Kickstarting with Excel

Overview of Project

Helping a client visualize theater campaign outcomes based on launch dates and funding goals.

Purpose

The client will have a better understanding of the best months to fund a play and will be able to set realistic goal amounts that will succeed.

Analysis and Challenges

I used pivot tables and graphs in Excel to showcase how successful (or unsuccessful) the outcome of a campaign was based on the launch date.

I also used various Excel formulas to manipulate the data in meaningful ways. For example, I had to convert the UNIX data to a readable format. Then I had to use the "YEAR" formula to pull the dates by year.

The formula used to convert the UNIX timestamp:
=(((H84/60)/60)/24)+DATE(1970,1,1)

The formula used to pull Date End by Year:
=YEAR(S2:S4115)

COUNTIFs were used to pull outcomes by goal:
=COUNTIFS('Raw Data'!$E:$E, "successful", 'Raw Data'!$C:$C, "<1000", 'Raw Data'!$Q:$Q, "plays")

Analysis of Outcomes Based on Launch Date

The first chart (linked below) is a line chart that shows the relationship between outcomes and launch date.

In the theatre category, Q2 (April-June) had the highest number of successful outcomes (failures were also highest). About 60% of the total projects were successful this year in the theatre category (failure rate is lower than success rate).

Analysis of Outcomes Based on Goals

The second chart (linked below) is also a line chart that shows the relationship between outcomes and a range of goals.

It seems that goals in the "plays" subcategory within the $1,000 to $5,000 range have higher chances of successful outcomes and are more likely to get produced.

Challenges and Difficulties Encountered

I ran into issues with the COUNTIFs formulas. I accidentally mapped the wrong cells (used pledged amount instead of goals). I also forgot to check against the "plays" subcategory.

These issues caused the chart to be incorrect. I went back and looked at the original tutorial video and also used YouTube to find some supplemental material.

After some trial and error, I figured it out.

Results

• What are two conclusions you can draw about the Outcomes based on Launch Date?

  • In the theatre category, Q2 (Apr-Jun) had the highest number of successful outcomes (failures were also highest). The slowest time period is during Q4 (Oct-Dec).
  • About 60% of the total projects were successful this year in the theatre category (failure rate is lower than success rate).

• What can you conclude about the Outcomes based on Goals?

  • It seems that goals in the "plays" subcategory within the $1,000 to $5,000 range have higher chances of successful outcomes and are more likely to get produced.

• What are some limitations of this dataset?

  • Although we know which months have more successful outcomes, we don't know what genre is driving this (is there a specific type of play that drives higher results)?

• What are some other possible tables and/or graphs that we could create?

  • I think it would be interesting see what type of "plays" drive more successful outcomes by country.