Arts Audiences: Insight

I'm working from The Pound Arts Centre today and Ian (WAP's Chair and Director of The Pound) handed me a beautiful, unmistakably Arts Council published document entitled Arts Audience: Insight and said 'So which one are you?'. Confused, I began to explore the document full of lovely 'wordle like' art work and fold out pages.

So what is it?

It is the culmination of what must have been extensive research which has moved away from the traditional ACORN and MOSAIC definition of the population to that focused on arts attendance. Groups are divided into three sections: Highly engaged, Some engagement and Not currently engaged. Within these sections are sub sections:

Highly Engaged: (Reps 9% of population)
Urban Arts Eclectic (5%)
Traditional Culture Vulture (4%)

Some Engagement: (Reps 70% of population)
Fun, fashion and friends (18%)
Mature Explorers (11%)
Dinner and Show (20%)
Family and Community focused (11%)
Bedroom DJs (3%)
Mid-life hobbyists (4%)
Retired arts and crafts (3%)

Not currently engaged: (23%)
Time-poor dreamers (7%)
A quiet pint with the match (8%)
Older and home-bound (6%)
Limited means, nothing fancy (2%)

The document goes onto to define these groups by their leisure pursuits, arts engagement, demographic, and their media use (with rather clever artwork to illustrate that information).

I am left wondering whether the investment in this is worthy of the usefulness in terms of an audience development strategy, having said that the section that looks at engaging each group is fairly useful. It does feel a little like reinventing the ACORN and MOSAIC wheel to limited value, although given that there is apparently 70% engaging 'sometimes', and 23% not currently engaged it does suggest we have some work to do! What do you think?

Oh and in reply to Ian's question 'which one are you?' I think I am probably 'Family and Community Focused', though I would like to have fitted into the 'Urban arts eclectic.'

So which one are you?

http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/media/uploads/Arts_audiences_insight.pdf

NB: I am sharing my own personal opinion in this post and is not intended to represent the opinion of WAP members!