Culture Segments

The international standard segmentation system for arts, culture and heritage organisations

Culture Segments The international standard system for arts, culture and heritage organisations2

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Culture Segments is the international standard segmentation system for arts, culture and heritage organisations. From Sydney Opera House to the British Museum it’s driving audience development.

It provides a compelling, shared language and deep insight to understand audiences. It can help you to target people more accurately, engage them more deeply and build lasting relationships.

Culture Segments is more powerful than other systems because it’s sector-specific and because it’s based on people’s deep-seated cultural values and their beliefs about the role that culture plays in their lives. It gets to the heart of what motivates them.

It’s powered by the robust, international Audience Atlas dataset and draws upon a decade’s leading-edge practice helping our clients to truly understand and meet the needs of audiences for arts, culture and heritage.

Culture Segments is very practical and affordable. The basic system provides useful insight and is published free of charge. For a small fee, you can add Culture Segments to your audience surveys. A simple license allows you to profile every record in your audience database. We offer training to use Culture Segments in your programming and product development, your services, your brand, your fundraising and your communications. Ultimately, we can build completely bespoke Culture Segment profiles for your organisation.

If you want to fully meet the needs of your existing audience and to reach out to new audiences, you need Culture Segments.

Culture Segments The international standard system for arts, culture and heritage organisations3

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Why do We need segmentation?One size does not fit all. Our markets are composed of endlessly diverse individuals who are interested in what we offer for many different reasons and are driven by many different needs. In an ideal world we would tailor our offer and our communications specially for each individual person. But this is impractical.

Segmentation is a pragmatic solution. It’s a way of clustering individual audience members into manageable groups that can be addressed according to their distinctive needs, wants, attitudes and motivations.

Segmentation is a fantastic way of reaching different people with different product and different messages. The offer can be matched to the segment’s underlying motivations and messages about the offer can be delivered through the segment’s preferred media channels.

Get it right and segmentation should develop your audiences and grow your income.

the evolution of segmentationEarly attempts at segmentation in our sector relied on demographics like age, gender and family. Some tried adding geography, income, social status and newspaper readership. These proved to be of limited use.

Performing arts organisations tried to segment using audiences’ past booking behaviour from box office records, but this proved to be a poor indicator of either motivation or of future behaviour and it couldn’t tell them anything about the wider market.

Later on, many arts, cultural and heritage organisations tried to apply generic, commercial segmentation systems – the kind designed to sell cars and refrigerators – to our sector, but without much success. Even the more ‘attitudinal’ and ‘lifestyle’ segmentation systems proved to be far too general to understand cultural audiences.

Culture Segments takes a different, more psychographic approach. It works for cultural audiences because it is based on audiences’ cultural values and beliefs. It gets to the heart of what motivates people to engage with us.

Culture Segments The international standard system for arts, culture and heritage organisations4

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FamiliarThe segments are recognisable. Everyone in the organisation can see themselves in Culture Segments. They make sense. That’s because they were specially developed for the cultural sector by experts in the sector.

A common languageThe segments provide a common language for marketers, programmers, artists, educators, curators, front of house staff and managers. Culture Segments puts audiences at the centre of the discussion and informs strategic choices.

ComprehensiveThe segments includes attenders and non-attenders. Culture Segments profiles the whole market, reaching far beyond the ‘usual suspects’ to help you target your potential audience.

DeepThe segments add real insight. Culture Segments goes beyond mere profiling and enables you to get inside the minds of your audience to understand what really makes them tick.

EasyThe segments are easily identified. Culture Segments uses a small number of ‘golden questions’ that enable you to easily segment respondents to a survey or records on your database. Our simple tools make this easy.

PracticalThe segments improve targeting. Culture Segments helps you choose the most receptive audience, to devise differentiated messages and to select the most effective channels and timing for delivery.

EffectiveThe segments grow audiences. Culture Segments is being used from New Zealand to New York by some of the world’s most forward-thinking cultural organisations to plan programmes, improve services, devise communications and develop audiences. Why not join them?

seven reasons to use culture segments

Culture Segments The international standard system for arts, culture and heritage organisations5

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ESSENCEDiscerning Spontaneous Independent Sophisticated

Essence is the segment in which culture is not what people do, but who they are. Culture is like oxygen to Essence and they couldn’t imagine life without it.

Likely to be well-educated professionals who are highly-active cultural consumers, they are leaders rather than followers. Confident and discerning in their own tastes, they will act spontaneously according to their mood and pay little attention to what others think. Rather than a social activity or form of entertainment, culture is an essential source of self-fulfilment and challenge, a means for experiencing life. They are inner-directed and self-sufficient, actively avoiding the mainstream.

STIMULATIONActive Experimental Discovery Contemporary

Stimulation is the segment that is most attracted to unusual, spectacular and experiential cultural events. They like culture that introduces big ideas but they like to consume it socially with friends.

They are an active group who live their lives to the full, looking for stimulating experiences and challenges to break away from the crowd. They are open to a wide range of experiences, from culture to sports and music, but they like to be at the forefront in everything they do. They like to be the ones ‘in the know’ among their peer group.

RELEASEBusy Ambitious Prioritising Wistful

Release is the only segment defined by a stage in life: when work and family take priority and drastically reduces time for relaxation, entertainment and socialising with friends. They miss this and aspire to do more of it.

The Release segment needs encouragement to view culture as a social activity and an alternative means of taking time out from their busy lives. Arts and culture can offer them a release – an antidote to stress – and a means of staying connected to things that are current and contemporary – keeping them in the loop.

ENRICHMENTMature Traditional Heritage Nostalgia

Enrichment is the segment that most appreciates and admires culture that is acknowledged for its excellence and which has stood the test of time. They choose cultural activities that fit with their interest in nature and heritage and lets them experience nostalgia and awe and wonder.

The Enrichment segment likes to spend their leisure time close to the home. They have established tastes and value traditional art forms. They know what they like and their visits to cultural organisations are very much driven by their own interest and not those of others, or what is considered to be new or fashionable. Culture enriches their lives.

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EXPRESSIONReceptive Confident Community Expressive

Expression is the segment that most enjoys shared and communal experiences. They are very busy, cramming as much as possible into their lives and making the most of their free time. They like to feel part of events and organisations, bring other people along and get involved as supporters.

They are self-aware and most in-tune with their creative and spiritual side. They have a wide range of interests, from culture, to community to nature. Open to new ideas, they pursue challenge, debate and intellectual stimulation through their cultural engagement. Arts and culture offer a means of self-expression and connection with like-minded individuals who share their deeply-held values about the world.

AFFIRMATIONSelf-identity Aspiration Quality time Improvement

Affirmation is the segment that is most consciously committed to increasing its cultural intake. They believe culture improves their lives and want to see themselves, and want others to see them, as the kind of people who engage in cultural activity. They appreciate guidance on what they can add to their repertoire.

They tend to look for larger, well endorsed, non-specialist events and activities, provided by trusted names, as this offers a low risk means of satisfying their needs. The arts and culture also provides this segment with a means of affirming their self-identity and validating themselves with their peers.

PERSPECTIVESettled Self-sufficient Focused Contented

Perspective is the segment that is most focused on their own intellectual and cultural interests. However, these interests are often very personal and home-oriented, so they are content, fulfilled and culturally self-sufficient, unless our offer connects with their agenda and broadens their horizons.

They are optimistic and while this means they are highly contented, their horizons can become somewhat narrow. They are not actively seeking new experiences in arts and culture. Instead, their desire to learn and make their own discoveries can lead them into cultural engagement that gives them new perspectives.

ENTERTAINMENTConsumers Popularist Leisure Mainstream

Entertainment is the segment that tends to see culture as one of many leisure activities. They are most attracted to strongly branded, large scale, spectacular, entertaining or must-see events featuring well-known names.

Arts and culture competes against a wide range of other leisure interests. This segment looks for escapism and thrill in their leisure activities. They are largely socially motivated to attend, looking to pass the time in an entertaining, enjoyable way with friends and family. They tend to stick to the tried and tested rather than take risks.

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