Four years ago, when Thierry Pannetier joined the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra (NZSO) as head of marketing, Ark Advance was already on board. But, he says, “it was immediately apparent that they were a wonderful partner for all things digital”.

At that time, digital marketing was still in its infancy: a bit of a novelty in contrast to the crucial position it holds in any marketing strategy today. Initially, Thierry used Ark Advance’s expertise to help with the monthly NZSO e-newsletter and to understand the figures behind it. Now, four years in, Ark Advance does so much work with the NZSO that Thierry considers them more of a partner than a consultant.

“They’re like a digital partner for us. They help us master the digital world and hold our hands with all things digital,” he says. “We don’t have the resources in-house to keep abreast of all the changes that are taking place in the digital world, so we rely on Ark Advance. Their help and expertise has allowed us to be early Arts adopters of various technology, such as QR codes, display ads and Remarketing.”

The NZSO is making great progress online across a wide range of initiatives, including web, video and mobile. As a result, Ark Advance has worked with them on a range of things, including Google Alerts, SEO management, EDM analysis (understanding the data of the e-newsletters), managing Adword campaigns, Facebook Remarketing, analysing information and deciphering meaningful data, and general online marketing strategic direction.

The NZSO have given Ark Advance KPIs around their click rates, which Thierry says have been steadily increasing for them.

“We find Chris and the team very approachable. We have them on a retainer, which is a cost-effective way of getting access to their advice,” explains Thierry. “We have a good relationship with Chris – I get the feeling that he understands what the NZSO brand is about, so the personal touch is there.”