The Audience Agency

What The Audience Agency does

The Audience Agency is a UK-registered charity (No. 1149979) founded in 2011 by Anne Torreggiani, headquartered in Warrington with offices in Edinburgh, providing research and consultancy services to the UK cultural sector. It serves cultural organisations (theatres, museums, galleries, heritage sites, performing arts venues), policymakers and funders (including Arts Council England, the National Lottery Heritage Fund, the Local Government Association, Historic England, and the British Council), and a long tail of more than 1,000 organisations it has worked with over its history. Revenue is generated through professional-services fees for bespoke consulting projects and through recurring subscriptions to its data platforms, while a free support offer is maintained for Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisations.

The company's core technology stack centres on three named proprietary assets. Audience Answers is a data platform offering tools for surveys, ticketing insights and population profiling to support audience-centric decisions. Audience Spectrum is a geo-demographic segmentation tool covering UK cultural audiences, framed as a 'common language' across the sector and underpinned by longitudinal data including the Cultural Participation Monitor, a panel survey run in partnership with the University of Leeds Centre for Cultural Value. Let's Get Real is an action-research methodology supporting cohort-learning programmes, inherited and expanded via the November 2023 merger with Culture24. Go-to-market is sales-led and consultative, delivered through direct enterprise consultancy, free webinars (TEA Break Sessions), newsletters, community forums, and conference presence at sector events such as the ABO and AMA conferences.

The Audience Agency operates two physical offices (Warrington as registered headquarters, Edinburgh for Scotland) and serves clients primarily in the United Kingdom with selected international work in the United States (via Knight Foundation-funded Curatorial Digital Leadership with AAMC) and Australia. In November 2023, Culture24 merged into The Audience Agency, bringing additional digital-transformation expertise and senior personnel. The organisation was subsequently displaced as Arts Council England's Audience Finder mandated provider, with PricewaterhouseCoopers appointed to run the replacement service; The Audience Agency has responded with a redesigned Audience Finder and a free support offer for NPOs.

Name

The Audience Agency

Legal name

The Audience Agency

Website

https://theaudienceagency.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2011

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

The Audience Agency is a UK-registered charity providing research, consultancy and data platforms (Audience Answers, Audience Spectrum, Let's Get Real) that help cultural organisations, policymakers and funders understand, develop and measure their audiences.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Cultural sector research and consulting

NAICS

Marketing Research and Public Opinion Polling (541910), Advertising Agencies (54181)

SIC

Services-Advertising Agencies (7311), Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900)

akta.pro primary industry

Media & Audience Measurement Analytics (BPAHALAO)

akta.pro secondary industry

Event Marketing & Audience Development Services (MPAGAJAD)

Keywords

• Audience research consultancy
• Cultural sector strategy
• Audience data platforms
• Cultural engagement analytics
• Arts organisation research

Headquarters

HQ city

Manchester

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Consultancy Services: Research and consulting services to help cultural organisations adapt for and with their audiences
2. Data Platform Subscriptions: Audience Answers platform providing data tools, sector evidence, and analysis services to cultural organisations

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

The Audience Agency is a research and consultancy firm that helps cultural organisations, local authorities, policymakers and funders in the UK plan and deliver audience and engagement strategies. Its offering is built around three proprietary tools — Audience Answers (a data platform with surveys, ticketing insights and population profiling), Audience Spectrum (a UK-wide geo-demographic segmentation tool) and Let's Get Real (an action-research learning methodology) — combined with bespoke audience development, digital transformation, creative places, evaluation and creative economy consulting.

Product overview

The Audience Agency offers a suite of data and insight products for the cultural sector. The core products are Audience Answers (a data platform for surveys, ticketing insights and population profiling), Audience Spectrum (a segmentation tool for UK cultural audiences), and Let's Get Real (an action research methodology for cohort learning). These are complemented by consulting services in audience development, digital transformation, creative places, evaluation and impact, and creative economy.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Audience Answers Data platform offering tools for surveys, ticketing insights and population profiling that helps cultural organisations take audience-centric decisions.
• Audience Spectrum Geo-demographic profiling and targeting tool that segments the UK population by attitudes towards culture and cultural participation preferences, providing a common language for talking about audiences across organisations.
• Let's Get Real Action research methodology supporting cohort learning programmes for cultural sector practitioners, focused on collaborative learning from others, by doing and together.
• Research and Consulting Services Bespoke research and consultancy support for cultural organisations, local authorities and national bodies, covering audience development and participation, digital transformation, creative places, evaluation and impact, and creative economy policy.

Quantifiable outcome

• 2,000 organisations across the UK used the Audience Finder service
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers18 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

Feature3 records

Partnerships

14 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Creative Industries CouncilcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Joint partnership to deliver the Place Forum - free online events for Local and Combined Authority officers and place-based intermediaries, contributing towards the government's Creative Industries Sector Vision.
• Historic EnglandcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023Partners on the ACH Taxonomies project led by Historic England, part of the AHRC/DCMS Culture & Heritage Capital research programme to develop a framework for understanding and classifying arts, culture and heritage stocks, services, and value.
• Europeana InitiativecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022The Audience Agency participated in the Digital Transformation Task Force alongside Europeana Network Association and Europeana Aggregators Forum to create the Guide to Digital Transformation in Cultural Heritage.
• Local Government AssociationcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2020LGA commissioned The Audience Agency to create a guide for English local authorities on designing local creative economy policy with stakeholders using evidence. The guide is now referred to by LGA as 'the way to do it right' for developing local and regional cultural and creative policies.
• Centre for Cultural ValuecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2020Partnership with University of Leeds Centre for Cultural Value for the Cultural Participation Monitor, a longitudinal panel survey of changing views about creative and cultural activities.
• Vocaleyes and StagetextminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartners on Cultural Participation Monitor waves focusing on the experience of disabled people and audiences
• Association of Cultural EnterprisesminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner on Cultural Participation Monitor examining retail and catering in cultural venues
• Association of Leading Visitor AttractionsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner on Cultural Participation Monitor examining membership, donations and values
• Historic EnglandminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner on Cultural Participation Monitor research
• Art FundminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner on Cultural Participation Monitor research
• Culture CallingminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner on Cultural Participation Monitor research
• Culture24coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCulture24 merged with The Audience Agency in November 2023, bringing 22 years of digital transformation expertise and services including Let's Get Real and Digital Pathways
• Culture24coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborative partner in Digital Transformation Task Force creating the Guide to Digital Transformation in Cultural Heritage
• Association of Arts Museum Curators (AAMC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDeveloped the Curatorial Digital Leadership programme together with AAMC to support art museum curators develop digital leadership skills in the USA

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Market position

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/audienceagents
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCvuo6UzywDRQ1xXpk82P5vw
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-audience-agency

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles13 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Audience Agency