Case Study: San Francisco Opera boosts first-time audience engagement with Capacity Interactive

San Francisco Opera launches AI-powered audience journeys in weeks with Capacity Interactive

San Francisco Opera faced a significant challenge with audience retention, as nine out of ten first-time ticket buyers did not return by the season's end and three out of four never came back at all. To address this, they partnered with Capacity Interactive for an AI Strategy service to reimagine the first-time audience journey and uncover the barriers to return visits.

Capacity Interactive implemented a four-phase AI strategy to discover audience pain points, define solutions, execute new initiatives, and measure their impact. Key solutions included creating "sticky synopses" to make opera plots more approachable and personalizing pre-performance communications. Early results showed a faster speed to market and increased audience engagement, with patrons spending more time with the new content. While final retention outcomes are pending, the project successfully laid the groundwork for improved audience retention.

San Francisco Opera