Collaboration with the Royal Shakespeare Company Longlisted for the 2025 Digital Culture Awards
We are thrilled to announce that The Groundlings, our collaborative online community project with the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC), has been longlisted in the Using Data category for the prestigious 2025 Digital Culture Awards!
This recognition highlights the value of the innovative and impactful work undertaken by the RSC to harness the power of data and digital engagement to transform audience insights into actionable strategies. The Groundlings, an online community of 250 RSC audience members and potential audience members, has been instrumental in informing the organisation’s approach across a range of areas, including audience engagement, inclusivity, digital and technology, and strategic development.
About The Groundlings
Launched in 2023 and running until at least 2026, The Groundlings community is an always-on longitudinal research panel. It was carefully constructed to represent the diversity of the RSC’s audiences, ranging from loyal patrons to first-time attendees and including a dedicated cohort of 50 teachers who use RSC resources or participate in outreach programmes.
The community is tasked fortnightly with activities that delve into key areas, including:
Testing and refining RSC marketing materials.
Providing feedback on teaching resources.
Exploring accessibility and user experience on the RSC website.
Sharing insights on AI and technology in theatre.
Offering candid views on audience experiences, from theatre etiquette to merchandise preferences.
In addition to these structured activities, The Groundlings facilitates participant-led discussions, creating a platform for over 110 unique topics since its inception. This has fostered an incredibly engaged community, with members even organising their own Zoom quizzes and in-person meet-ups.
The Impact of The Groundlings
The Groundlings community was established to gather vital audience insights during a period of change for the RSC, including new leadership and post-pandemic recovery. A data-led approach has enabled them to, among other things:
Adapt Strategically: By understanding audience perspectives, the RSC have been able to refine their strategies, ensuring alignment with evolving audience needs and expectations.
Widen Access and Participation: Data allowed the RSC to explore new engagement methods, such as TikTok-sponsored tickets for 14-25s, enhancing their ability to attract diverse, younger audiences.
Support Education: With educators as community members, we directly gathered insights on curriculum-aligned resources, ensuring our offerings meet educators and student needs for the RSC.
Implement Action Research: Continuous data collection provided real-time feedback, allowing for agile adjustments to the RSC’s day-to-day approach.
Foster Genuine Dialogue: Through both structured tasks and open discussions, we and the RSC have gained a deeper understanding of what matters most to audiences, building a more meaningful relationship with them.
The insights from this community have thus been invaluable to the RSC, informing critical decisions about programming, audience communication, and accessibility. The community’s engagement levels are testament to the project’s success, with participants displaying immense pride in their contributions, even lobbying for their own Groundlings badges.
Our fortnightly reports ensure the RSC receives timely and actionable insights, blending structured data with emergent trends to create a dynamic, real-time feedback loop.
Looking Ahead
As our partnership with the RSC continues into 2026, we are excited to build on the successes of The Groundlings. Over time we have, and will continue to, further enriched the community experience, increasing participant feedback loops, and continuing to provide robust, data-driven insights that shape the RSC’s future.
We extend our gratitude to the Digital Culture Network and all those involved in the awards for recognising the potential of The Groundlings, and we look forward to the next stages of the awards process.
For more information about The Groundlings or our expertise in digital engagement and audience insight, please contact Elliot Simmonds.
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We are thrilled to announce that The Groundlings, our collaborative online community project with the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC), has been longlisted in the Using Data category for the prestigious 2025 Digital Culture Awards!
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