t been before but loved it and will be sure to go again. The Ambassador’s themselves I think saw reward in these reactions.
Do you think of your ambassador programme as part of marketing for VSO?
Yes I do. I think of them as an extension of the marketing department and as small part of the education department.
What is the most important thing your ambassadors provide or add to VSO?
In their entirety they are an amazing task force. Without them I would have a huge area to cover and a lot of people to reach. With them I have one of the best marketing tools available, the word of mouth; and what an encouraging task force.
What do they get out of being ambassadors?
They are routinely offered free tickets, special events to meet the staff and musicians, back stage tour, the opportunity to be a recognized part of the VSO. Enjoyment out of offering their peers free tickets, personal reward from introducing new people to the symphony.
Do they get results you can measure? Can you give an example?
We started by giving each Ambassador a personal code so when people bought tickets they would quote the code to customer service reps. With this the idea was to keep count of how many tickets Ambassador have managed to sell but in the end it became too time consuming for us in the office and too convoluted for the Ambassador’s. It didn’t make any sense for someone seeing a poster on their department notice board with a sticker saying, quote 6342 when buying tickets. Why would anyone remember to do that?
How much time do you spend managing them?
Quite a fair amount. I would say with organizing the events, answering everyone’s questions and building my ambassador base takes up much longer than I imagined it would. It’s definitely hard to measure but depending on where I am in the season it ranges from 0 to perhaps 8 hours per week.
Is it expensive to run an ambassador programme? Is it cost-effective?
So far it hasn’t cost us anything more than the clean up costs from one of the special events and my time. Therefore I can’t say it’s expensive but as yet I can’t say if it’s cost-effective. I can only view this as a long term strategy to build an audience base.
Have you ever had to deal with an ambassador that is not effective in some way?
Any Ambassador who isn’t effective normally just stops responding to my e-mails, after a few e-mails I cut them off. I haven’t had to kick anyone off as such.
What tips would you give to someone who is just starting to put an ambassador programme together?
Use the power of e-mail to reach to as many students as possible. E-mail everyone under the sun, I’m talking hundreds of people to tell them about the programme. Maybe 3 in every hundred will respond saying, “Wow, I forwarded that on to the students in my class, all 500 of them”. Out of that 500, you will be lucky to get maybe 5 who e-mail you. The numbers are small and you have to work hard on getting your Ambassador base. But once you find these loyal and enthusiastic people it makes those hours you spent trawling university web pages all the more worth it.
Plan your actions but be very flexible. With students, be aware of their schedule, when their exams are, when they’re on holiday etc. Work your campaigns around that.
Most importantly, be friendly. They’re doing this for fun and you’re a part of that fun.