Who should be DCI's target audience?

[IntheMood]

I know this may be apple and oranges, but I have to ask. Who is the target audience for the NFL, MLB, NBA, NASCAR, ect.?

Many on here talk about targeting the band kids. Why would you limit your self to just a very small piece of the youth population? I do not know for sure, but I have a feeling that there are more kids that are not part of a band then kids who are part of a band. I have read on here that band kids are bused to some DCI Shows. And that is great because at least some youth are getting a chance to experience this great Activity of ours live and in person. Why not open this up to all youth of the community not just band kids?

DCI must target the youth of today. Yet at a much younger demographic. DCI should target the middle school kids or younger. You are after their long term loyalty. You grow your fan base.

Some of the Legacy Fans Drum Corps long ago folded. Yet they are very passionate and still follow this Activity and give their time and money. Yet some feel as I do that we are being taken for granted. That income stream is drying up one person at a time. Many have walked away for one reason or another. Some are willing to give DCI another look if they stop morphing into Band. I know A&E is not mandated. So why not have DCI pick a year and have all Corps agree to go unplugged for the whole year and see if there is an increase or decrease in the attendance numbers.

Dean

[crfrey71]

This is easy. You target the legacy members, because that is where the money to support these corps is at. If the legacy folks are happy, they will continue to not only support the activity, but they will encourage the newbies and help promote the activity, as well and to keep the tradition going strong. If you target the newbies, but they do not see the support of the alumni, you will not hang on to the newbies once they age out.

Edited March 4, 2010 by crfrey71

[kstein]

For years (since the late 70's) my family, as well as many of those who have become my "family" have enjoyed and supported drumcorps. My sisters and I marched for many years, and taught or volunteered for many years after this. My parents have volunteered and contributed thousands and thousands of dollars over the years supporting corps at every level. Our friends-who-became-family have done the same. All told, we probably now number as a group around 30.

And for the second year in a row, even with a chunk of this group in Indy that week, none of us are going to Finals.

It's the electronics and it's the venue.

We continue to send checks to groups we support, and we'll be a sizable contingent in Allentown and perhaps a few other shows. Collectively I can't even begin to imagine how many dollars we've spent on dues, tickets, souvies, and other things over the years. The switch to Bb horns was a turn off, but we begrudgingly accepted it. The hideous use of narration/amplification/synths has definitely driven away a chunk of our group for good. Finals in an echo chamber was the last nail in the coffin for most of us.

Perhaps our enthusiasm and passion and dollars will be replaced. I hope for the sake of each marching member it will be. But I doubt an extra few band kids who stay excited/involved for a few years and move on with their lives will replace the vacancy of this particular group of East Coast oldtimers.

Edited March 5, 2010 by kstein

[Rimba47]

I know this may be apple and oranges, but I have to ask. Who is the target audience for the NFL, MLB, NBA, NASCAR, ect.?

Many on here talk about targeting the band kids. Why would you limit your self to just a very small piece of the youth population? I do not know for sure, but I have a feeling that there are more kids that are not part of a band then kids who are part of a band. I have read on here that band kids are bused to some DCI Shows. And that is great because at least some youth are getting a chance to experience this great Activity of ours live and in person. Why not open this up to all youth of the community not just band kids?

DCI must target the youth of today. Yet at a much younger demographic. DCI should target the middle school kids or younger. You are after their long term loyalty. You grow your fan base.

Some of the Legacy Fans Drum Corps long ago folded. Yet they are very passionate and still follow this Activity and give their time and money. Yet some feel as I do that we are being taken for granted. That income stream is drying up one person at a time. Many have walked away for one reason or another. Some are willing to give DCI another look if they stop morphing into Band. I know A&E is not mandated. So why not have DCI pick a year and have all Corps agree to go unplugged for the whole year and see if there is an increase or decrease in the attendance numbers.

Dean

I agree with this post.

Obviously its a great thing that DCI is during the summer because the target audience has nothing to do! They don't have school. But one place that most of them go during the summer is camp. So, maybe camps all over the world could have "field trips" to shows that occur during the week (though they are at night they could still be possible through organizations like the YMCA). There should be a whole Ad Campaign that says, "Nothing to do on a summer night? Go see a drum corps show!" Imagine how many people would be like... "what the hell... lets just go. its only 20 dollars." I think Drum Corps in general would be MORE popular and have a wider fan base if people only just KNEW about it! lol. Market, Market, Market!

[BRASSO]

This thread seems to start with the premise that DCI WANTS to target an audience, or for that matter, even desires to grow an audience base.

I've seen no research studies commissioned by anybody at DCI HQ. which would lead one to believe that DCI would be interested in understandng why attendance at atrophied of late, and what steps it may need to take to reverse course.

Absent such research studies on attendance loss, one can only conclude that DCI is currently not all that interested in this subject matter.

Maybe there is a long term plan. And that plan involves merger.

If true, all the recent policies, and instrumentation changes, make perfect sense.

Why be interested in formulating a target audience, or growing an audience, if the enterprise might shift altogether thru organizational merger ?

Not implying this is the plan. Only that it certainly could be one possibility as to why DCI really does not place audience and fan growth in the forefront as one would ordinarily think we'd see for a organization that is involved in the performing arts with youth.

Edited March 5, 2010 by BRASSO

[Fred Windish]

IntheMood,

I am someone who referenced school buses in a recent post. To clarify my use of that reference, I want to say school buses are a good thing, BUT . . . should not be the most critical aspect of DCI's directors' vision. Surely, introducing new fans to this activity should be a constant goal.

Understand, I look at things differently than the average fan. I'm certain Bob Jacobs does as well. Bob did put an emphasis on retaining long-standing support. That's a prudent choice.

What's not good (to me) is a perceived impression that DCI has allowed creativity to dominate its business model. I believe the business model MUST always dominate. It's how the bills are paid.

I stopped purchasing tickets to DCI events about 15 years ago. It no longer "did" for me what it once did, but that's just me. MANY others have taken my place. I became disinterested due to the product's lack of melody. The recent drive toward voice and amplification serves further to keep me away. Geez, where are they headed? Why not simply place an enormous boom box on the fifty and keep the kids on the bus? Yuk!

My concern is with the DCI organization retaining its status as a sought-after convention in the eyes of potential host communities for DCi's main events. School bus groups have very little to do with that appeal. Real appeal comes from our activity's ability to inject NEW dollars into the host community. Hit-and-run bus groups are not significant to that goal. Neither are dollars from local residents who purchase seats, as their dollars are simply re-directed dollars, within an already-existing economy.

DCI's leadership must always keep its eyes on creating new dollars flowing to the host community if it seeks to demonstrate its value to a sponsoring entity. Legacy fans produce MANY new dollars. That's my point.

[perc2100]

This is easy. You target the legacy members, because that is where the money to support these corps is at. If the legacy folks are happy, they will continue to not only support the activity, but they will encourage the newbies and help promote the activity, as well and to keep the tradition going strong. If you target the newbies, but they do not see the support of the alumni, you will not hang on to the newbies once they age out.

While that is statistically true, it should be noted that

a) the key demographic that networks strive for skews younger than older

b) therefor advertising skews younger rather than older

* Obviously "younger" is fairly generic, and for TV purposes "key demographic" is 18-49, though some in the business would consider 18-25 the 'key demographic.'

Also, keep in mind that while the average 17 year old might not have as much money to spend on entertainment as a 45 year old, the high school student has whatever money they make from their job PLUS mom and dad to help subsidize their drum corps interests. You can maybe look at it as DCI targeting marching aged and recent age-outs is also targeting the legacy-aged fans via their parents.

Plus, it's not like someone loves drum corps and whatever its iteration is when they march (i.e. if someone's marching in 2010 they're are probably just fine with what modern drum corps is), it's not like they age-out and think "gee, I know I've spent the couple of years as a fan and MM, but now that I'm aged-out I really think that drum corps should revert back to the design styles of 2000 and earlier."

As I think I've said earlier, ideally DCI would want to target every age group. And while I'm sure they make decisions based at least partially on pleasing the most amount of fans (I KNOW I'm going to hear counter arguments to that one), I think it's a bad idea for ANYONE to try to cater 100% to what SOME fans on an internet forum think is the best direction to steer the activity. Students I know who are of current marching days "respect" the old school stuff, but have said that they would have zero interest in marching in a corps that is behind the trends of what they know to be modern marching band/guard/WGI. Just as you might have no interest in what's on the field in 2009, they have had little interest in what happened in drum corps previous to their existence (like I showed a student of MM who's a corps rookie this season a recording of SCV 89 and they laughed at what they perceived to be a very slow and boring program; though for what it's worth they always dig the magic trick).

In a way, just as you argue if DCI caters to the young, marching aged people will lose legacy fans leaving no one around once they age-out, without catering to the current and future generations of MM's, no one would be on the field for the legacy fans to watch.

[perc2100]

What's not good (to me) is a perceived impression that DCI has allowed creativity to dominate its business model. I believe the business model MUST always dominate. It's how the bills are paid.

I think that is a great and valid point. But I think it's, unfortunately, a Catch 22. Directors created DCI partly because they wanted more control over things. A board made up of independent members focusing only on the business side would seemingly be a great idea. Non-biased business thinkers would probably do things drastically different than what we have now. But it would also wrestle control away from corps/directors and would potentially make decisions based on what looks good on paper, but not necessarily good in practice (for example, paying less or nothing for DCI Champs week housing for a corps 100 minutes from LOS might be good from a business end, but paying more for housing 30 minutes away is way more attractive from a logistic and practical sense).

But the typical business model for sports leagues are similar. You have a perceived independent group running things (think NFL and it's Roger Goodell and his staff), the owners as members of the board deciding different courses of action (in DCI we would have DCI Directors), and coaches who serve on different committees, such as the rules committee responsible for suggesting rule changes, clarifications, etc (like the staff caucuses at DCI meetings, the NFL it's currently Titan's coach Jeff Fisher and Falcon's president Rich McKay acting as chairs for the committee).

So DCI is for all intents and purposes following the same model that pro sports leagues use.

[MikeD]

if you have, by Mike's standards continually turnover fans because band kids will not all stick around, and you continue to chase off legacy fans....who sticks around?

The dropoff is as it has always been. It is nothing new. DCI is not 'chasing' legacy fans away. Those who leave do so of their own volition, again as always.

I agree you need to market to kids 100%. But that should not be the overiding focus, but a part of the total focus. When DCI had it's dark days in the mid 90s, it wasnt band kids that kept DCI alive, it was the diehards, the legacy fans that kept coming, to many shows a year and to finals.While that group may only be 50%, thats a huge 50%, and a group that has shown it's loyalty to spend hundreds if not thousands a year following DCI.

It is not the total focus, of course. DCI has done more for legacy fans in recent years than ever IMO, with classic DVD's and alumni corps performances as two examples.

[MikeD]

Die hard fan and disposable income are two different things. Being older, or in a certain level of age and/or accomplishments in life give that demographic FAR more disposable income than someone in college or years after college. If you want to play to exceptions to this rule you can, but don't be surprised at failure.

Parents make sure their kids are provided for...kids at shows by the busload flock to souvie stands...with mom and dads money.