*This project is contingent on funding and is a joint initiative between CAPACOA, Orchestras Canada, PACT, and the National Arts Centre.
Performing arts organizations around the globe are struggling to achieve sustainability in a shifting marketplace. In Canada, these challenges include changes in audience behaviours, engagement patterns, and purchasing trends.
In November 2024, Orchestras Canada, PACT, the National Arts Centre, and CAPACOA gathered representatives from across Canada to collectively brainstorm new ways to encourage audience loyalty. Informed by research from WolfBrown and David Maggs (George Cedric Metcalf Foundation), five field studies were identified for collective exploration in the Re-imagining Customer Relationships research project.
Read WolfBrown’s report on the gathering here as well as CAPACOA’s, Orchestras Canada’s, and PACT’s response to the report here.
Goal of Project
To design and test new strategies to deepen loyalty among regular arts goers and develop affiliation among occasional arts goers.
Re-imagining Customer Relationships: Reflections & Project Launch
On January 28, 2025, from 1:00 to 2:30 PM EST, we launched the Re-imagining Customer Relationships project. This session included an overview of the project, insight into each of the five field studies that were explored at the November 2024 gathering, and next steps in the project.
*French/English simultaneous interpretation was provided.
Supporting Initiators Field Study
Following the January 28th webinar, we launched the first field study in the project, Supporting Initiators, on February 5, 2025, from 1:00 to 2:00 PM EST. In this session, we provided details about the methodology and timeline of this study and introduced the application process for organizations to become part of this national research cohort over the next year.
*French/English simultaneous interpretation was provided.
The application period to express interest in participating in the Supporting Initiators field study is now closed.
Background
Want to learn more about the research that inspired this project? Check out the following readings:
WolfBrown’s research for the National Arts Centre:
- Research briefing: Loyalty Concept Exploration, webinar with special guest, Shannon Urie, from the National Arts Centre, January 2024 (available in English only)
- Loyalty Concept Exploration, Part 2: Analysis of Experiments with New Customer Relationships report (available in English only)
- The Atomization of Loyalty and the Future of Customer Relationships in the Performing Arts blog post
David Maggs’ writings for the George Cedric Metcalf Foundation:
CAPACOA’s Publications:
- Diversity and Drivers of Arts Attendance (2019)
- Blog posts about attendance trends
Partners
Supporting Foundations
