PROBLEM The Oklahoma City Ballet Company, formerly known as Ballet Oklahoma, had undergone some radical changes between the 2007-8 and 2008-9 seasons including new management, a new artistic director, new performances and even new dancers. The Company needed to know if they had been successful with the transition, with the management, with the performances or even what success was. The only way to answer these questions is to ask the customers which in this situation happened to be the audience.

SOLUTION That is exactly what ShapardResearch does best; gathering customer insight should be forefront to any business strategy and, after all, The Oklahoma City Ballet Company is still a business. Even better than customer insight is customer insight in the midst of consumption. For this reason, ShapardResearch staff intercepted ‘Wizard of Oz’ performance attendees during intermission and after the performance with an optic scan paper survey that covered various issues of Company and performance satisfaction, dance style and music preferences, performance popularity, website interest and use, process ease, possible improvements and market segmentation by demographics and preferences.

RESULT The intercept research performed by ShapardResearch provided The Oklahoma City Ballet Company with insight into the desires and preferences of both the larger public as well as niche groups of attendees based on, for example, understanding, demographics or entertainment needs. This insight helped the Company realize that their customers were not only extremely satisfied with the management but were also extremely satisfied with the performance of ‘Wizard of Oz’. It also aided the Company by providing material in the development of a focus strategy that could efficiently meet the needs of target groups as well as realizing that some specific education may need to take place about ballet dance styles. This research helped the Company learn how to tailor marketing efforts to different audience segments and helped highlight areas that could possibly be improved and, perhaps above all, provide a benchmark for future seasons and other performances.