Brief introduction about the Cairo Opera House PART I The Cairo Opera House is part of Cairo's National Cultural Center, is the main performing arts venue in the Egyptian capital. Home to most of Egypt's finest musical groups, it is located on the southern portion of Gezira Island in the Nile River, in the Zamalek district west of and near downtown Cairo.(1)
In 1869, Khedive Ismail gave instructions to build an opera house to celebrate the opening of the Suez Canal. The opera house was inaugurated on 10 October 1988. The funds for the complex were a gift from the nation of Japan to Egypt as a result of President Hosni Mubarak's visit to Japan in April 1983.(2) This means that the Cairo Opera house is a young, new organization, new architecture and a relatively new spirit. Therefore, the identity ought to be fresh and up to date.
The Opera house is a governmental, profit-based organization that acts as the center of the art and culture shows in Egypt, just like the function of any other Opera house. The core value (as they officially say it) of the Opera House: (screen shot from the Opera House website)
(visuals done to demonstrate the companies that the Cairo Opera House include) As mentioned in their website, the core value is to act as a “symbol of art and culture in Egypt and the world”. The question does it fulfill that value? Do the identity of the Cairo Opera house project the core value in real life? When looking at the top 10 ranked opera houses around the world, the Cairo Opera house is not among them, according to National geographic top ten best opera houses.
The list is as follows: 1. La Scala, Milan, Italy 2. Teatro di San Carlo, Naples, Italy 3. Teatro Colon, Buenos Aires, Argentina 4. The Royal Opera House, London, England 5. The Bolshoi, Moscow, Russia 6. Sydney Opera House, Sydney, Australia 7. Paris Opéra, Paris, France 8. Opéra Royal, Versailles Court Theater, France 9. Vienna Staatsoper, Vienna, Austria 10. Lincoln Center, New York, New York
therefore, where do the Cairo Opera house really stand? How much of an identity does it have if it is supposed to “lead“ the middle eat culture life while it is not among the ranked Opera houses? To answer this, it requires: Brand analysis: Is the Cairo Opera House a successful brand?
How is the image of the Identity of the Opera house look like? Is it strong? Does It have an identity at all? To really answer this question, we had to do some work on the ground, among the people. Neither the internet/books nor the executives of the Cairo Opera house could answer objectively; therefore, we conducted a survey! THE SURVEY (samples attached to the research) This survey took place in Zamalek - Mohandeseen - Elrehab - Madinet Nasr A total of 50 applications. Its about how do the people on the streets of Egypt see the Opera. Is the Opera house Identity significantly different? Does it have to be since there is only 1 national opera house in each country? The cairo Opera house have a prestigious status just by the name of the organization, being “the official Opera house” of Egypt. According to surveys ALL people know what the Cairo Opera is! Nearly most people know about it.
Participation: 19 participants NEVER went to the Opera 17 participants went once before to the Opera. 50 % of them goes regularly once every 1 months/2 months. 13 said they would prefer going to Sa2yet el Sawy. 59% are under the age of 25. 14 choice the opera house, 6 are over the age of 30, 8 under the age of 25 “different taste” “organizaing” “I don’t like Sa’et el Sawy
The corporate identity as in visual communication –what the Opera is and does- was actually POSITIVE! 90% of people above 30 years old gave positive feedback regarding the identity. They loved the Opera. But they also had problems. Main problem: Only 2 out of the people who indicated that they went to the Opera found NO troubles. On the other hand, ALL of participants who said they went there had 2 main issues: a. hard booking b. no organization inside the opera (hard to find you way in- lost in seating- etc) Mainly there are 2 types of events that take place inside the Opera: 1. The classy people event: it’s the event that feature shows like the ballet classical swan lake, the Opera symphony and so on. The type of customers for such events don’t have trouble in getting the tickets. They have connections inside the Opera of the tickets are sent to them as an invitation. This is because these are highly prestigious 300 LE ticket event that the high old class people attend 2. The regular shows: It’s the regular shows of Omar Khairat, Amaal Maher and etc. the high-middle class people shows. Tickets are from 80-200 LE Here lies the MAIN PROBLEM Tickets are hard to find. You can stand in a long line and at the end the tickets would go home empty handed. Its over priced in some situations. Even if you got the ticket, you would probably have hard time finding your way inside the Opera and to your seat. weak organization. Hard to find parking for your car.
Main problem: 100% of participants that goes to the Opera (regularly or not) had 2 main issues: a. hard booking b. no organization inside the opera (hard to find you way in- lost in seating- etc)
The survey indicated that people less then 30 prefer Sa’yet el Sawy (indirect competitor of the Opera House) than the Cairo Opera. They justified the statement by saying that the Sa’ya is a. Not so formal b. Has more variety What kind of emotional triggers do the Opera house make to people (value preposition)? What is the image that the Opera wants to project about itself? Is it working? Is it the right image? When the people were asked; “what is the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear the Cairo Opera House’s name?” A: “Omar Khairat” “classy” “educated” 28 participants indicated that the first thing they think about when hearig about the Opera is “classy”. 6 said that it’s a “sophisticated art”. 4 said that who goes to the opera are “high class”. 5 used the word “old fashion”. we have to comment on how the name of an artist is said among adjectives to describe the Opera; OMAR KHAIRAT! This proofs how influential the events inside the Opera can be with regards of who the performers is! Can an image of an organization be purely presented by the content it presents? This is a confirmed observation according to the participant
The Cairo Opera House took this as a basis for shaping its identity but unfortunately it didn’t go much further than that. Yes, it is “significantly different” out of its position but people don’t choose to go to the Opera house just because it’s the Opera house but for simply attending the performer who happens to perform there.
Is the Opera house personal enough and provides privacy to its customers? Does it have to be personal? To what extend? To know more we have to go through the service it provides which is in the form of shows inside the Opera from hearing about the event, searching for tickets, booking, attending in the Opera (finding the hall of the event, finding your seat,.), to know how “personalized” the experience is! THE STEPS OF ATTENDING A SHOW 1. hearing about the show. The means by which the Cairo Opera House mainly announce their up coming shows: a. via official website The Cairo Opera House has its official website on which there is a calendar on the home page. Its not a graphically well made calendar and the things are not very clear but at the end the information is visible. The negative thing is that interested people have to “go to the announcements” to know about them rather than the announcement reaching out .
b. via social media announcements.
After searching the social media, I single facebook page under the name of the “theater” category was found that announces the up coming events. The Cairo Opera house did not declare such a page to be official but from observing the people interactions on it, it is considered so. This facebook page has revealed a problem about the identity of our brand; lack of consistency/harmony. The Fb page featured event posters that didn’t say anything about the identity of the place hosting the event, the Opera itself. Moreover, the fb page didn’t have the official logo but another arabesque one. Even in the home page of the website, the logo was featured in other colors and display. this is a visual MESS. People can’t comprehend something to be belonging to the Opera house because the lack of the visual identity. (screen shots of the social media announcements)
but then how do the people respond to such advertisement methods? It was indicated in the survey part that people found it very hard to hear about an event find ticket which proves the inefficiency of the process! What does this whole process say about the brand image of the Cairo Opera House? 2. booking calling sponsors ( for example mobinil) to know if there is an event for a performer in a centain place in the first place. If there are tickets go to the nearest branch of mobinil and take his tickets. Or by going to the opera itself . 3. knowing where the event is in the opera no signage system top view of the map of the opera. The event is in the opera house but where in particular. If you are lucky u can find maps on the gate. 3. finding your seat. No organization.
THE TARGET GROUP
To really know this piece of information, we would look for the things organizations make in order to frame their customers. -how much is for the ticket? Tickets of the Cairo Opera House range from 80-250 LE according to the place of seatings and service -what kind of events held there?
There are basically cultural and art related events that would normally draw art and music lovers. -where is the Opera located? The Opera is located in Elzamalek which is considered a high class area. -what are the usual timings of shows? Nearly ALL the events happens at 8PM, after the regular working hours. This allows people in different age groups especially working grownups that are able to go out in the night. This excludes children and young teenagers if they are not accompanied by there families. This information was confirmed by the SURVEY. When people were asked about the type of people who would visit the opera, they answered: “classy” “educated” “well informed” “rich” the same adjectives were said by almost every participant. This shows how the target group of the Opera is really shaped! Its by the common norms of the regular Egyptians but the real question is did the Cairo Opera house make any attempt to change that stereo type? The answer is in the kind of shows the Opera offers. They are MEANT for educated and classy people. The Opera already have the Identity of being a sophisticate and classy place, an image that some organizations spend years to accomplish. This can be considered as a positive thing because it projects the image of culture and art without saying anything. At the same time, any one who would be going to the Opera would dress up well, respect the place and feel more respected in return because he is now a more sophisticated intellectual human because he just respect art and is going to the Opera.( answers the raised question; “Did this cultural monument help build communities? Are people proud to say that they are going to the Opera?”) On the other hand, this limited stereo type does contradict with the actual mission of the Opera house to “spread” culture ALL OVER Egypt! According to the survey, only OLD people goes to the Opera: 8 out of 50 participants who are between 20-25 years old went
once before to the Opera! to really spread culture and art, you have to tackle nearly ALL kinds of people. Introduce art to their lives, make them LOVE it. Therefore, the target group is basically high-middle to high class grownups who live in cairo not more than 2 hours far in the zone around Elzamalek. This acts as a recreational place for grownups to relax after a long day.
Did this cultural monument help build communities? Are people proud to say that they are going to the Opera?
the direct competitors: None the indirect competitors: Sa’yet elsawy SWOT analysis (strengths- weaknesses-opportunities-threats) S:
-the core strength of the Cairo Opera is that it is the “official” national center of culture and art . -The only place in Egypt the hosts Ballet, opera concerts…etc -it have a prestigious opportunity of hosting the official events of the country that insures the rate of customers. -funded by the government
W:
-poor/weak Identity because of the weak branding, weak touch points, weak ads, and weak systems of organizing the organization itself.
O:
-to be the actual leading cultural organization of the middle east.
-attract cultural tourism -be the home of the prestigious events in the whole middle east. -becoming a “well� known landmark T:
-People would stop going to the Opera -the organization would fall apart at the strong emergence of a stronger equivalent competitor. (Sa2yet el Sawy have cheaper tickets to similar cultural events)
PART II THE SECOND COMPARISON BRAND:
Upon the previous analysis of the Cairo Opera House, we summed up that the problem is mainly: a. lack of a strong Identity
b. lack of communication with the people (booking ways, ads, announcements)
Therefore, 2 brands are analyzed: 1. Sa2yet el Sawy: the Indirect competitor of the Cairo Opera house that have made a success in reaching the people and encouraging the Egyptian art and culture life. It is also important to understand how a cultural Egyptian organization have penetrated the Egyptian society to make such great success. 2. Sydney Opera house: it is one of the most prestigious and well known Operas around the world that has established itself as a solid Identity among many other Opera houses.
1. Sa2yet El Sawy
El Sawy Culture wheel is a cultural center laying on a 5,000-m2 area right under the 15th of May bridge on Zamalek Island.It is considered one of the most important cultural places in Egypt. According to Al jazeera, the center gets more than 20000 visitors monthly and its website receives approximately 150000 visitors/month. (people gathering to enter the halls in a free open day done by El Sa’ya)
As of April 2009, El Sawy culture wheel has 3 branches:
the main branch in Zamalek, a branch in Al geel Al gadeed school and a temporary branch in Qena.The main branch has 8 halls: Wisdom hall, River hall, Earth hall, Word halls 1 and 2, Garden Hall, El Naseeb and Bostan El Nil. The permanent premise in Qena is scheduled for opening in Ramadan, 2009. The center is home for a wide range of activities and cultural events. The center has organized hundreds of concerts and musical events, including those for oud, jazz, musical theatre, children chorus and performances for several Egyptian and Arab bands, singers and entertainers.
Being the first non-government controlled private cultural center in Egypt, its events are claimed to have more freedom and higher quality than those in government-controlled centers. El Sawy Culture Wheel: (their assets) (spreading culture by different medias) Q
- El Sakia El Warakeya magazine
Q
- Sound of Sakia "online radio"
Q
- El Sakia String Orchestra
Q
- Let Me Think program
Q
- El Sakia Puppet Theater
MEDIA AND ADS Method 1 Sa’yat el Sawy has SO MANY connections to local and national organizations in the form of mostly online magazines. This connection to online organizations allowed to it to spread the word about the Sa’ya
itself and at the same time allow online booking. There is always a new story in the newspaper/online magazines about Sa’yet el Sawy. Therefore the announcement + booking of the event is done online. (first method of booking. Second method is the usual buying of tickets from their Zamalek branch) Note: it was noticed that there is no story/announcement that is found in one magazine can be found in another, even if both events are happening in the same time. This “smart” marketing strategy allow gathering people with different tastes in art under one roof, the roof of the cultural wheel. (egyptian magazines announcing events in Sa’yet el Sawy)
(cairo 360 online magazine also have the option of booking online for the announced event) method 2: They reach the Egyptians who don’t access the internet.
also use on street billboards to
Method 3: There own website
the website is WELL DONE. In a sense that it is clear and simple. At the home page you get what you usually want which is “the latest events�. When you like a show you click on it and book online! If you want to know the calendar for the whole month it is also easier! The website welcomed the viewer in a soft and simple way.(unlike the Cairo Opera House website)
Method 4: Social media To complete the “reaching out “process, Sa’yet El Sawy didn’t miss having a facebook page where fans can connect with the organization, share events and know the links for booking tickets.
how did sa’yet el Sawy penetrated the Egyptian culture? Sa2yet el sawy communicated its assets as something local and loving of art and culture at the same time! “Egypt Love Art” is the key underlying message by presenting a locally made posters and visuals that the Egyptian can feel closer to and announcing culture at the same time. Sa’yet el Sawy played it smart by gently introducing the art in the Egyptian society so that they would embrace it rather than block it.
visual identity: by reaching so many people and creating success, do it have to have a strong graphic design aspect in its identity? Well, define graphic identity! Idealy, a graphic identity is where every application that is related to a brand looks and “feels” like it. Sa’yet el Sawy
did exactly THAT! It is not about creating beautiful posters, ads, etc but its about those graphic assets having a reason behind their look to serve the brand identity. Sa’ya’s designs are not representing the logo but the events! That is really what Sa’ya is all about; the content it presents! In nearly EVERY poster of announcing an event looks completely different than the one before it and the common thing is the LOGO. This a.Allows to have versatility of tastes of customers affected by the different looks of posters and b.allows for the identity to have the consistency of inconsistency.
The “welcoming”strategy After having all these buzz around el Sa’ya, the last thing is to make sur that ALL those non verbal promises are met! a.
not everything is for money. So many events have very cheap (15LE) to no fees tickets, not only targeting ANY Egyptian but alos EVERY
b.
culture and art loving human being. The over all atmosphere is comfortable. It created a community of art
c.
lovers so you feel among people who are similar to you there. The place is not luxurious but welcoming and don’t differentiate between one human and another! For example there is a rule that El
Sa’ya would close after eleven therefore EVERYone would leave before 11. No exceptions for more powerful people who have connections. conclusion: Sa’yet el Sawy have a clear vision; spreading culture in society and it is fulfilling its vision in harmon with all the assets it has. From the online radio, magazine and other to actually hosting cultural event of all kinds, sa’yet el Sawy redirects everything it has to wards THAT. Its not about having a closed hall with events happening inside but its about “spreading” the culture and art! Sa’ya’s strategy of touch points is impeccable. They know who their target group are (middle aged Egyptians) and they tackle those through the varies ways of social media and online connections of online magazines and other. El sa’ya goes to ur face and say:”if you love art, come and take a look”. The message is clear and its done in a clearer way. Even it spread the culture so much that people who are not related to the staff of ElSa’ya are doing designs for them. They officially had encourage people who just love culture to create more without asking them just by the believe that Sa’ya is the home of any kind of art. With such relatively small budgets, Sa’yet el Sawy covered most ways of announcing their shows but more importantly it created MORE ways for people to actually book them. They “reached” out. Sa’yet el sawi with sponsored like pepsi, CIB bank and more, they proof themselves being “trust worthy! We are the best and are sponsored by the best! The BEAUTY about the clear identity Sa’ya has is harmony under the umbrella of there solid vision. (putting the sponsors under the ticket as a reminder of how trust worthy they are for people buying the tickets.)
Name: the cultural wheel (wheel that provides water in the countryside. The water was replaced with “culture”) Slogan: (alsakya toski fekran)in English, the wheel feeds thinking! Core value: providing culture to society Mission: spreading culture and arts through different mediums Therefore it made for itself value preposition as being the local Egyptian center for art and culture!
2. SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE
The Sydney Opera House is a multivenue performing expressions focus in Sydney, Australia. In spite of the fact that its name proposes a solitary venue, the building involves different execution venues which together are among the busiest performing expressions focuses on the planet— facilitating more than 1,500 exhibitions every year went to by somewhere in the range of 1.2 million individuals. The venues are utilized for an extensive variety of exhibitions, delivered both inhouse and by various performing expressions organizations, including four key inhabitant organizations: Opera Australia, The Australian Ballet, the Sydney Theater Company and the Sydney Symphony
Orchestra. As a standout amongst the most well known guest attractions in Australia, more than seven million individuals visit the site every year, with 300,000 individuals taking an interest every year in a guided voyage through the facility. (Wikipedia.com)
Solid identity The architecture. The Sydney Opera House is famous for its amazing and unique architecture. The reason behind its great success is when it was first build, the whole design of the building was something completely new and out of the ordinary. There were strict construction laws in Australia about 40 years ago. So when the building was finished, it was a huge attraction for people to see the strange, modern architecture. People eventually visited from everywhere to see and enter the Sydney opera house. About Corporate information Enterprise strategy (this next excerpt is copied from the “about” part in the Sydney Opera House official website) “Our Enterprise Strategy sets out our vision for the Opera House as a dynamic and evolving organization now and into the future. Our mission and values lie at the heart of our Enterprise Strategy, guiding our plans to ensure the Opera House retains its essential role in Australia’s life and identity.“ Reconciliation plan “Sydney Opera House’s vision for reconciliation between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and other Australians is a firm commitment to embrace, engender respect for and celebrate the culture of our First Peoples with the nation. The Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) sets out actions that will build stronger
relationships, expand Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artistic content and audience participation, increase education and employment opportunities and enhance cultural awareness. Our first RAP was implemented on 1 July 2011 and we continue to build on the progress and achievements made through the first RAP year on year.” This proofs that not only the Sydney have a clear vision and mission set to accomplish but also they have an “action plan” upon which the vision is implemented! this plan is the long margins and guidelines for the whole vision; it acts like the “core value” set into action. THE OPEN HOUSE PROJECT
“The Open House Project celebrates a ground breaking three-year cultural partnership (2012 – 2015) between the Glasshouse, Port Macquarie and Sydney Opera House. The first of its kind in Australia, the project’s purpose is a. to deepen cultural engagement, b. broaden educational reach and learning, and c. forge new experiences and connections between two great creative hubs in NSW.” The guidelines of what they want to do is CLEAR! They may look like “general” Opera House guidelines but they are chose carefully as to go well with the Australian Identity. This joint project indicates that it will share knowledge between the two institutions in a way that has never been fully realized and will explore new and exciting ways to encourage innovation and the creative flow of knowledge in regional areas. In short, this partnership is about having some knid of “sponsors”,but the kind that would “build” with you the needed identity! Excerpt from its activities:
CULTURAL ENGAGEMENT The Open House Project will bring acclaimed productions from Sydney Opera House to the Glasshouse, providing cultural experiences previously only available to metropolitan audiences. BROADENING EDUCATION Education is a key focus of The Open House Project and will bring new experiences to young people and school students via live performances, workshops and interactive digital experiences. The program will also enable the professional development of teachers and artists in the region with training and placement opportunities at both the Glasshouse and Sydney Opera House. NEW COMMUNITY PATHWAYS The Open House Project will build strong business and tourism networks between Sydney Opera House, the Glasshouse and the broader Port Macquarie Mid-North Coast region. The diverse performance program, acclaimed world-class acts and new educational experiences will build Port Macquarie and the region’s profile as a vibrant, lively and culturally rich destination of choice.
AN INNVOATIVE PARTNERSHIP “Sydney Opera House is an asset owned by all the people of NSW so The Open House Project is the way of ensuring everyone can experience the Sydney Opera House at its best.
The Sydney opera house website also indicates: “We hope to one day have additional Sydney Opera House cultural hubs set up for communities across regional NSW and Australia.” The dreams are set high! The feeling of certain logical opportunities is visible in their already existing plans! The people responsible of the opera house knows well how such a huge landmark can shape SO MUCH and not only they realize it, but they act upon it. “This program is multi layered and goes beyond simply taking artists to the Glasshouse. It will deliver strong education outcomes in the region but will also give the Mid-North Coast and the Glasshouse the rich profile it deserves. The Glasshouse is one of the most beautiful venues I’ve seen certainly in Australia, but also around the world.” Richard Evans Chief Executive, Sydney Opera House “The great thing about this partnership is that it is a bipartisan approach to deliver a program which will excite our audiences and benefit our community. By tapping into areas such as education, culture and tourism, The Open House Project can deliver real results to Port Macquarie and the Mid-North Coast region. We are thrilled to work with the Sydney Opera House, to be a second home for its artists, and to deliver this innovative program to our regional community.” …………………………………………………………………………………………….. The Sydney Opera House incorporates various execution venues: •
Concert Hall: With 2,679 seats, the home of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and
utilized by a substantial number of other show moderators. It contains the Sydney Opera House Grand Organ, the biggest mechanical tracker activity organ on the planet, with more than 10,000 pipes.
•
Joan Sutherland Theater: A proscenium theater with 1,507 seats, the Sydney home
of Opera Australia and The Australian Ballet. Until 16 October 2012 it was known as the Opera Theatre. •
Drama Theater: A proscenium theater with 544 seats, utilized by the Sydney
Theater Company and other move and dramatic moderators. •
Playhouse: An end-stage theater with 398 seats.
•
Studio: An adaptable space with a most extreme limit of 400, contingent upon
design. •
Utzon Room: A little multi-reason venue, seating up to 210.
•
Recording Studio
•
Outdoor Forecourt: An adaptable outside venue with an extensive variety of
arrangement alternatives, including the likelihood of using the Monumental Steps as group of onlookers seating, utilized for a scope of group occasions and major open air exhibitions.
Different ranges (for instance the northern and western anterooms) are likewise utilized for exhibitions on an infrequent premise. Venues are additionally utilized for meetings, services and social capacities.
The building likewise houses a recording studio, bistros, eateries, bars and retail outlets. Guided visits are accessible, including a regular voyage through the front-ofhouse spaces, and a day by day backstage visit that takes guests backstage to see zones typically saved for entertainers and team individuals.
Why should about 2 pages to be filled with the activities and the facilities of the Opera house? Because it is THAT versatile that at least 2 pages can have a “summary� about them. The Sydney Opera is big. How the audience is reached The audience of the Sydney opera house are always reached through their user-friendly and easy to use a.website b. billboards around streets in Australia, c. magazines d. highly active and entertaining social media pages, such as twitter. Analysis of website The website is very user friendly, easy to navigate through, also has a lot of interesting different content. The results that are shown are highly customizable for easy personalization just for you. The calendar/timeline can show events in different weeks or months, also the content or events hosted there can also be tailored according to preferences, weather it is ballet or orchestra or reading activities you are interested in.
People’s over all social media interaction and responses to the Opera house.
This also adds to the universal, multicultural hosting identity of the plac.
its more logical to highlight the “most significant�comments but these are the amount of people there are so many more with positive comments abou the opera house performance.
Sponsors As well as being extremely iconic and powerful by itself, the Sydney opera house also has very strong partners and sponsors, like Samsung. What was noticed too was the fact they had the logo of Samsung on the top (header) of the website, instead of having it at the very bottom like a lot of other websites. This implies that they are strong as they are, they have strong allies This also shows that they are honest, and very trustworthy. The logo What was observed through the Sydney opera house magazines, website, and even billboards was that the advertisement style was sticking to the consistency of inconsistency. Each ad/poster was unique to the type of event, with the logo of the place embedded somewhere suitable for the design. The IDENTITY What makes Sydney Opera house such a land mark? The perfect thing about the identity of the Sydney Opera house is that it has a clear vision and that clear vision is visibile in its visual commnications.
Visually, the Sydney Opera house communicates the idea of putting
the
events first. Like Sa2yet El Sawy, Sydney Opera house let the “feeling” of the poster/ad to be determined by the show it elf and at the same time it has “strong” visual secondary elements related to its corporate identity that has a strong sense of “belonging” to an organization. The unique shells look architecture of the building (first thing mentioned about Sydney opera) is used in the most creative way! Presenting a very unique building as the core of
your identity doesn’t only create an attractive identity that is based on a “solid” place but also let people wanting to look forward to see Sydney itself. The beautiful landscapes are featured in there ads (for example in the twitter post) to make anyone be eager to just go and visit the city. The identity is linked to the city that the underlying message is “you can’t go to Sydney without stopping by the Opera house”. This simple act of branding have contributed to the whole torism of Australia. Why do Sydney Opera house offer such versatile events and activities? The underlying message is to make EVERYONE feel welcomed! Every Australian or foreigner should feel connected to the place one way or another. There target group is nearly anyone who is not only interested in culture or art but so many more activities like yoga and children activities! It built a COMMUNITY where EVERONE is invited. Not outcasts in the wonderful land mark of Sydney. It truly proved its objective of “ including everyone” Sydney Opera House intelligent branding allowed it to attach its name to something as solid as an entire city and not only to benefit from it but to give it more positives and outcoming its popularity to become the “landmark” of not only Sydney but for the whole Australia!
CONCLUSION The Sydney opera house is a very diverse, universal embracing and multi-cultural community that not only wants to be the center of art, but also tries to educate people about art if not through their schools, through informative posts online. They are very honest about who they target, and try to encourage artists or writers to rise. They also support various other well being activities. They seem to have an attraction for every single person. Old, Young, Grand father or sister, there is always something to attract the attention of any person regardless of their origin, race or class. The ads for heir events are very versatile, having manual or digital copies all over the world. The opera house also helps the user through a user-friendly easy to use interface that can be personalized to show “tailored for you” results. It uses warm graphic elements and imagery styles to show a very welcoming atmosphere to the target. Just by looking at their posted pictures
is enough to invite their audience. It is very successful because it can clearly communicate their message to the addressed. Also they can inform with their audience by using multiple means of communication to assure their message is delivered. They are very powerful as they are, and they also have strong valued allies such as Samsung. Also, they try to educate people and encourage art and well being of various forms, sometimes even supporting authors or designers etc.
PART III INTRODUCING IMPROVEMENT STRATEGY
By analyzing and understanding the previous research, the real issue of Cairo Opera house was seen. The Cairo Opra house is known for all Egyptian because it’s the Official Opera house of the counry. It even already have a value preposition between the public as being a classy place of educated cultural people! Then the identity and visual Identity are not damaged . the thing with the Opera is the process of going there in the first place. The survey offered the “real” on ground information and that helped in the solution generation. The field work teach the team members doing it to look beyond the answers, to put the survey paper aside and just have a human natural conversation to discover the things people might be too polite or shy to writ it down.
The solution proposed will have different assets that work together to reach the final solution. The strategy behind all is to present the Opera house as a versatile cultural place that embraces all culture and art lovers regardless of age, gender, etc. The real problem the Survey revealed is that the young people would rather go to Elsa2ya because it has more versitile acts and more “entertaining”. The stereotype of the Opera as being a very classical and somehow old place is stuck on the Cairo Opera house. Is the Cairo Opera house wishes to really lead the middle east in art and culture, they have to
embrace nearly all tastes in art. Sydney Opera house even introduced “yoga lessons” in its facilities to even draw in the yoga lovers to the Opera. so the core value of the following solutions is to say “the Great Cairo Opera house is the peek of the classical and modern. We would not jump into so much versatile things the Opera can be but by shoosing those 2 adjectives, it opens the way to many more in the future. This core idea is to tell that the opera house is reaching all. At the beginning of the research, the visual identity of the Cairo Opera was identified as being inconsistent because the event shapes the poster’s look but then after analyzing the ads of Sydney Opera house and Sa’yet el Sawy, we found out that it’s the right way to advertise a cultural place. So then what is the Cairo Opera house doing wrong. A. no spreading of the ads over the media b. weak visual identity in terms of the low quality of the look of the poster and c. the logo of the Cairo Opera is inconsistent.
The proposal: a. Announcement ad campaign. On street posters and online news. b. Booking application c. Guidance on the Opera entrance. The campaign: This campaign is not a somehow official campaign to introduce the Opera but it solves the problem of people not being able to know the latest shows easily! So to mix things up, we are sending hidden visual messages of our core value through these ads. Yes, we know the Opera, but what doe it offer exactly? It offers this kind and that kind of events but it also offers culture, and comfort. It offers the air of the classic with the modern aspect. It offers art! This campaign would be in form of billboards on street and on printed and digital magazines and news papers. The Opera house is proposed to have media sponsers that insure a place for it on a daily bases in its magazine/news paper. Everyday you must here something new about the Opera (similar to the successful Sa’ya approach)
Campaign A: After looking at posters of the Cairo Opera House and trying to find matches from the Sydney Opera house, we realized that the Cairo Opera House mostly uses a very classic and elegant (too elegant) way of promoting an event + they do so in a very boring way with lots of text placed in a very list-like manner. They focus mainly on photos relevant to their events (which is logical and useful to give the visitors an insight) but they use them very classically as well. When we saw the designs of the Sydney Opera House, we realized that it promotes itself much more playfully, it focuses on the building’s strong architectural form (which unfortunately isn’t as strong for its Cairene counterpart) and when using photos (a common point between the two opera houses) plays with its photos in terms of colors and light. Therefore, we decided to go ahead with this approach, to use very classic photos, normally used in their natural muted tones in a very funky and modern way especially since we are trying to attract the younger generations, as well as the old. We played vastly with the photos’ colors going even to the extent of making them look unrealistic so as to give the visitors this different way of seeing the opera and some of the activities it offers so that they aren’t seeing it and its events as boring and traditional. We used a Times New Roman font (very similar to the Cairo Opera House’s unknown one) to maintain their classic and elegant identity. However, we added striking black rectangles behind the text to add a modern touch that adds boldness. We used forms which resemble light lines to create forms which emphasize every activity. For the opera ballet experience poster, we added it around half of the dancer’s body to emphasize the dance moves. In the Cairokee experience poster, we added it on the sides to emphasize the bands since there wasn’t any actual motion to emphasize. As for the orchestra experience, we used it to express the movement of silky sound waves of music coming out form the instruments played by the musicians. We kept the color of these forms white to have it the same color as the logo and to keep the color relatively consistent throughout all posters.
At the bottom of each poster, always at the same place (so that viewers always know where to look), we placed the details of the event (when and where) on the left and the logo and full name of the opera on the right.
Campaign B: This campaign has the same values are the core value of the whole idea but it introduces new faces in a modern way and classical things in a classical way but has the sense of modern sense in it (example: books) . This is not a mixture of both senses but they are unified harmonious posters tackling different but similar tastes in art.
the booking application:
in the perspective of being futuristic, we are proposing to do a booking application. Why not a website? Because technically no one in Egypt doesn’t have a smart phone and downloading an app for those who are interested to visit the Opera is so much easier than opening the computer and go online. Its to follow the core idea of allowing young people to have more space in their national Opera house. The booking application offers the announcement of events + the monthly calendar and the option of booking your desired event. The Cairo Opera House and the Sydney Opera house both have websites to announce their events BUT Sydney Opera go viral all over the social media and the on street billboards to get the proper attention. According to the survey, nearly no one interested in going to the Opera and doesn’t have a smart Phone. 10 years from now printed media may not even take place anymore but the future lies in the hands of technology. The booking system goes well with Campaign A. same type faces, same lines and structure to insure harmony and consistency.
Guidance on entrance: After offering a campaign that advertise the Opera+ announce its events+ drawing the young people in and then offering easier facilities for middle aged people to go to the Opera easier, we had to ensure that the organization of the vents to be good till the end, from hearing about the show and then booking the ticket the last thing is going to the Opera. The survey showed that people often lost there way in the Opera because of lack of guidance. Instead of making a big signage system, we decided to make a weekly map that feature a top view of the Opera with the weekly event color coded on it. Everybody could easily understand and follow the map. This saves time and effort and makes the whole process a lot easier. Now the Opera house welcomes you in, makes you feel belonged because it matches your taste and ensure the process till you are on your seat enjoying your show.
References: 1-https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cairo_Opera_House 2-et al 3. http://culturewheel.e7gezly.com/events/events/view/99/188 4.http://www.culturewheel.com/ 5.http://www.cairo360.com/event/26114/mostafahusseinatelsawyculturewheel 6. http://www.lonelyplanet.com/egypt/cairo/entertainmentnightlife/other/elsawyculture wheel
7. http://www.lonelyplanet.com/egypt/cairo/entertainmentnightlife/other/elsawyculture wheel
8. http://eventful.com/cairo/venues/sakiasawiculturewheel/V00010023818230 9. http://www.cairogossip.com/event/artsculture/7aalaplayelsawyculturewheel2/ 10. http://www.cairo360.com/event/26114/mostafahusseinatelsawyculturewheel 11. http://www.cairoscene.com/events/22