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Connecting with a Multilingual Audience through Interpersonal

Communication :

Brussels Philharmonic

and

Vlaams Radiokoor

Word count: 10 944

Mirthe Schoofs 01503865

Supervisor: Julia Valeiras-Jurado

A dissertation submitted to Ghent University in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Multilingual Business Communication

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Acknowledgements

It has been quite the year… Starting MTB with all of its hectic moments during the first semester, then heading into my internship with a lot of enthusiasm and gusto, only to have to put the internship on hold after my first week in office! It might not have been the experience I had hoped for, still I am grateful for this enriching year with the cherry on top: my second master’s thesis.

First of all, I have to thank my supervisor Julia Valeiras-Jurado for being so punctual and answering my emails well in time. When I needed a quick answer, I was always certain to receive a word back from you the same or following day, what a luxury! I also want to thank you for having patience and being understanding when things didn’t get finished quickly, and for supporting and believing in me when I was doubtful of handing in my thesis in June. Thanks to you, I was able to believe in myself, and therefore finish in time! I also want to thank you for your useful input and originality of ideas, even though the world of classical music was a mystery to you.

Secondly, the lovely people at my internship, Veronique, Sonja, and Nico, have to be mentioned. First of all, I want to thank them all for being so supporting and having no issues with helping me, even though times were very hectic for them, too. I want to thank Véronique in specific for brainstorming with me, and for being so flexible in terms of my thesis. And also for letting loose and having me do my thing. Secondly, Sonja, for helping me spread the survey to the audience via multiple channels, and for helping me find interviewees. I know that you had a lot on your plate, and I am very grateful that you were so helpful and kind! And let us not forget Nico, who also helped me spread the survey through the newsletter, and who was so kind to send the gifts to the interviewees, and send out the duo tickets.

Lastly, I want to thank my dear friends and family for spreading my survey to every corner of Flanders (a little less to Wallonia), and for helping me reach respondents in no time. I especially want to thank my ‘rock in the branding’, who does not want to be mentioned by name, for putting up with my stressful self. I want to thank him for calming me down when I needed it, and especially for helping me with my SPSS-struggles!

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Executive Summary

Language in the external communication of a cultural institution in a multilingual environment, that is the topic of this thesis. Brussels Philharmonic and Vlaams Radiokoor is a Flemish non-profit organisation active in the cultural sector located in Brussels. This means that the audience speaks different languages, namely Dutch, English and French. This thesis tried to find out if the two ensembles are on the right track. Do they use the suitablechannels to form a bond, and to give practical information? What is the opinion of the multilingual audience of Brussels Philharmonic and Vlaams Radiokoor, a cultural organisation active in Brussels, on the external communication of the two ensembles? This lead to three sub-questions.:

o Does the audience think that the communication contains storytelling and leads to

connectivity?

o Does the audience find the communication to be practical and clear? o Does the audience agree with the made language choices?

Qualitative and quantitative methods were combined in order to answer these three questions.

Firstly, the communications team was interviewed on general topics and their thoughts on their own work. Afterwards, six interviews in Dutch were held with members of the audience of both Brussels Philharmonic and Vlaams Radiokoor. Secondly, an online survey was launched in three languages. In total, 95 respondents filled in the survey. The majority of the respondents spoke Dutch, 9 spoke French, and another 7 English. Topics of storytelling, practicality, and language were introduced both in the quantitative and qualitative research, and both types of research included the reacting to examples from relevant external communication channels of Brussels Philharmonic and Vlaams Radiokoor.

Storytelling and connectivity?

The role of social media regarding creating and maintaining a community cannot be underestimated. Both in the qualitative part and the quantitative part of the research, it was found that these channels are more direct and personal. They feel more familiar, unique, pleasant, and personal.

Posters and flyers were also found to be attractive and creative. Opinions on the programme

booklet of the orchestra were the most negative in general. This particular channel is more fit

for giving information rather than creating a connection. When the style of the communication is linked to the concept of the concert, people react very positively; visual and textual choices

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should be relevant to the theme of a concert. Lastly, the decisions of using universal images,

titles and themes instead of counting on famous names is a good tactic. In this way, curiosity is

aroused and people are more likely to read on.

Practical and clear?

All online channels, apart from the specific social media posts, are useful for communicating practicalities and information. In general, all the offline channels seemed to score highly in terms of practicality and clarity and therefore are useful for communicating practicalities. The most practical channels according to the interviewees were the newsletter, the website, the brochure

and the programme booklet. For the respondents of the survey, the newsletter is seen as the

most practical and informative. Facebook, on the other hand, is seen as the least useful online channel for both ensembles.

Language choices?

Audiences of classical music generally are more educated. It comes as no surprise that opinions on the choice of language from the questioned audience were not that pronounced. Most indicated to understand English and French so that no big issues regarding language could be found, and multilingualism is even seen as positive. It gives a more international and

professional allure. Techniques already adopted by the orchestra and choir to deal with the

multilingualism seem to work, such as using different fonts and sizes in printed media.

As for concrete channels, Facebook was the one channel, interestingly, to score the worst in terms of language, both for orchestra (English post) and choir (Dutch post using English sentence). It might be that the audience on Facebook is more conservative than those on other social media, and therefore the use of English is not received as positively as on these other media. Reactions to the offline channels in general were positive. The poster of the choir (English), though, was deemed less in terms of language. Again, this might be due to a more

conservative audience. Reactions to the programme booklet of the choir were the most positive,

perhaps since it was written in only one language. The reactions to the flyer (English) and programme booklet (French and Dutch) of the orchestra were less positive, maybe given the fact that the flyer was written entirely in English and contained lots of information, and the booklet used a combination of French and Dutch that was not made clear by use of fonts.

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The French-speaking audience does not seem to get reached online. Other ways than online communication should be used more intensively in order to reach this part of the audience. it could be advantageous to sometimes consciously choose the French language in for instance social media posts or introductions.

Wolfgang: could be communicated more extensively & clearly in terms of disturbance caused by light.

Facebook: for attracting older generations, opt for multiple languages, clips, and clear & concise posts. Facebook: for attracting older generations, opt for posts in multiple languages, clips, and clear & concise posts.

Programme booklets: choose for the method of one booklet in one language, or alternatively for 3 languages in different fonts or letter types.

Include concerts built up around a theme for Brussels Philharmonic as well so that these audiences also experience the same kind of storytelling and might feel a more personal bond with the orchestra. All aspects of the concert, including the communication, should be built up around that theme.

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Table of Contents

Acknowledgements ... 3

Executive Summary ... 5

Table of Contents ... 9

I. Research question and context ... 12

II. Theoretical framework ... 14

The cultural domain ... 14

The cultural sector & its product ... 14

The audience and what they seek for ... 15

Marketing and communication of the arts ... 16

Cultural marketing ... 16

Relationship marketing ... 17

Content marketing & storytelling ... 19

Community building ... 19

III. Methodology & data collection ... 21

IV. Analysis & Results ... 22

Qualitative research ... 22

Interview Communications Team ... 22

Interview Audience ... 22

Quantitative research ... 29

Who are the respondents? ... 29

What ensembles do they visit and how often?... 31

Which channels do they follow? ... 33

How do the respondents rate the channels? ... 34

V. Discussion & conclusions ... 44

VI. Recommendations ... 47

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10 VIII. Bibliography ... 49 IX. Annexes ... 51

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I.

Research question and context

For my internship at Brussels Philharmonic and Vlaams Radiokoor, I conducted research about language in the external communication of a cultural institution in a multilingual environment. Brussels Philharmonic and Vlaams Radiokoor is a Flemish non-profit organisation active in the cultural sector located in Brussels. This means that the audience speaks different languages namely Dutch and French. English also is an important language in the European capital and the audience naturally contains people with other linguistic backgrounds as well. The organisation in general but especially the orchestra has an international character. That is why the orchestra and the choir want to communicate with their audience in no less than three languages. These circumstances are quite unique and bring with it some difficulties and doubts. On top of that, in recent times there has been the problem of a decline in government funding besides the fact that competition of leisure time is increasing. Finding new ways in which to communicate to audiences is said to become crucial in the upcoming years.

I want to find out if Brussels Philharmonic and Vlaams Radiokoor, according to their audience, are on the right track in terms of language choices. In particular, the focus of this research lies on interpersonal communication. In more recent years, the orchestra and choir have tried to form a more personal connection with their audience by telling the authentic and larger stories behind the music. With storytelling, they try to make classical music more accessible to a broader audience. The multilingual environment they find themselves in makes things more complicated since these personal touches are especially difficult or even impossible to translate. At the same time, it is precisely these aspects that are crucial in forming a bond with an audience. Therefore, my research question and sub-questions are the following:

What is the opinion of the multilingual audience of Brussels Philharmonic and Vlaams Radiokoor, a cultural organisation active in Brussels, on the external communication of the two ensembles?

o Do they think that the communication contains storytelling and leads to connectivity?

o Do they find the communication to be practical and clear? o Do they agree with the made language choices?

Brussels Philharmonic and Vlaams Radiokoor will serve as a case study of multilingualism in the arts. But why would it matter? In an increasingly connected world, it seems inevitable that external communication must become available in more than one language. Therefore, it would

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13 be relevant, especially for the increasingly fragile cultural sector, to find out what the preference of the audience is regarding language. The issue could be applicable to many more countries and not merely to countries like Belgium with its unique linguistic context. Financially it could also be interesting for organisations since they frequently must make use of a translation agency, besides the costs of printing in multiple versions.

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II. Theoretical framework

The cultural domain

The cultural sector & its product

Before we can tap into the marketing of arts, it is useful to formulate an answer to the question of what the cultural sector, and more specifically the domain of classical music concerts is. This might seem a simple question, the answer, however, does not come as naturally. Arnold and Tapp classify the product of the cultural sector, the artistic product, as “abstract, subjective, unique, holistic, non-utilitarian, emotionally involving, and often require substantial mental processing” (142) As a starting point, this general definition is quite useful. Several specifications have, however, been added. As Botti suggests, two main views on defining the arts exist, namely a more traditional product-oriented view, and a more recent customer-oriented perspective (14).

According to the product-oriented view, the arts sector can be divided into eight broad genres, based on three main dichotomies. The first distinction is high/legitimate and popular art. For high art, Botti says the following: “that the public appreciates the finished object is not a primary but a secondary objective of the creative activity.” (Botti 15). Secondly, the distinction is made between performing and visual arts. These differ in how a work is presented. Performing arts are being interpreted by dancers, musicians, actors, and the message of the artist is not directly communicated to the audience. Thirdly, the distinction between goods and services is made: “the nature of the artistic product can be tangible, as with goods like books or paintings, or intangible, as with services like live performances.” (Botti 15). Of course, this last distinction consists more of a continuum than of a pure dichotomy.

Based on this classification, we can situate the organization of Brussels Philharmonic and Vlaams Radiokoor as being an example of high performing art that is intangible. They offer a service rather than a product (see figure 1). Unfortunately, this classification comes with its limitations, especially since the role of the audience is completely disregarded and secondly since some of the distinctions come across as quite elitist since the distinctions made are subjective. What is high art for one, is popular art

Figure 1 Figure 1

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15 for another. To make up for these limitations, a second classification is proposed, namely the customer-oriented approach.

The audience and what they seek for

The customer-oriented approach delves deeper into the motivations people have when choosing to experience art. According to Botti, four art consumption benefits exists, namely functional or cultural benefits, symbolic benefits, social benefits, and emotional benefits. These needs are positioned on a continuum of extrinsic and intrinsic rewards.

Functional benefits are sought after when the arts visitor feels an educational need and wants to still his/her thirst of knowledge. Symbolic benefits relate to one’s social status and “relate to the meaning that the product acquires at the psychological or social level” (Busacca 237). One’s choice of artistic consumption shows one’s personality, culture or even subculture. Symbolic benefits occur when one aims at raising one’s social status, for instance by means of social markers, like an object from a museum’s gift shop. Social benefits are related to building social relationships. For people who seek social benefits, concert halls are gathering places or talking points (Evrard) where people can meet up and fulfil communicative purposes. Lastly, emotional benefits are the most intrinsic and show a desire for a compelling and stimulating experience. There is no need of filling an educational void here, emotional benefits “relate to feelings, fantasies and fun” (Botti 18). Botti classifies the emotional benefits further into:

o intrinsic satisfaction

o escape from daily routine and traditional social roles o excitement and fun

o relaxation and spontaneity

It goes without saying that art consumption can hold several benefits at the same time. In the last more intrinsic benefits, art experience can mostly be found since artistic products tend to evoke emotional responses. It is in these emotional benefits that the role for storytelling and interpersonal communication can be found.

Secondly, Steemans puts forward they idea that the simplistic take on the audience member as a consumer must be nuanced. The author puts forward the notion of a culture participant

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16 instead of a passive consumer. A new type of consumer enters the market and seeks other experiences that are more interactive. These experiences can tie a visitor to their organisation in a more effective manner. This does not mean, however, that passive types of consumers must be overlooked. It is, coincidentally, the role of cultural marketing to cater to both types of audience members. According to Nina Simon, treating people as participants rather than passive listeners can even heighten the level of participation and therefore connectivity, even amongst the more passive audience members.

What about the audience of classical music in specific? According to Dilokkunanant, the audience of classical music consists of both amateurs and connoisseurs. Any visitor will become or be either one of the two types. The difference between them is their level of musical understanding and appreciation. The connoisseurs are the more serious visitors of classical music, they have a different appreciation of music than amateurs. Secondly, the genre of classical music consists of many subgenres. Due to these two factors, the audience of classical music is not as homogenous as one might expect. Therefore, Dilokkunanant suggests that it is important to come up with strategies that are adapted to the different types of audiences. This type of market is also called a long-tail market and is a concept “where a small number of high-volume products makes up the bulk of sales, while a large number of small-high-volume products makes up the rest.” (Nytch 68). For instance, a concert of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony will generate a lot of money since it is a very popular composition, meaning that the rest of the concerts can include lesser known pieces of music, generating less.

Marketing and communication of the arts

Cultural marketing

What is the importance of marketing in the arts? Given the recent struggles with the diminishing support of the government, competition amongst the arts increases. Simultaneously, the need for market-oriented thinking must be developed, and strategies must be sought out. According to Botti, to solve this the primary function of marketing in the arts is “to ensure that the artistic potential of the product is suitably managed and transferred to different publics. (21)

The marketing of culture is a young domain, starting in the 60’ies in the U.S and the 90’ies in Europe. One main difference with regular profit-oriented organisations, according to Steemans is that the typical supply and demand is not applicable for culture. Products of art cannot be

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17 adapted to the tastes of the audience since it would nullify the creativity of the artist. This does not, however, take away that cultural organizations also have clients and products.

Then, what constitutes cultural marketing? Well, it differs in that it does not start from the market, but rather from a product. Based on this product, the interested part of the market must be decided since artistic products are not usually conceived on the basis of a certain audience and are not customer oriented. To fully understand marketing in the arts, one further concept must be explained, namely artistic potential. Two situations exist, one where the product is unanimously considered art, and one where the product is too recent to be recognized as art. By using marketing, emergent artistic potential can be increased.

Relationship marketing

To make up for the difficulties cultural organizations face in terms of differences in marketing strategies compared to profit-oriented organisations, cultural organisations often choose to adopt relationship marketing. The definition of this type of marketing is the following:

“Relationship marketing in the arts is defined as having “the dual focus of catching and keeping customers and developing long-term relationships between organisations” (Rentschler et al. 124)

This suggests that focusing on a recurring audience is as important as wanting to attract new possible audience members. The characteristics of relationship marketing are the following:

Relationship marketing Focus on audience retention

Orientation on product benefits Long time-scale

High audience service emphasis High audience commitment High audience contact Quality is the concern of all

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18 In the article written by Rentschler et al., the value of relationship marketing in the entertainment business is highlighted in more detail. According to Rentschler et al., maintaining the dichotomy between transaction marketing in which you build new audiences and relationship marketing, in which you build strong and long-lasting relationships, is important for PAOs (performance art organisations). As said before, the leisure market is becoming increasingly competitive, leading to a more important role for customer retention and customer loyalty. By loyalty, we understand “a feeling of attachment to or affection for a company’s people, products, or services” (de Ruyter et al.). According to Rentschler et al., “Marketing in the arts is a management issue rather than a function of the organisation’s management. A marketing-oriented management is built on relationships rather than transactions. This is the essence of relationship marketing” (123). A key perspective in this regard is that quality, customer service and marketing activities must be combined and not viewed separately. The three aspects need to be in synergy to reach its full effects.

In this research, the focus lies rather on existing audience members. It has been found that existing audience members are often taken for granted, and that organisations put much more effort and money in attracting new audiences. Expenses and efforts should, however, be balanced. Not only organisations invest in its audience, an audience also invests time, money and an emotional and social commitment into the arts organisation. An exchange of value for both sides happens and audiences most definitely offer something in return for their participation. When cultural organisations limit themselves to selling and promotional activities only, arts organisations “fail to address the issue of forming and nurturing long-term relationships with patrons to ensure financial security.” (Rentschler et al. 124). Profit is not merely immediately monetary, instead “Long-term loyalty and audience development strategies mean that the risk factor for a prospective ticket buyer or repeat buyer must be minimised by incentives and discounts” (Rentschler 124). It is key, as shown, that a proper balancing act between attracting and maintaining audiences is upheld.

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Content marketing & storytelling

A recent phenomenon and a useful way in which you can connect and tie audience members to your organisation is called content marketing. The main premise of this type of marketing is to know the needs of your audience and to only give them relevant information. By communicating content that is useful and relevant through the appropriate channel, this content will lead to a more connected interaction, communication, and bond with your audience (Bruijntjes).

As Steemans suggests, organisations become more interesting when they have something genuine to tell their audience. Factual information is available everywhere, but information will only be noticed when it is seen as valuable (Mulder 112). Adapted to classical music, Steemans indicates that communication channels using exciting images, interviews with artists or customers’ experiences will succeed better in forming this connection. Secondly, several sources highlight the important role that storytelling has to play in this regard.

According to the Flemish government, storytelling is the key to contemporary marketing in which there is a shift from the ‘what’ to the ‘where’. Instead of communicating facts, a story is told which can help in creating community, communicating core values and convince people. Especially in light of the arts, this kind of communication can help in maintaining audiences. Stories can contribute to an organisation’s brand when they fit in with the organisation. If done properly, it even invites interaction (Mulder 113). Secondly, in a sector where experience is central, stories become more and more important.

Community building

Tying into relationship marketing in the performing arts sector are strategies of building a community and increasing connectivity. In this context, social media have an important role to play, as will be discussed later. How to make classical music appealing to modern day audiences, and how to keep audiences interested: that is the main issue here. How might an organisation keep audiences interested, and make classic music once more relatable? As Dilokkunanant proposes, institutions have been trying to find different strategies to achieve this, such as: “attractive subscription schemes, varied concert formats, and community and educational projects”. Besides, Dilokkunanant suggests that non-musical aspects connected to specific concerts can also contribute in forming a connection, concluding that: “The quality of the performance is not the only factor anymore that needs to be considered to ensure success” (iv).

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20 In this light, the New World Symphony proposed a concept that might just give an answer to the question above called BETR. The acronym stands for Bring, Engage, Test and Refine whereas Bring stands for marketing and advertising, Engage stands for event and performance, Test for survey, focus groups, and analyse, and Refine for redesign content. Evidently, Bring and Engage are of the most interest in this thesis. Solutions to a decrease of audience interests could be, according to Wyman, to offer more flexible subscription strategies for those audience members that are interested but do not want to commit, and secondly to invest in ways of attracting millennials. Audiences want to be entertained and engaged in the music they listen to.

Especially the use of social media has been suggested in this regard, by several sources and in several different forms. It is said that “social media have engendered interactive, dynamic systems of organizational action and public reaction” (Saxton & Waters 284). Through social media, a dialogue between the organisation and its audience is facilitated, leading to a feeling of more connectivity and generate longer lasting relationships, according to Saxton and Waters. He puts forward the three following elements that are key in this regard:

o dynamic updating and messaging capabilities

o numerous interactive applications and media-sharing opportunities o formal social networks

A second research by Nguyen puts forward the benefits of Twitter and Facebook Live in achieving the same goal of community and connectivity. Thirdly, Twitter as a strategic communication tool for non-profit organisations is researched by Galvez-Rodriguez et al. In short, they suggest that adopting both one-way and two-way messages increases credibility and promotes loyalty.

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III. Methodology & data collection

In this research, I decided to combine qualitative and quantitative methods. In order to get a complete image of the current communication style and choices, I firstly interviewed the communications team of Brussels Philharmonic and Vlaams Radiokoor, consisting of three communication specialists. I opted to interview them at the same time, so that they could pick up on each other’s answers and complete each other. Key topics were their thoughts on the peculiar linguistic situation in Brussels, and which languages they use in which contexts and in which communication channels.

The second qualitative part of the research contained conducting interviews with the audience of the orchestra and the choir. More in-depth interviews were beneficial to gain a deeper knowledge on the thoughts of the audience. Three members of the audience of Brussels Philharmonic and two of Vlaams Radiokoor were interviewed. The boundaries between visiting the choir and the orchestra were not fixed, however. Some interviewees were members of the audience of both the choir and the orchestra.

Unfortunately I was only able to interview Dutch-speaking people, the lack of French-speaking and English-speaking people will be made up for in the quantitative part of the research. Key topics were language choice, communication channels and the kind of information they look for per communication channel. Lastly, concrete examples from several channels were shown and reacted to in terms of visual appeal, textual appeal, language choice and practicality. In the quantitative part of the research, an online survey was conducted. The survey was held in three languages, namely Dutch, French and English and was available to all members of the audience of both Brussels Philharmonic and Vlaams Radiokoor. They survey was spread via the social media of the orchestra and choir, the newsletter of orchestra and choir, the website of orchestra and choir, Google advertising, spread in several French, English and Dutch Facebook groups, and spread to my own contacts. Based on which communication channels the audience members indicated to use or follow, they received examples to react to. When they indicated to not follow any channels, they were shown three examples, namely Facebook, the newsletter and the seasonal brochure. These answers were analysed separately. By means of this method, a rich picture can be drawn of the opinion of the audience, both of those that see the information regularly and those not as informed on the communication style.

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IV. Analysis & Results

Qualitative research

Interview Communications Team

Since the data collected in this interview was mainly used in deepening the topic of this research, the data will not be dealt with exhaustively. Three topics were discussed, being the functioning of the external communication, language policy, and the topic of storytelling. The team wants to tell the authentic stories behind the music and make their events speak to everyone that is interested in experiencing something beautiful. For a full account of the interview, and for the complete listing of the used communication channels per ensemble and per language, please take a look at Annex I.

Interview Audience

In total, five audience members were interviewed. The interviewees all have Dutch as their mother language. Three members of the audience were interviewed with a focus on the orchestra, two with a focus on the choir. Of all the five interviewees, four indicated to go to concerts of both ensembles; one person indicated to only visit the orchestra. Therefore, the decision was made to combine the results of the general questions since the boundary between an opinion of the orchestra and one of the choir was not always clear. It goes without saying that important distinctions between orchestra and choir are reported. Three broad themes were most prevalent in the answers of the interviewees, namely language, forming a connection and preferred kind of information. Lastly, comments on several communication channels and the shown examples are discussed. More information on the interviewees can be found in Annex 4. Views on language policy

Language was a prevalent topic within the interviews, and the results were quite unanimous. Given the fact that all the interviewees indicated that they could at least understand the three languages used by Brussels Philharmonic and Vlaams Radiokoor, it comes as no surprise that no extreme opinions regarding language could be noticed. An important note is that three out of five interviewees were not aware of the fact that the orchestra and choir communicate in three languages. Coincidentally, it was the men that had not noticed this fact, and there are some discrepancies in which language they oversaw. Three general points of view on language and culture were noticed.

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23 Language is not an issue

All of the respondents clearly indicated that they did not experience any issues regarding language, nor would they experience issues if Dutch were not always available. Off course, Dutch is seen as more convenient for a majority of the interviewees, but as long as the English and French language use were not too difficult, it would be understandable to almost everyone, or, as one of the interviewees indicated: “But if it were Shakespeare with his English or others icons from the English literature, it would be harder but this is a common English vocabulary.” Two other interviewees indicated that they don’t mind at all to switch, and, that most of the time, they don’t realize that what they are reading is not in their mother tongue. Most seem to not be bound to the Dutch language.

In addition to this topic is the mix of languages sometimes opted for by Brussels Philharmonic and Vlaams Radiokoor. When asked their opinion on this choice, the interviewees generally liked it, and found it understandable. One of the respondents pointed out that this mixing a fact nowadays. It was indicated that sometimes, when it has no purpose is superfluous, it can be annoying. In the case of Brussels Philharmonic, however, he did not mind it. It does not come across as posturing and is positive in his opinion.

Preference of the original language & only one language

All of the interviewees agreed on one particular subject: they prefer some texts/groups of words in the original language or in only one language. The two interviewees of the choir found it only logical that the flyer for the Great American Songbook was in English since you

cannot simply translate a term such as that. Another interviewee commented on an English quote by Alma Mahler, being translated from German to English. She had no particular issue with it and understood that not everyone can understand German, but still, she would like it even more if the quote was in its original language. On the conductor being a Frenchman and speaking English, two interviewees commented, saying that they would not mind him speaking French. Additionally, it was commented that it can be tiresome to repeat the same string of words in several languages since it slows down communication and breaks off the concentration of the listeners. Code switching seems superfluous to most.

“It doesn’t matter in what language they communicate, as long as they communicate! I am not that language-bound.”

“As far as I’m concerned: just talk in that one language.” “I actually

rather like original.”

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24 International allure and location

Thirdly, many commented on the international location of Brussels and the logical choice for multilingual communication that comes with it. The interviewees support the choice, particularly with the new name of the orchestra being Brussels Philharmonic. Besides, it was underscored that communicating in several languages has more impact and comes across as more serious and international.

Relationship communication: connectivity and community

According to one of the interviewees, social media is a great channel through which you can form a bond with your audience. You are communicating in a more direct way and are busy forming a community. As an audience, you feel more closely engaged. The interviewee also was enthusiastic about the presence of the professional communications team at concerts. Besides, it was also noticed that the contact intensified during corona and that there was an appealing, more personal communication. The influence of the music director was also addressed by three interviewees, both of Brussels Philharmonic and Vlaams Radiokoor. The main point was that this person receives great influence, both on the musical decisions as the atmosphere of the ensemble. A music director can truly put his/her stamp on an ensemble by means of his/her personality, both positively and negatively.

Preferred information Background information

The first kind of preferred information is gaining background information on the programme, the composers, musicians, soloists etc. In short: wanting to gain more knowledge in terms of content. Almost all of the interviewees indicated that they are interested in receiving more information before a concert so that they can come fully prepared.

Usage of titles and broader points of view

Secondly, several people commented on the choice of titles. In general, people seem to like the titles since they are quite vague, which make you think for yourself. They excite and get you to think, so that you go looking for the meaning yourself. They are seen as original and interesting. It appears that titles

“It has more charisma than a provincial choir.”

“It’s very exciting because you have to go exploring yourself. If you would say: ‘concert with several composers’, no this is really good.”

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25 such as ‘bravura and virtuosity’ seem to appeal more compared to names of soloists and composers. In other words, the interviewees are more attracted to unique content than famous names. In the few words you have, you must come up with something catchy, and the interviewees agree that the orchestra and choir handle this originally. Finally, the remark was made that English is a more apt language for communication that has be short and powerful. Storytelling

Thirdly, several interviewees commented on storytelling. Firstly, it was noticed by an audience member of the choir that the concerts had a story woven through them. Another choir audience member commented on the ‘Vocal Fabrics’ and noticed that the programme booklets, the outfits, the décor, even the used fonts and colours, were in the same style. The same was noticed by yet another person who commented on the usage of the black background of ‘Rien à Voir’ that reinforces the theme of blindness. Besides, the close collaboration with concrete individuals was received positively. Thirdly, links to other domains of art were seen as interesting, such as reading lists. Online communication channels

Newsletter

Since the request for the interview was communicated to some top fan recipients of the newsletter it makes sense that all of the interviewees read the newsletter regularly and all quite enjoy it. The reason why the interviewees like receiving information through this channel is that, most of all, it is a convenient channel. The newsletter comes in automatically and is seen as quite complete. Most indicate that all the necessary information is present in the letter and that they deem is

sufficient in terms of knowledge. The links to the website are a positive attribute, but people mainly use it for receiving news and to stay updated. Two interviewees also indicated that they like the pre-concert mail that they receive, since it is an easy way of downloading the programme booklet before a concert and having a read beforehand. In doing so, it is easier to prepare for a concert. It is seen as a positive change compared to before.

“The invitation was what you expected of the performance. Also the font, it’s all in the same style as the concert.”

“Also the information afterwards (…) with videos of the concerts, I keep them in a separate folder. And when it calls for it, for instance when a certain concert pops up in my thoughts, I can go back to it.”

(26)

26 Website

In terms of the website, most did not visit it that often and had no issue with language since you can simply choose which one you prefer. The use of the website seems to be quite uniform to all the interviewees. They indicate that practical information, the downloadable programme booklet, more background information, and information on the upcoming or current programme is what they mainly look for on the website. Besides, it was indicated by interviewee 3 that if she is not able to find something in the other actively used communication channels, that she will head to the website.

The website was seen as fun, using good topics and photos, being readable both on a computer as on a mobile phone, and links to different arts was also seen as interesting. A big plus for interviewee 4 is that the website is mobile friendly. The more universal images aroused more curiosity and clicks. A suggestion was made by interviewee 1 that the interview of Denève could always be made available in both languages. In his opinion, the subtleties of an opinion are lost when you translate it. When you can always offer it in both languages, people can choose which version they read. For those more fluent in French, it could be beneficial.

Social media

It was more difficult to gain some useable information of the opinion on the social media-usage since only interviewee 4 actively uses social media. This person indicated that it is truly indispensable for the orchestra and choir to use social media if they want to appeal to younger people and want to innovate. This person only followed the choir and orchestra on Instagram, the reason being that this channel appeals more to her. In her opinion, the Instagram-page contains fun features and topics. After having a look at the Facebook-page she also indicated that the posts seem well-constructed, clear, contain fun facts and are clear in regards of ‘what’s in it for me’.

In general, the concrete examples of posts were seen as clear and immediately understandable thanks to the direct use of language and images. Clips were mostly received enthusiastically and seen as enticing. The third post of Brussels Philharmonic was received with the most enthusiasm. The choice of English in the posts of the orchestra was no issue. A concrete recommendation for Facebook was to keep the posts short and concise containing a clear message. The language was seen as unproblematic as long as the level of English is not extremely high.

“I always like it because you are concerned with your community. That is also the reason you go on Facebook and Instagram.”

(27)

27 Social media are said, by interviewee 4, to be the most adequate channels through which you can form a bond with your audience. The interviewee indicates that she appreciates the fact that posts are sent out during a concert. Besides, she also thinks that reacting to and reposting posts by audience members is a great tactic in connecting and forming a more personal bond. By doing this, the audience is more involved in what is happening, and the orchestra/choir is building and maintaining a community.

Wolfgang

Interviewee 3 had once used the application and was very enthusiastic about it. In her experience, the app is easy in use. The only point of criticism she had was the possible disturbance to other audience members since a smartphone is a source of light.

Offline communication channels

The responses to the offline communication of Brussels Philharmonic were largely positive. The images and texts were seen as clear and complete. The response to the examples of the offline communication channels of the choir were also positive. There was no issue with the chosen languages.

Posters and flyers

There was no issue with the English language used in the poster of both Brussels Philharmonic and Vlaams Radiokoor. The image and the message of the poster of the orchestra all fitted the musical piece and the use of colour in the poster was deemed excellent. The only issue was the clarity of the practical information being too vague. For the choir’s poster, the reaction to the language choice was also positive. The style of the poster was completely in line with the music for one interviewee, for the other there was a small issue with the colour. The black was perceived as unnecessary.

Seasonal brochure

For some interviewees, the seasonal brochure is one of the most crucial channels for gaining information. A small note is that four of the interviewees were slightly older and indicated that they are more paper-minded. Their opinion most probably is not universal to all audience members. The technique of placing different languages side

“And then I usually keep the leaflet or page from the seasonal brochure of what I visited. So I can look back at it later.”

“I am the dummy full-prove test subject and it worked out.”

(28)

28 by side in different fonts and font sizes is appreciated. The images and the quotes used are also deemed positive.

The examples from the orchestra’s seasonal brochure were received positively. The information is seen as clear. The titles are deemed original and enticing by several interviewees and there was no issue with the choice of language. The linguistic choice was generally seen as correct, especially in the context of a cultural organization that is more international in terms of conductors, composers and soloists, but also terms and techniques.

The chosen images and quotes of the orchestra were also conceived as positive. In the seasonal brochure of the choir, the choice of black was, compared to the poster, applauded. In this case, the interviewee found it to be meaningful being a programme built up around blindness. The combination of languages in different fonts and heights was applauded both by the interviewees of the orchestra and the choir. It makes matters clearer.

Programme booklet

The feedback on the programme booklets seems to be unanimous: very good. The interviewees seem to enjoy the background information they can receive through this particular channel. The fact that it is downloadable beforehand is a big plus.

The kind of information that they seem to enjoy is information on the composer, the piece of music, what to look out for during a concert, how choices are made regarding the musical decisions, the background and content of the songs and also how a programme is build. Besides, the interviewee of the choir indicates that the booklets are always very nice and that they fit in with the rest of the décor of a concert.

“Sometimes I even find it a pity that for instance, the age (of the soloist) is not added, but that is purely out of curiosity!”

(29)

29

Quantitative research

Based on the results of the interviews, a survey was created, and the quantitative part of the research was conducted. The survey was offered in three languages, catering to those languages used in the external communication, and made use of concrete examples, both of the orchestra and the choir.

Who are the respondents?

Firstly, I will briefly discuss the demographical information of the respondents. In total, 95 respondents filled out the survey. Of those 95 people, 7 (7,4%) were speakers of English, 9 (9,5%) were speakers of French, and 79 (83,2) were speakers of Dutch. Unfortunately, the ratio between the languages is not even, many more Dutch speaking respondents filled out the survey. Therefore, the results and opinions of the other two language groups will not be fitting for the whole language group. They can, however, give a first preliminary impression. More positively, respondents for both ensembles were found in all three language groups.

In terms of gender there was a balanced outcome with 43 male respondents (45,3%), and 52 (54,7%) female respondents, a slightly higher number. In terms of age, the group was divided into 6 categories. The largest age group by far consisted of people younger than 26 years old (31,6%), followed by people older than 65, although this second group is half the size of the first mentioned group. Though, it is quite surprising that the youngest and oldest age groups were the most prevalent. A possible explanation could be that people in these age groups have the most leisure time, therefore being able to visit concerts more regularly than those age groups that are working and might have children. The age group with the least respondents was people between 36 and 45, which fits in with the aforementioned theory. Solely 9% of the respondents indicated to belong to this group.

31% 16% 15% 15% 14% 9%

Age

-26 65+ 26-35 46 - 55 56 - 65 36-45 Figure 3

(30)

30 Linked to age is working situation. By far the largest

group, containing more than half of all the respondents, is the working population (51,6%). Besides, quite a few students (23,2%) and people on retirement (18,9%) also filled out the survey. The remaining respondents indicated to be either unemployed, a housewife/man, unfit for work, or another explanation. This last group only contains 6 people.

Next, the current living area of the respondents was asked after. To no shock, most of the respondents indicated to live in Flemish Brabant, the province that surrounds Brussels. Secondly, a large group of people living in East Flanders filled out the survey. To some surprise, people living in Brussels did not make up for a large part of the respondents with only 12 respondents living in this area. The largest majority seems to live in Flanders, which makes sense given many Dutch-speaking respondents. Some, however, also indicated to live in Wallonia, although most of the French-speaking respondents most likely live in Brussels.

21 20 13 12 12 10 3 2 1 1 0 5 10 15 20 25 Flemish Brabant East Flanders Antwerp Brussels Limburg West Flanders Abroad Walloon Brabant Hainaut Namur Number of respondents Pla ce of residence Geographical distribution 52% 23% 19% 6%

Working situation

Working Student On retirement Other Figure 4 Figure 5

(31)

31

What ensembles do they visit and how often?

the respondents were also asked some specific questions on their visitor behaviour. Firstly, they were asked which of the ensembles they go to. A little less than one third of the respondents indicated to visit concerts by both ensembles. A striking 60%, however, stated that they only go to concerts of Brussels Philharmonic. Finally, the remaining 10,5% of the respondents were audience members of only the choir. This distribution, although it is not balanced,

does not come as a huge surprise, given the fact that the audience of the orchestra is much larger, and since the choir gives concerts that are mainly held in Flanders. The orchestra has more international allure, as indicated by the interviewees, besides the fact that orchestra repertoire usually attracts more audiences.

In terms of language distribution, the distribution seems to be quite even. A small group of people of each language only visits the choir, a large majority seems to only visit the orchestra, and around 30 to 40% of respondents seem to visit both ensembles. The only surprise here is that the English-speaking respondents seem to be more likely to be a visitor of both ensembles. The remark must be made, however, that this group is quite small and that a generalization based on these data alone cannot be made.

In terms of age categories, people over 65 years old seem to be the ones that visit both ensembles more than the other categories, whereas the younger generations, people from 17 up to 45, seem to visit only Brussels Philharmonic more often than other categories. Respondents under 26 take a lead in this regard. When we then compare the sexes, this aspect seems to be in balance. 57% 55% 61% 0% 11% 11% 43% 34% 28% 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% EN FR NL

Ensembles and languages

Brussels Philharmonic Vlaams Radiokoor Both

60% 10%

30%

Ensembles in general

Brussels Philharmonic Vlaams Radiokoor Both Figure 6

(32)

32 When we return to the general distribution, we can conclude that 38 respondents indicated to visit concerts by the choir. Most of those people were visitors of both ensembles (73,7%). Secondly, many respondents were visitors of the orchestra, counting to 85. Of these visitors, roughly two thirds go only to concerts by the orchestra (67,1%) and one third (32,9%) goes to concerts of both ensembles.

Besides, it was asked how often the respondents go to a concert of Brussels Philharmonic and Vlaams Radiokoor. The division was made into heavy user, medium user and light user. Light users were those respondents that only go to a concert less than once a year or once a year. Medium users were

those that indicated to go approximately 2 to 5 times a year.

Lastly, heavy users were

respondents that went 6 times of more a year. Of the orchestra, 10 people were heavy users, 35 people were light users and another 40 people were medium users. For the choir, only two respondents were seen as heavy users, whereas 22 people were light users and 14 were medium users.

12%

47% 41%

Brussels Philharmonic

Heavy user Medium user Light user

5%

37% 58%

Vlaams Radiokoor

Heavy user Medium user Light user

Figure 8

(33)

33

Which channels do they follow?

Next, the audience in general (95) was asked which specific communication channels of both the orchestra and the choir they follow. Multiple answers were possible. For Brussels Philharmonic, the most popular channel appeared to be the website, followed by Facebook and by flyers and posters. 16 people do not follow the orchestra, although only 10 people indicated to not go to their concerts.

For the choir, these preferences differ slightly, although the comment must be made that not many respondents were visitors of the choir. Coincidentally, a large majority indicated to not follow the choir at all. A total of 48 people indicated not to follow the choir, even though 57 do not go to their concerts. Taking these numbers aside we can notice that Facebook and the seasonal brochure are the most popular channels of the choir.

45 25 43 11 2 9 30 37 27 3 16 0 10 20 30 40 50 Nu m be r of re spo nde nt s

Communication channels Brussels Philharmonic

17 18 24 4 1 5 20 17 14 2 48 0 10 20 30 40 50 Nu m be r of Re spo nde nt s

Communication channels Vlaams Radiokoor

Figure 10

(34)

34

How do the respondents rate the channels?

Based on these results, the respondents were shown examples from the specific channels they follow and had to react to them based on three general themes. The results were subdivided in ensemble and online/offline communication channels. Firstly, we will look at the theme of storytelling and connectivity. Values of this theme are Creative, Elitist, and Attractive. Dichotomies are Personal-Distant, Pleasant-Unpleasant, Unique-Commonplace and Familiar-Foreign. Next, we will discuss the practicality and understandability of the information. In this regard, reactions to Gives clear overview, Intelligible, Informative, and Practical are analysed. Dichotomies of this theme are Clear-Unclear, Difficult-Easy, and Useful-Unnecessary.

Lastly, there is the third theme of language choice. Only one variable asked after this specifically, but the results of the Difficult-Easy spectrum can also, to some extent, be useful in this regard, although it includes more than merely language. Those who indicated not to follow an ensemble were shown four examples as well, namely the seasonal brochure, Facebook, and posters and flyers. Significant differences will be discussed.

Ratings of Brussels Philharmonic Online communication channels

All online communication channels, taken out of account Twitter, were found to be rather not elitist, to be attractive,

pleasant and more

familiar than foreign.

There were some

differences detected between the ‘regular’ online channels and the social media. The website and the newsletter were seen as rather creative, neutrally personal and neutrally unique. Facebook and Instagram, however, were regarded as creative, more personal and more unique.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

BP: Storytelling and connectivity I

Twitter Instagram Facebook Newsletter Website

Totally agr. Agree Rather agree Neutral Rather disagree Disagree Totally dis. Elitist

Attractive

Creative

(35)

35 When considering those

respondents that did not follow any channels and that had to respond to the Facebook post, we can notify some minor differences. Firstly, instead of viewing the post as creative, they reacted more neutrally.

Secondly, they did see the post as neutrally elitist instead of rather not elitist, and thirdly, the post was not seen as unique, but as neutral in terms of this aspect.

In terms of clarity, difficulty, usefulness, and intelligibility, the results of the different channels were similar and were seen as rather clear, rather easy, rather useful, and as intelligible. Differences were noticed in terms of overview, informativity and practicality. The website, Facebook and Instagram were seen as giving a clear overview, the newsletter not as

much. The newsletter and

Instagram were seen as

informative whereas the website and Facebook were seen as rather informative. Lastly, the newsletter was seen as practical, the other channels only as rather practical.

1 2 3 4 5

BP: Storytelling and connectivity II

Twitter Instagram Facebook Newsletter Website Foreign Commonplace Unpleasant Distant Familiar Unique Pleasant Personal 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

BP: Practicality and clarity I

Twitter Instagram Facebook Newsletter Website Practical

Informative

Intelligible

Overview

Totally agree Agree Rather agree Neutral Rather dis. Disagr. Totally dis.

0 2 4 6

BP: Practicality and clarity II

Twitter Instagram Facebook Newsletter Website Unnecessary Easy Unclear Useful Difficult Clear Figure 13 Figure 14 Figure 15

(36)

36 Differences between followers and non-followers could also be noticed in terms of this second theme. Opinions of non-followers were more neutral in regards of overview and informativeness. These people only found the Facebook to post to be giving a rather clear overview and being only rather informative. Secondly, a big difference in terms of clarity was also noticed. Non-followers did not think that the post was clear, instead they found the post neither clear nor unclear.

Lastly, we have the third theme of language choice. When looking at the opinions in the online channels of Brussels Philharmonic, Instagram received the best score, Facebook scored the least. This is a quite surprising result since both Instagram and Facebook had an English post whereas the website and the newsletter were written in Dutch. In terms of following, the non-followers were more neutral in their evaluation of the Facebook post, scoring between rather agree and neutral, and leaning more towards neutrality. Followers, in the contrary, agreed with the language choice being good, scoring even better than the newsletter.

1 2 3 4 5

BP: Language choice

Twitter Instagram Facebook Newsletter Website Good language

choice

Bad language choice

(37)

37 Offline communication channels

In the two following figures, you can see the audience’s opinion on the programme booklet, brochure and poster and flyer. Some significant differences are to be noted. The programme booklet is not necessarily perceived as being creative whereas the brochure is seen as rather creative and the poster and flyer are deemed creative. Secondly, the

audience rather

disagreed on the

channels being elitist, with the strongest opinion on the poster which they deemed not elitist. The poster and flyer were also found to be attractive. Towards the two other channels, the respondents stood more neutrally in terms of elitism. Next, opinions on whether the channels were personal or

impersonal were

unanimously neutral. On pleasantness, opinions varied a tad more deeming the programme booklet the least pleasing. In terms of uniqueness, opinions were quite neutral except for the

poster which was perceived as quite unique, and the programme booklet that felt somewhat commonplace. The respondents also found that the programme booklet, brochure and poster felt somewhat familiar, the flyer more neutral.

If we then head to the differences of following, some discrepancies are to be noticed. In general, the non-followers remained more neutral towards all the three questioned offline channels. The brochure was conceived as less creative and attractive. The poster was also considered less creative, but still rather creative, considered more neutral towards elitism, more neutral towards

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

BP: Storytelling and connectivity III

Flyer Poster Seasonal brochure Programme booklet Totally agr. Agree Rather agree Neutral Rather disagr. Disagr. Totally dis. Attractive

Elitist

Creative

1 2 3 4 5

BP: Storytelling and connectivity IV

Flyer Poster Seasonal brochure Programme booklet Familiar Unique Pleasant Personal Foreign Commonplace Unpleasant Distant Figure 17 Figure 18

(38)

38 attractiveness and it also felt less familiar. Thirdly, the flyer, in the eyes of the non-followers, is less creative and more neutral than in the eyes of the followers.

Next, the practicality and

understandability of the information will be discussed. The offline channels all seemed to be seen as informative, practical, clear, and useful. The poster, however, was seen as giving a better overview than the three others, which did a rather good job at this. The flyer was also seen as less intelligible than

the other channels, though still rather intelligible. Lastly, the brochure and the flyer were seen as more difficult than the other two channels and were even seen as difficult. Some discrepancies were, once again, detected when comparing the opinions of the followers and the

non-followers. The

non-followers of the brochure found the channel less practical than the followers. The non-followers of the poster found it less informational, less practical and found it neither difficult nor easy, whereas the followers found the poster rather easy. Lastly, some differences in opinion about the flyer were noticed. The followers found it a lot more intelligible and better at giving an overview. The non-followers, on the other hand, saw the flyer as less informational, practical and clear.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

BP: Practicality and clarity III

Flyer Poster Seasonal brochure Programme booklet Totally agree Agree Rather agree Neutral Rather dis. Disagr. Totally dis. Practical

Informative

Intelligible Overview

1 2 3 4 5

BP: Practicality and clarity IV

Flyer Poster Seasonal brochure Programme booklet Useful Difficult Clear Unneces sary Easy Unclear Figure 19 Figure 20

(39)

39 Lastly, the language choice of the offline channels was questioned. No discrepancies between followers and non-followers were found in this regard, and the opinions seem unanimously in the advantage of it being good languages choices.

Ratings of Vlaams Radiokoor Online communication channels

Let us now turn to the choir. In total, less people filled out the questions on Vlaams Radiokoor. It must be pointed out that most likely the results are not representative to the entire audience of Vlaams Radiokoor. Besides, Instagram and Twitter were not followed by many, respectively four and one people, so that these results will not be considered.

We will begin with the theme

of storytelling and

connectivity. Most of the opinions on the attributes are similar, apart from creativeness and personal or not. The respondents seem to think that all the online channels are neutral with regards to elitism. They find them rather attractive, pleasant and more familiar than foreign, albeit that the newsletter feels slightly more familiar. Facebook, however, was seen as the least creative compared to the other channels. The newsletter felt the most personal to the respondents. An explanation might be

1 2 3 4 5

BP: Language choice II

Flyer Poster Seasonal brochure Programme booklet Good language

choice

Bad language choice

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

VK: Storytelling and connectivity I

Twitter Instagram Facebook Newsletter Website Totally agr. Agree Rather agree Neutral Rather dis. Disagr. Totally dis. Attractive

Elitist

Creative

Figure 21

(40)

40 the personal salutation. When taking a closer look at differences in opinion of the followers and non-followers of Facebook, we can observe that creativity was seen very differently. Non-followers were neutral in terms of this attribute. Followers, on the other hand, thought it was a rather creative post.

The following theme of practicality shows us, in general, values between rather agree and agree. The respondents found that the website gives a better overview than the newsletter and Facebook. The intelligibility was more uniform, all channels were

seen as intelligible, but the newsletter was seen as the most informative and practical channel. All the channels are seen as clear. Strikingly, the newsletter was seen as leaning towards difficulty. Finally, Facebook was indicated to be the least useful channel, being closer to neutral. The followers of Facebook in general stood much more positive towards overview, intelligibility, informativeness, and clarity.

They leaned towards

agreement on the attributes whereas the non-followers more often than not leaned

1 2 3 4 5

VK: Storytelling and connectivity II

Twitter Instagram Facebook Newsletter Website Familiar Unique Pleasant Personal Foreign Commonplace Unpleasant Distant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

VK: Practicality and clarity I

Twitter Instagram Facebook Newsletter Website Totally agree Agree Rather agree Neutral Rather dis. Disagr. Totally dis. Practical

Informative

Intelligible Overview

1 2 3 4 5

VK: Practicality and clarity II

Twitter Instagram Facebook Newsletter Website Useful Difficult Clear Unnecessary Easy Unclear Figure 23 Figure 24 Figure 25

(41)

41 towards rather agree and neutrality. The most extreme differences in opinion were to be found in Clear – Unclear.

Finally, the category of language choice must be discussed. Strikingly, respondents seemed to enjoy the language choice of the newsletter the most, even though all the channels were also written in Dutch. Therefore, we cannot be sure that the reason why the newsletter was received the most enthusiastically in terms of language was because it was written in the mother tongue of the respondents. Another reason must lie on the basis of this result. Differences between opinions of followers and non-followers could not be noticed.

Offline communication channels

Some more extreme

outcomes are to be detected when we turn to the first theme. The seasonal brochure, for starters, is not seen as being that creative compared to the other channels. They are seen as being rather creative. Secondly, the flyer and poster were not seen as elitist whereas the two channels containing a lot of text had a more neutral result, the programme booklet even leans towards rather elitist. All except for the booklet were seen as rather attractive whereas the booklet was seen as the most attractive leaning towards being attractive.

1 2 3 4 5

VK: Language choice I

Twitter Instagram Facebook Newsletter Website Good language choice Bad language choice 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

VK: Storytelling and connectivity III

Flyer Poster Seasonal brochure Programme booklet Totally agree Agree Rather agree Neutral Rather disagr. Disagr. Totally dis. Attractive

Elitist

Creative

Figure 26

Afbeelding

Figure 1 Figure 1

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