Case Study: The Orange Peel keeps fans engaged and launches Rabbit Rabbit with Mailchimp

How The Orange Peel’s eclectic audience helps the iconic venue keep the music playing, both inside the club and at a 2020‑launched outdoor outpost

The Orange Peel, a top-selling independent music venue in Asheville, faced significant challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced the closure of its indoor club and disrupted its business. The management team, Orange Peel Events, needed a way to maintain audience engagement during the shutdown and successfully launch a new outdoor venue, Rabbit Rabbit, without the ability to rely on traditional in-person marketing. They turned to their long-time vendor, Mailchimp, and its email marketing service to address this challenge.

Using Mailchimp, the venue leveraged its large, existing email list, built up over a decade, as its primary communication tool. They sent weekly newsletters to announce new shows and distribute pre-sale codes, maintaining a consistent and visually clean format. This strategy allowed them to instantly reach their captured audience to promote the new Rabbit Rabbit venue. The solution was highly effective, resulting in Rabbit Rabbit selling out nearly all of its shows in its first partial season. Mailchimp provided the crucial platform that enabled the venue to weather the crisis, give employees work, and successfully launch a major new operation.

The Orange Peel

Liz Whalen Tallent

Marketing Director