Every little helps…

New initiatives to drive customer loyalty and stimulate growth in the arts sector are set to emerge from a new venture involving Tesco Clubcard pioneers Clive Humby and Edwina Dunn. The couple have made a “significant investment” in box office data specialists Purple Seven with a view to boosting earned income in arts organisations by “rewarding customers and creating additional value from the collaboration of theatres and promoters around their visitors, both domestic and overseas”. Purple Seven currently manages more than 19 million UK customer records for theatres, agents, promoters and audience agencies, and the intention now is to help arts organisations increase their earned income by prompting more ticket sales through better and more personalised rewards and creative offers aimed at arts attenders. Stuart Nicolle, Founder of Purple Seven, paid tribute to Humby and Dunn’s work in the retail sector using “customer insight to drive collaboration”, and explained that the new venture will be based on a “shared philosophy… about creating value out of data for both theatres and their visitors.” Edwina Dunn said: “We believe understanding, developing and engaging audiences is the next step in transforming the arts sector; creating an arts offer based on individual motivations and preferences… Together, we will create a new insight-led way of working.” The company dunnhumby was launched in a back bedroom in 1989 and by the time the founders retired in 2011, it employed 1,500 people and reached 350 million customers in 25 countries. They are now exploring the future of audience engagement in a variety of sectors, including the arts.