Samenvatting

This thesis is written for ‘Theater aan de Schie’ to determine which measures they should take to generate more revenue from the rental of the theater. This research provides insight into how companies find a location and which criteria they find important. This thesis used the Marketing RaDaR of Nate Elliot as the theoretical basis. The Marketing RaDaR creates an image of the buying process of business-to-business customers.

Deskresearch
Desk research shows that three out of four companies choose a location based on word-of-mouth or previous experiences. More than fifty percent of the companies use search engines and locationwebsites to find a suitable location. Companies do not use social media to find a location. The website of an location must provide pictures that gives companies an impression of the atmosphere, information about prices, availability and capacity.Desk research also shows that companies find the accessibility, parking and the value for money the most important criteria when they select a location. The service of a location and reviews from previous renters are becoming increasingly important.

Interview with the marketing and sales department
The marketing department does not interfere with the rental of the theater. They do not know who the target audience is and how this target group searches a location. The marketing department does not have knowledge of developments in this sector. The website from Theater aan de Schie is not geared to the needs of the customer. The sales department is mainly busy with current customers. They recently started with recruiting new customers by calling companies and providing information on social media. The sales department does not have a online brochure which can be sent to companies by mail.

Fieldresearch
Companies do not appreciate calls from locations. Just like other sectors, companies gather information independently before they contact a location. Companies indicate that they primarily seek for information using search engines and specialized websites like locaties.nl. The fieldresearch shows that a specialized website has three advantages:
• They have a high place in search engines
• All the information about a location is on one page
• Companies can easily compare locations

Just like the desk research, the field research also shows that companies search images, information about the prices, availability and capacity. They expect to see these images and information immediately when they visit the website of a location. Companies read reviews from previous renters to make sure that a location is capable of hosting an event.
The current customers of Theater aan de Schie are very satisfied about the service and the organisation of their events in Theater aan de Schie. They are all willing to write a review and would recommend Theater aan de Schie to others. Some companies choose not to cooperate with Theater aan de Schie because of the fact that Theater aan de Schie can only be rented for a whole day and companies have to pay for a parkingplace.

Conclusions and recommendations
Theater aan de Schie uses her marketing channels too little and in a wrong way. They do not know how, where and what kind of information their target audience collects. Theater aan de Schie should adjust its marketing better to the needs of her target audience.