Westerville Symphony Orchestra

WESTERVILLE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

Bruce C. Bailey, Otterbein College Nicole R. Vickers, Rollins College

Case Objectives and Use

The case shows the difficulties facing a local symphony competing in a competitive product market dominated by a well-known, nationally recognized orchestra. The Westerville Symphony Orchestra served several bedroom communities for the Columbus, OH area, but suffered from lack of awareness and a “we have to give it away” mentality by the part-time directors.

The case provides an excellent opportunity to discuss basic marketing tactics that can be implemented at relatively little cost to the organization. It was written for business school undergraduate courses in Advertising & Promotion, Market Analysis, or Marketing Strategy. It might best be used early in the course as it provides a good deal of demographic and other research information that students should become proficient in analyzing.

Case Synopsis

The Westerville Symphony Orchestra (WSO) was a not-for-profit organization that functioned as an educational, cultural, and entertainment resource for the Central Ohio area by presenting performances of symphonic music. It provided an artistic outlet for musicians from the community, and offered its service to stakeholders in and around Westerville, OH.

The WSO had one full-time employee, who served as event organizer and secretary for the Board of Directors. The Board was comprised of volunteers from the local community who served a three-year term. As a result, there was frequent turnover among the committee. None of committee members was a musician, and typically, none was a professional marketing person nor had any formal training in marketing.

The orchestra had grown out of the music department at a local college and had been in existence for 20 years. While the orchestra had maintained a symbiotic relationship with the college, times had changed and the college could no longer provide performance space for all of the orchestra’s scheduled events, nor managerial input into the affairs of the orchestra. The WSO Board realized that the orchestra needed to assume a more independent role as an organization if they were to grow and to serve the future needs of the community. To better utilize scarce resources, the WSO wished to develop a marketing plan that was inexpensive and simple to execute.

______The authors developed the case for class discussion rather than to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of the situation. The case, instructor’s manual, and synopsis were anonymously peer reviewed and accepted by the North American Case Research Association (NACRA) for its annual meeting, October 27-29, 2005, North Falmouth, MA. All rights are reserved to the authors and NACRA. © 2005 by Bruce C. Bailey and Nicole R. Vickers. Contact person: Bruce C. Bailey, Department of Business, Accounting and Economics, Otterbein College, One Otterbein College, Westerville, OH 43081, 614-823-1460, [email protected]