GöteborgsOperan

GöteborgsOperan – a house for everyone, with the customer in focus

GöteborgsOperan AB is a cultural institution for everyone. A cultural venue in Gothenburg, where anyone who wants to experience culture is welcome. The company, owned by the Västra Götaland region, employs around 500 permanent staff across 90 different professions. The vision is to become one of Northern Europe's leading opera houses, but within its walls, there is more than just opera. The venue also hosts musicals, dance performances, and concerts – around 350 events annually, attracting a quarter of a million visitors from Gothenburg, the region, and all of Sweden.

At GöteborgsOperan, the customer is at the center of everything. In 2017, the 'Customer in focus' project was launched, aiming to elevate the customer journey. Due to external circumstances, it was paused for a while, but it was relaunched in the spring of 2022. With the aim of aligning goals, processes, employees, and working methods while ensuring that all communication decisions are customer-driven, the project got off to a strong start. As part of this, GöteborgsOperan began searching for new systems to support the customer-focused project.

– Previously, we had complex systems that were cumbersome to use, and we faced challenges in obtaining an overall view of our customers and their behavior. The goal of 'Customer in focus' was to adopt a more customer-driven approach, so we needed a new all-in-one tool for analysis, customer insights, and segmentation, explains Toby Morey, Webmaster at GöteborgsOperan.

The choice fell on MarketHype, which felt like a great fit because the system was designed specifically for the event industry.

– It was also crucial for us to choose a supplier who met our data security requirements and allowed us to control data flows to protect our customers' privacy, adds Toby.

In addition to MarketHype's customer database and marketing tools being designed specifically for the experience industry, several other factors were considered when choosing the system. Charlotte "Charlie" Ljungman, Marketing Coordinator at GöteborgsOperan, says:

– Another important aspect was the opportunity to participate in and influence the future development of functions. Having that opportunity was a great advantage for us, and we have it with MarketHype. It feels like we have a lot to offer each other – we engage in meaningful exchanges and work towards the same goals within the same industry.

Ready, set, go!

So, it was in connection with the 'Customer in focus' project gaining momentum that GöteborgsOperan decided to review its systems. MarketHype was one of the systems added, with Toby Morey, among others, being technically responsible for the launch. And it went fast!

– It was a very quick start-up. Once the connection to the ticket system Tixly was established, the email domain activated, and we had received training from MarketHype's support, we were ready to go. We ran MarketHype alongside the previous platform for only two weeks before completely shutting down the old solution, says Toby.

Charlie adds:

– Despite a relatively tight time frame, we were able to set up templates early on and send our first mailings with MarketHype. The tool is user-friendly and easy to learn, which I see as one of the biggest advantages of the system.

At GöteborgsOperan, five people use MarketHype, all of whom are within the Marketing Unit: three in the Communications Department and two in the Sales Department. The focus is mainly on analysis, segmentation, and newsletters. Toby was most involved in the start-up and onboarding, but remains actively involved, providing advice and answering questions about the tool. Charlie, like Toby, has an educational function regarding various systems, such as MarketHype, and is also responsible for various newsletters. Christine "Titte" Carlsson is another user of the customer data platform. She works as a Marketing Analyst at GöteborgsOperan and, among other things, is responsible for environmental monitoring, campaign analysis, sales statistics, customer evaluations, and segment descriptions.

– I get to analyze the outcome of various campaigns and offers. What caused the increase? Was our hypothesis correct, and why? What can we learn? These are examples of questions I ask myself, says Titte.

With goals related to customer satisfaction and loyal customers, through smart decisions

GöteborgsOperan has several key goals and KPIs. The three overarching goals, also central to the 'Customer in focus' project, focus on increasing customer influx, enhancing customer satisfaction, and building customer loyalty to encourage more purchases. To reach these objectives and gain a better understanding of customers, analysis and segmentation are key. The approach is both strategically oriented and tactically executed. The project is largely about adopting a more data-driven approach – as that’s where the real results lie – and using the budget and making decisions more intelligently.

– Our goal is to make the overall visitor experience as positive as possible. To achieve that, we must collect relevant customer data and use it effectively, while ensuring we protect our customers' privacy, says Titte.

Another contribution of the 'Customer in focus' project is how planning for activities around performances is done. Now, GöteborgsOperan's Marketing Unit places greater focus on customer segments, alongside adaptation based on performance and genre. Charlie explains:

– Now, we create plans based on the customer segments we’ve identified. Whether it’s planning for food options, communication efforts, or stage selection, the customer’s perspective is what matters.

In MarketHype, GöteborgsOperan creates different customer segments. The segments are based on characteristics such as age, number of ticket purchases, event tags, and season ticket holders, and are used for communication via newsletters and automations. The key is not to send everything to everyone, but to communicate relevant content to different target groups – something made possible by MarketHype's system.

MarketHype – an important part of GöteborgsOperan's new way of working

With 'Customer in focus', GöteborgsOperan has not only replaced some systems but also chosen to adopt a customer-centric approach. The organization has gained deeper customer insights, set new goals for customer experiences, and started planning marketing activities based on customer segments. In short, they have adopted a new way of working.

– MarketHype is an important part of our new way of working. The system is user-friendly, reduces manual labor, and provides valuable customer insights. Our plan is to further develop 'Customer in focus', expand the project team, and send more segmented mailings through the platform, says Charlie.

Titte believes it is a strength to have analysis, segments, and automations all in one tool:

– We get a comprehensive overview and can work efficiently with our entire customer database – all within the same tool. We look forward to contributing input and ideas to MarketHype's future product development as we continue to evolve our own way of working. It will really be exciting to see how everything progresses, concludes Titte.

More information about GöteborgsOperan

Wanna check out GöteborgsOperan's homepage? You find it here.