National Galleries Scotland is an organisation of ambition. It seeks mutually beneficial relationships with its audiences, engendering a deep sense of loyalty and as a result driving growth, social impact and financial security.
To support this ambition, we were asked to develop an overall recommendation for a loyalty strategy that balanced audience development objectives with fundraising and income objectives. This strategy needed to encompass the membership proposition, but also be open to a wide range of platforms, channels and modes of audience retention and loyalty through digital, retail and community engagement.
We started with a consultation workshop with the NGS team exploring perceptions of the current loyalty offer and alternative propositions for the future. We asked questions such as: which audiences are currently rewarded and why; the type of loyalty offer; the NGS assets celebrated in the loyalty offer and the benefits delivered to both the audience and to NGS. We followed up with a short survey to the team to prioritise alternative future propositions to test out with the current and potential markets.
We conducted a thorough assessment of the market environment for loyalty products in the cultural sector, looking at regional comparisons and national and international offers.
An online survey was then sent to current Friends, subscribers and past bookers. The survey aimed to review perceptions of the existing offer and test out perceptions of alternative loyalty proposition.
Finally, we held online focus groups, bringing together lapsed and potential Friends to explore the alternative offers in more detail.
We co-created a recommendation of what a full loyalty scheme proposition should look like, taking into account market opportunity, audience diversification, return on investment and resource feasibility (including tax regulations). This included innovative product development concepts, new positioning and structure recommendations for the Friends scheme, along with an implementation plan.
Initial changes made by NGS and indicators of success
Plans for further implementation
