University news

Marketing students at the University of Glasgow managed to increase by over 70% the average attendance at a recent Royal Scottish National Orchestra (RSNO) concert. 

As part of their course, the students had been set the task of increasing the number of people attending a RSNO concert held in Royal Concert Hall in Glasgow. They succeeded in increasing the average attendance from 750 to an impressive 1200.

Graham Ball, the student who carried out the campaign explains: “The Strategic Marketing Honours class from the Business School were given a project to increase attendance at a performance from the RSNO’s ‘Classic Bites’ series which, from the first three of four had seen a poor turnout. The students were acting as marketing consultants for a well-respected organisation who wished to boost their clientele.

“The music played at the concert was from famous movies such as Star Wars and The Lord of the Rings. To increase attendance we leafleted extensively in the city centre with some students wearing RSNO custom t-shirts while others wore fancy dress costumes of characters from the films. This had a significant response from young families, traditionally an under-represented group at classical music concerts."

Head of Marketing for the RSNO, David Stark, read the best of the students’ projects and incorporated some of their suggestions into the rest of his marketing campaign.

The concert itself was held on Wednesday 2 April in The Royal Concert Hall.

Further information:
Martin Shannon, Media Relations Officer
University of Glasgow 0141 330 8593

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First published: 17 April 2008