Qudos Bank Arena strives for inclusivity with marketing strategy

Sydney’s Qudos Bank Arena has worked to become a true venue for diverse indoor entertainment, collaborating with multicultural agency CulturalPulse.

The agency has assisted Qudos Bank Arena in further engaging its audience through segmented marketing strategies and culturally customised communications. 

Over the last 18 months, the venue has hosted a series of concerts featuring international artists from K-Pop, Mando Pop, Indian Hip-Hop/Pop and Reggaeton. These events traditionally experienced high demand for premium ticket prices, but lower-than-average Net Promoter Scores (NPS), and food and beverage sales. 

Recognising the need for a new, culturally focused approach, Qudos Bank Arena engaged CulturalPulse to deliver cultural advice, audience insights and tailored, culturally sensitive customer experiences and marketing content to meet the needs of its diverse audiences.

“TEG Live would like to recognise Qudos Bank Arena for its exceptional commitment to engaging with multicultural audiences and supporting inclusivity in the entertainment sector. During our collaboration on the aespa: Synk Parallel Line tour, the team exhibited a strong dedication to creating an inclusive experience for all K-Pop fans,” said Kate Watson, marketing manager at TEG Live.

“They proactively worked with a specialist agency to broaden the reach and engagement of our ticket sales campaign, effectively connecting with diverse multicultural audiences, and showcasing the universal appeal of K-Pop. We look forward to partnering with the Qudos Bank Arena team on future events that celebrate diversity and highlight the power of music in bringing people together.”

Ticket prices for multicultural acts are on average higher than the arena’s overall average for concerts. Multicultural events account for 15% of Qudos Bank Arena’s concert performances, with acts like aespa, Joker Xue, and Diljit Dosanjh attracting high-value audiences. Multicultural events make up four of the top 10 concerts by average ticket price, yet NPS scores racking customer satisfaction for these events were found to be lagging as much as 90% below average. Food and beverage options were not meeting diverse tastes with spend at multicultural events 65% lower than the average across all events.

In response, Qudos Bank Arena and CulturalPulse launched a strategic programme to enhance audience engagement through a mix of customised communications and segmented marketing, driving deeper connections with culturally specific communities.

This included adapting event experience communications and customer service staff that align to multicultural audiences, direct engagement with cultural leaders and influencers for corporate hospitality offerings, and customer service messaging into the primary languages of key audience groups, such as Mandarin, Hindi, Korean, and Punjabi.

Segmented marketing campaigns, a targeted and audience-led media approach, tailored food and beverage offerings, bi-lingual customer service and content, and community engagement and corporate partnerships, all helped to increase customer satisfaction. 

Since launching the programme, Qudos Bank Arena has seen a 72% increase in NPS and second-highest NPS of 2023 for Joker Xue, and 140% increase compared to other comparative shows. There was a 43% uplift in ticket sales for aespa, supported by a culturally targeted marketing campaign, while 72% of respondents rated the translated event information email ‘culturally inclusive’. Additionally, stronger relationships have been formed with multicultural media and corporate communities.

CulturalPulse’s proprietary audience insights platform, AskGenie, was used to analyse customer data to identify opportunities to improve NPS, and food and beverage sales. 

“What we’ve done is bring a real sense of connection to the venue, for both the artists and their fans,” said Reg Raghavan, founder and chief executive at CulturalPulse.

“Understanding the unique needs of these audiences through data-driven insights has enabled Qudos Bank Arena to create experiences that resonate deeply, both emotionally and culturally.”