Scottish Ballet wanted to know how they were doing in relation to youth audiences – people aged under 26 and students. They wanted to make sure that they were widening access to different audience groups and were interested in building lifelong relationships with young attenders.

Scottish Household Survey data shows that about 75% of young people (ages 16 – 24, see chart below) tend to participate in cultural activities, at about the same levels as the next two older age groups. In addition, the overall market for Scottish arts and culture was worth £83.3m in 2013-14 and of that the under 26 market was £6.3m (a 7.5% share of the overall market). So, in principle there is a ready market there for Scottish Ballet to tap into, but this broad picture can be given much more detail with a bit of research.

Scottish Ballet was already offering special access for young audiences. The company offer £10 tickets to anyone under 26,  available on the night of a performance at the box office to any young person with proof of age. Part of their question was around if this incentive was the right one.

Culture Republic worked with Scottish Ballet to look at their younger audiences in four key markets (Glasgow, Edinburgh, Perth and Inverness) to answer questions around the wider trends for youth audiences in these markets, how Scottish Ballet youth audiences were doing and what could they learn from youth audience engagement practices from other similar companies in Scotland, the UK and around the world.

Taking the last question first, our research found that under 26 or student (U26) discounts were more prevalent throughout the UK than internationally. Scottish Ballet’s reduced pricing was in line with similar offers around the country. Some of the other benefits to young people across the UK included:

• Dedicated booking days / dedicated performances
• Free / discounted drinks
• Discounted food or merchandise
• Ability to purchase discounted tickets online

In particular, a legacy in England was observed in schemes that had been part of the Arts Council’s initiative ‘A Night Less Ordinary’ and companies were now continuing with their own schemes.

An deep look into ticket bookings for Scottish Ballet performances as compared to bookings for a range of performances taking place at venues around the country showed that the company are doing well in terms of maintaining their share of youth audiences, growing revenue from this group as opposed to the wider trend that was observed in other companies of a slight loss in market share for this group. In particular, the company were attracting young people in rural markets more strongly than the comparison group, providing a positive foundation from which Scottish Ballet can build lifelong relationships with young audiences.