Abstract
With the growing number of orchestras and competitions from other media and popular music, orchestras are experiencing higher competition. The world's current trend of art culture is unfavorable to the growth of symphony orchestras and their development of audience base, especially under the COVID-19 pandemic. This study analyzes how Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, a professional orchestra, can retain its leading status, broaden its audience base, and remain resilient to these challenges. Porter's five force model was applied to investigate its operating environment obtained from various information sources to suggest multiple strategies to gain more audiences in local and international markets. This study contributes to discernment for symphony orchestras to implement new strategies to gain resilience from the unprecedented difficulties. Scant studies focus on the marketing and operations of symphony orchestras during the COVID-19 era, especially in East Asia.
TopIntroduction
A symphony orchestra is a big group of music players who perform orchestral pieces in multiple musical instruments under the instruction of a conductor (Beranek, 2004). As symphony orchestras encounter various unprecedented challenges under the COVID-19 pandemic and changing audience preferences, they should take prompt and effective measures to ensure their present and future development are sustainable and resilient to uncertainty (Bibu et al., 2018; Tengblad & Oudhuis, 2018). In particular, Tengblad & Oudhuis (2018, p.8) highlighted three objectives for achieving resilience in organizations, and the rest of this chapter labels issues related to these objectives with R1, R2, and R3, respectively, for clearer and simplified presentation:
(R1) developing long-term competence,
(R2) being efficient, reliable, flexible, and
(R3) managing challenges and exploiting opportunities
The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (HKPhil) was selected as the case of this study as it is a flagship orchestra of the city and one of the most successful in East Asia (Kita 2017; Chang 2017). First established in 1947, HKPhil (2018) aims at inspiring audiences with the finest music-making. Being subsidized by the Hong Kong government, the Swire Group, and many sizable international companies (HKPhil, 2021), HKPhil has become the best orchestra in Hong Kong. HKPhil is also perceived as one of Asia’s most classical orchestras. Singaporean classical music commentator Dr. Chang (2017) reviewed that HKPhil was a class act. Hiroyoshi Kita (2017), the Osaka Symphony Hall general manager, also commented that performances delivered by HKPhil were at the highest level worldwide. In 2019, HKPhil became the first orchestra registered in Asia to be granted the reputable Gramophone Orchestra of the Year Award (HKPhil, 2020). HKPhil’s long history and reputation have laid a solid foundation for R1.
HKPhil presents more than 150 concerts per season, including mainstage concerts, education activities, and city tours. To maintain audience loyalty, HKPhil has also established a membership scheme, the Bravo Club, which allows members to enjoy exclusive privileges like price reduction on tickets, prioritized booking, and telephone hotlines (HKPhil, 2018). HKPhil facilitates audiences by cooperating with multiple websites to sell their tickets, such as URBTIX, KLOOK, and POPTICKET (Li et al., 2022). HKPhil’s well-established value chain has laid a solid foundation for R2 (Cheung et al., 2021).
Key Terms in this Chapter
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.
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.
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.
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.
Porter’s Five Forces Model: A model for identifying and analyzing five competitive forces that shape an industry to determine its weaknesses and strengths, and often for determining corresponding strategies of organizational players. As it helps understand competition and enhance organization for long-term profitability and sustainability, it is suitable for resilience analysis.
Social media: Interactive network technologies and digital channels that facilitate the creating and sharing of information, ideas, interests, images, videos, links, and other information.