macrobert 2004
| Organisation |
macrobert |
| Project |
To develop a wider audience for its work with and for young people through developing its WOW pilot project and introducing new audience development initiatives |
| Artform |
Theatre, dance, music, visual arts, film |
| Location |
Stirling and surrounding areas |
| Application type |
Full application |
| Date |
2001 - 2004 |
| Status |
Completed |
| Grant |
£97,183 |
| Total project cost |
£211,183 |
macrobert is located on the campus of the University of Stirling and opened in 1971 as Scotland’s first purpose-built arts complex with a main house theatre, studio, gallery and foyer bar. It operates a year-round performance and film programme for children and adults, and also offers young people the opportunity to participate in the arts through an arts education programme in schools, as well as offering its own youth theatre, dance and music theatre groups. macrobert is developing its role as a producer, co-producer and commissioner of work for young people. The newly-designed macrobert opened in October 2002, after completing a major lottery-funded refurbishment and extension, which has enhanced considerably its facilities for children and families.
This three-year project was designed to enable the macrobert to develop a wider audience for its work with and for young people through developments to its WOW magazine and website for children under 12 and audience development initiatives aimed at the over-12s age range.
Through this project, macrobert aims to build on the valuable information and experience gained during the pilot year of WOW and put into practice some of the ideas developed so that it can continue to increase its audiences among young people.
It intends to:
- redesign the magazine and widen its geographical distribution to the whole of the Central Belt
- develop the interactive element of the website and introduce separate sections for differentiated age ranges
- set up a new website for 14s and over
- provide website design training for the macrobert’s in-house designer and other staff, and for the staff of the Puppet Animation Festival
- develop e-marketing and CD-ROM campaigns aimed at the 12-25 age range.
The project has been developed in partnership with the macrobert Young Consultants (YCs).
Magazine: 50,000 copies of the first edition of the new look magazine were distributed to children throughout Stirling, Falkirk, Clackmannanshire, Perth, Glasgow and Edinburgh (double the previous print run).
Website: A web design assistant was appointed on a one-year contract to redesign the site, increasing the interactive elements and introducing more user-friendly features.
Marketing: The marketing campaign for the revamped magazine and website included a set of three A5 postcards (print run of 40,000) which were designed to be collected and put together to create an ‘underwater’ stage set – this tied in with the first edition of the magazine which included underwater characters - and large posters of the magazine front cover which were displayed at a local shopping centre.
The project began as the macrobert entered the final, critical stages of a major building project with only a skeleton staff in place which has resulted in some slippage in timescale. A number of operational problems after the new building opened, and the loss of several key members of staff, including the Marketing Manager, has further contributed to delays.
- Feedback on the revamped magazine from children and young people has been very positive and has highlighted the importance of having strong visuals and photography. The response from parents and teachers has also been good. The macrobert feesl that it has achieved its aim of looking more like a mainstream magazine. The one major criticism with the first issue, which the macrobert readily acknowledges, is that the magazine assumes that readers know what the macrobert is. This has been rectified in later issues. An ongoing challenge for staff is to ensure a fit between the purpose and the content of the magazine.
- Website usage by the YCs and children and young people in general has been low. The macrobert recognise that there needs to be a strong motivation to access it. At present, it is mainly about the events programme. Feedback from YCs indicates the need to ensure that the content is sufficiently differentiated from that in the magazine. The games have proved very popular with users. The wide age range of target users is identified as an issue. Young people want a sophisticated website but there is a danger that it could become too complicated for younger users.
- Audiences of 27,000 were achieved for events for children and their families during the first five months after the macrobert re-opened, an increase of 3,000 over the same period in the year before closure. (A caveat to these figures is that this was the opening period and the programming was front-loaded to generate interest and awareness.)
- Events for younger children booked most quickly, suggesting that parents were making the decisions about what to attend but that older children were being involved in the decision-making process which made it lengthier.
- 70% cited the WOW magazine as their primary motivation for attending, with 11% citing the WOW website.
- 24% were first time attenders, compared with 36% achieved during the WOW pilot year.
- The number attending from outwith Stirling increased from 76% to 88%. This is attributed largely to the increased distribution of WOW magazine.
- Future developments planned include developing the story-writing and interactive elements of the magazine, developing age-specific sections on the website, and organising staff website training.
- There are lessons to be learned for other organisations considering running additional projects at the same time as opening a new building.
A Schools Audience Development Officer (funded by the Scottish Arts Council), was appointed in June 2003. This role has helped significantly with raising the profile of the WOW initiative. Improving relations with local and national schools has allowed the opportunity of promoting WOW to a wider audience and resulted in an increase in school bookings, in particular for school and Christmas productions.
Liz Moran
Artistic Director
macrobert
University of Stirling
Stirling FK9 4LA
Tel: 01786 467155
Fax: 01786 466 600
E-mail: e.a.moran@stir.ac.uk
Web: www.macrobert.org
|