Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic and quarantine policies have caused the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (HKPhil) to significantly reduce offline concerts and ticket revenue, while increasing reliance on government funding. With the advancement of internet and mobile technologies, social media greatly help disseminate information and connect to customers. Thus, this study investigates HKPhil's social customer relationship management (CRM) by surveying its website and social media. Quesenbery's 5Es usability model was used to analyze the orchestra's social media usability and the 7Ps marketing mix model to explore the current opportunities and risks faced by HKPhil. The findings indicate the limitations of HKPhil's current approach to social CRM and suggest changing concert formats, enhancing social network promotions, and providing online education resources to help HKPhil attract a wider audience of different age groups. Scant studies focus on orchestras in East Asia, and this study offers some social CRM development strategies and actionable recommendations.
TopLiterature Review
Social Network Marketing for Orchestra
Classical music contains a wealth of cultural and spiritual value, and listeners must be familiar with both classical music and culture and history to appreciate it (Chandler, 2019). Because music education in Hong Kong is somewhat low compared to other parts of the world, the populace lacks the musical literacy necessary to appreciate Western classical music (Ho, 2006). The difficulty for orchestras to market themselves through social media is that the public’s love for classical music is generally low (Hauser, 1999), especially in East Asia (Ho, 2006). As a result, expanding the user base to cash in after marketing is challenging. Social media is not conducive to marketing the classical genre because of the low barrier to entry, the different user bases and operating methods of each platform, and the instability of traffic, as the classical genre is a relatively unique audience (Tuten & Solomon, 2015; McKenzie et al., 2020; Yu, Chiu, & Chan, 2022). Classical music will be relatively inefficient in the realization of social media, especially for the younger generation (Erica, 2021).
According to Rafiq & Ahmed’s definition (1995), the 4Ps marketing hybrid concept has been criticized for too limited and straightforward. The 7Ps approach expands on the 4Ps framework and is widely accepted in the marketing field for its comprehensive nature (Rafiq & Ahmed, 1995; Ivy, 2008). The 7P’s of marketing include product, price, promotion, place, people, process, and physical evidence (Gheorghe & Polixenia, 2018). The 7Ps marketing mix model assists users in developing a solid marketing mix and translating marketing strategy into improved sales and successful marketing campaigns (Pantano et al., 2019).
Key Terms in this Chapter
Digitalization: A process of moving the libraries to provide services digitally, using digital technologies to alter the mode of library services and enhance the quality of services to users in the case of libraries.
Customer Relationship Management: A combination of practices, strategies, and technologies for organizations to manage and analyze customer interactions and data throughout the customer lifecycle, aiming to improve customer service relationships and assist in customer retention and increase sales revenue.
Social media: Interactive network technologies and digital channels that facilitate the creating and sharing of information, ideas, interests, images, videos, links, and other information.
Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (HKPhil): The most funded Hong Kong orchestra by the Hong Kong Government was established in 1947. HKPhil was the first orchestra from Asia to win the prestigious Gramophone Orchestra of the Year Award in 2019.
COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease 2019): A contagious disease caused by a virus called the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019, and the disease spread worldwide, leading to the COVID-19 pandemic.
7Ps Marketing Mix Model: A widely accepted model in the marketing field for its comprehensive nature, including product, price, promotion, place, people, process, and physical evidence. It assists users in developing a solid marketing mix and translating marketing strategy into improved sales and successful marketing campaigns.
5Es Usability Model: A model for analyzing the usability of products and services, including five dimensions: effective, efficient, engaging, error-tolerant, and ease of learning. Each dimension has equal importance, and by thinking about the value usability brings, it can be used in user research and improve the products or services.