CASE STUDY / NORTH CAROLINA SYMPHONY
PERFORMING ARTS
NORTH CAROLINA SYMPHONY
Implementing one of the most significant transformations in modern orchestra marketing: growing ticket sales and building a passionate, multigenerational audience that keeps coming back.
SERVICES
Social Media Strategy & Content, Video Production, Photography, Audience Growth, Brand & Communications Strategy, Creative Direction, Environmental Design
When Carlos Miguel Prieto was named Music Director of the North Carolina Symphony, it marked a critical transition. For decades, traditional orchestras communicated through rigid systems built for a bygone media era. But modern and younger audiences, as well as established concertgoers, discover culture through emotion, curiosity, and story.
Square Productions was brought in to transform how the symphony connects online. By shifting the focus to deep, culturally relevant storytelling, we didn't just build a digital presence. We completely changed the face of the room, driving a dramatic, sustained shift toward a younger audience while reigniting the excitement of the existing community.
Curiosity.
Connection.
Return.
THE PRINCIPLE
Talk about how the music feels, not what the music is.
When messaging is rooted in emotion, curiosity, and human experience, it attracts newcomers without alienating longtime concertgoers. The same story builds awareness, deepens loyalty, and drives ticket sales simultaneously.
A world-class orchestra with untapped digital potential.
Instead of treating social media like a digital bulletin board, we built a machine for curiosity. We followed the things that excited us and used that excitement to bring audiences along for the ride. Concerts became stories. Guest artists became personalities. Seasonal campaigns became experiences. The symphony stopped feeling like an institution and started feeling like a living, breathing organism.
As the cold audience, we weren't lifelong subscribers. We were curious. And the deeper we went, the cooler the stories became. Classical music is a gold mine of extraordinary performances, fascinating people, rich history, and stories hiding in plain sight.
The deeper we fell down the rabbit hole, the more excited we became to share what we were discovering. We approached the orchestra the way a great magazine approaches a story, finding the human drama, and unexpected connections that make people want to discover more and ultimately hear this music for themselves.
The goal was never just to announce concerts. It was to create a feed worth returning to. A place where audiences could discover something new, connect with the music, and get excited about the experience long before they ever stepped into the concert hall.
How do you attract new audiences while deepening the loyalty of existing ones?
The North Carolina Symphony possessed a loyal audience and a long-established reputation for artistic excellence. Digitally, however, the organization lacked a unified long-term strategy. Social media was inconsistent, storytelling was isolated, and there was no coordinated system to introduce the orchestra, its musicians, or its new leadership to the broader community.
The relationship begins months before the concert.
CUSTOMER JOURNEY
Building that foundation required a different way of thinking.
We were not going to create one message for young people and another for longtime subscribers.
We were going to create one message that worked for both.
Rather than separating audience growth from audience retention, our goal was to create communication that achieved both simultaneously. We set out to spark curiosity for those unfamiliar with classical music, while deepening the emotional connection for audiences who already understood its power. This single principle entirely reshaped the tone, rhythm, and strategy of the symphony's public presence.
SOCIAL MEDIA
RESULTS
Selling tickets for this weekend matters. But so do ticket sales next month and next year.
Rather than operating in a reactionary cycle focused solely on the next performance, we built a graduated, multi-touch communication system designed to create anticipation months before a concert ever took place.
Our earliest touch points never focus on immediate sales. We start with organic, high-energy storytelling and assets that captures how the music will feel, prepping the audience long before they ever enter the concert hall.
For many people, including those new to the area, social media became their first introduction to the North Carolina Symphony. Long before they purchased a ticket, they encountered a musician, a music director, a guest artist, a fascinating story, a performance clip, or a season announcement that sparked curiosity.
Over time, those moments accumulate. Awareness becomes familiarity. Familiarity becomes trust. Trust becomes attendance. And attendance becomes a lasting relationship with the symphony.
THE CUSTOMER JOURNEY: A Great First Concert Is Everything
When a person understands what a performance will feel like before they step into the concert hall, they're more likely to choose a concert that's right for them, have a great experience, and come back.
What began online started showing up in the hall itself.
The shift was immediate. Within the first full season of launching the new communication strategy, the baseline atmosphere inside Meymandi Concert Hall completely transformed. Concerts began selling out with greater consistency, and opening nights became major shared cultural events. Most notably, the data backed up the storytelling: the room experienced a dramatic, highly visible, and sustained shift toward a younger, multi-generational demographic.
STRATEGY
Building the Machine
One coordinated system, proven day after day
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Because Animal Rescue Kharkiv is not a U.S.-registered nonprofit, fundraising requires a different approach. We developed practical workarounds, including direct campaigns and platforms like GoFundMe, to make support possible for international audiences.
Each piece is intentional. Each piece reinforces the others.
What was once difficult to follow becomes clear, credible, and ready to grow.
EXCERPTS FROM ARK - BY THE NUMBERS
From local presence to global reach
RESULTS
Initial results, five months in (as of April 2026)
ARK already had an established presence within Ukraine. The shift was in what began to happen beyond it.
Ukrainian audiences started to engage more deeply, particularly with human-centered, interview-driven pieces, which generated significant spikes in attention, response, and conversation, and led directly to increased donations.
At the same time, international audiences began to enter the conversation. As the work reaches further into the United States and beyond, a new foundation is being established for broader support.
After four years of war, local attention is naturally limited. The next phase is expansion. The building blocks are now in place, and that transition is underway.
Fundraising is gaining traction. Support is no longer confined to a single base. The organization is beginning to attract the kind of attention required for long-term sustainability.
This is early. But the direction is clear.