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Turning pre-show emails into standing ovations

  • Strategy
  • Creativity
  • Email

LW Theatres believed the magic of theatre should begin long before the curtain rises. Yet customers were phoning in with basic queries about timings, cloakrooms, and travel, while valuable upsell opportunities went untapped.

The challenge sparked: what if pre-show emails weren’t just reminders, but an experience in their own right?

Man meditating outdoors wearing headphones
CHALLENGE

Information overload meets missed opportunities

A quarter of customer service calls covered logistics that could’ve been handled in advance. Meanwhile, pre-show comms weren’t optimised to drive upgrades, hospitality, or merchandise.

The result: strained internal teams, missed revenue, and an audience arriving with uncertainty rather than excitement.

SOLUTION

Data-led content for an extraordinary pre-show

We created a modular, persona-driven email programme that adapted to more than ten customer conditions, anticipating and addressing audience needs with informative, contextual content.

Each content block played its role: booking details with easy ticket-sharing, reassuring ‘Know Before You Go’ tips, tailored upsell offers, and real-time weather and travel updates. The tone was warm, making automation feel more like a concierge than a system.

Solution-2
RESULTS

Personalisation that performed

By turning reminders into a concierge-style experience, LW Theatres helped audiences arrive calmer, more prepared, and genuinely excited. Modular emails anticipated key questions (tickets, timings, travel, cloakrooms) and paired them with timely upgrade moments.

The payoff wasn’t just commercial – though one pre-show email delivered a 24,500% revenue uplift – it also eased pressure on customer service and helped front-of-house run smoothly.

Result

The
impact

  • +15%open rate
  • +10%click-to-open rate
  • +1,400%revenue uplift

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