Like many cultural venues and entertainment organisations, theatres, museums, and music halls often sit on a wealth of customer data – ticketing, website analytics, email engagement, surveys – but much of it lives in separate systems. This fragmentation makes it hard to see the full picture of each visitor, and harder still to deliver truly relevant recommendations.
To solve this, organisations in the cultural sector are increasingly implementing a Customer Data Platform (CDP). A CDP unifies data from all sources into continuously updated customer profiles, enabling marketing and audience teams to act on accurate, timely insights across channels.
This use case provides an example of how a cultural organisation in the culture & entertainment sector is applying a Customer Data Platform (CDP) to overcome these challenges and unlock new value from their data.
Why organisations are investing in a CDP
A CDP journey in the culture & entertainment sector often built on two flagship goals:
1. Automated event recommendations (Next Event To Attend – NETA)
A personalised recommendation engine that prioritises behaviour across channels over pure purchase history, factoring in genre and artist affinity.
2. Loyalty segmentation
A flexible score model that allows organisations to identify risks (declining engagement) and opportunities (growth potential) within each loyalty band , and act accordingly.
Goal 1: NETA – behaviour over transactions
The NETA model assigns weight to a range of behavioural and transactional signals:
Notably:
Email clicks are tracked as intent signals even when the booking happens externally (e.g., Tixly).
Survey and feedback data feed into recommendations to reflect offline and qualitative insights.
Artist affinity can outweigh genre, so a fan of a particular performer gets more relevant suggestions.
Goal 2: Loyalty segmentation
The score model uses audience-friendly terminology common in the cultural sector:
Each tier is split into Budget (low spend) and Premium (high spend). The model also accounts for non-purchase audiences like newsletter subscribers, website visitors, and social followers.
The impact organisations can expect (and how to measure it)
Success goes beyond selling tickets. Organisations typically measure impact by:
Higher conversions on personalised event picks.
Moving audiences into higher loyalty tiers.
Cleaner marketing lists with fewer irrelevant recommendations.
Tailored campaigns for special groups like Podiumpas holders.
While the project is still in development and results are yet to be measured, projections based on typical theatre patterns show the potential:
Abandoned search
If 1,000 people search for shows each week and 200 leave without booking, recovering just 5% at €100 per booking could mean ~€52,000 extra revenue/year.
Next Best Offer
Improving occupancy in a 600-seat hall by 2% could add ~€240,000 in annual ticket sales before costs.
ROMI outlook
With an estimated year-one investment of €25,000, the model suggests the CDP could more than pay for itself in the first year, with returns increasing as more data points and use cases go live.
Implementation approach
A phased approach helps avoid “big bang” delays and delivers value early:
1. Use-case development
Use 1-2 clear use-cases that can bring value to the brand.
2. Discovery workshop
Map data sources, segment definitions, KPIs, and constraints.
3. Internal preparation
Translate requirements into data sources, dependencies, and “good enough” thresholds.
4. Design & plan
Agree on timelines and responsibilities; connect priority sources and unify identities; activate initial campaigns.
The takeaway
This use case shows how even a single cultural organisation can turn scattered data into a powerful tool for personalisation and loyalty. By starting with clear, high-impact use cases and phasing the rollout, the groundwork is laid for both creative and commercial wins—proof that with the right approach, even “messy” data can become a valuable asset.
