This summer, Glitter & Gingham, a Dolly Parton–inspired Pride concert, lit up the stage for BGMC. With country flair, storytelling heart, and a built-in fan base, the show had all the ingredients of a hit.

But the rhinestones weren’t going to just shine on their own. To engage audiences, communication needed to be built, message by message, email by email. And that’s where CI came in, adding email support on top of the digital advertising work we had in progress.

The Goal

Maximize visibility, engagement, and ticket sales for Glitter & Gingham—while working within the time and resources of a busy arts marketing team.

The CI Partnership: Planning + Production = Possibility

From start to send, CI partnered with BGMC to provide hands-on support where they needed it most.

Here’s what we tackled together:

• A full email campaign strategy, mapped to key messaging moments and audience touchpoints.
• A segmentation and suppression plan to make every send count.
• A shared calendar and pacing structure to avoid crunch-time chaos.
• Email design & build—we didn’t just write the copy, we loaded and styled it, too, so that it was all set and ready for them to simply review, add the list & send. 

With this infrastructure in place, BGMC could increase their email frequency with confidence, knowing each send was purposeful, polished, and on brand.

With a campaign this bold, BGMC wasn’t just working 9 to 5—they were working smart, supported, and with a full strategy in place.

The result? Glitter & Gingham had more promo emails than any other single show this year—and audiences were listening.

The Results

More Emails, More Opportunity

Glitter & Gingham launched with 12 dedicated promo emails—more than double the emails sent for other productions. 

• This doesn’t count the 4 customer service emails, including pre-performance and post-show thank you messages that went out, for a total of 16 CI-crafted emails (see how we stayed sharp while scaling!).

These emails weren’t filler—they were designed to connect at every stage of the funnel, from early awareness to day-of reminders.

Emails Audiences Opened—and Clicked

Our emails had the highest average Click Rate (7.08%) of promo emails across all the concerts this season. The average Open Rate (49%) was on the higher end of promo emails this season. Even with sending more emails to more users for Glitter & Gingham, the average Unsubscribe Rate (0.13%) was among the lowest of all email campaigns. 

CI-crafted Dolly emails landed among BGMC’s top performers of the year. Click each link to see the emails!

• Dollywood Anniversary: Highest volume of clicks
  We tapped into connections to Dolly, like the 40th Anniversary of Dollywood, to provide a larger context for the concert.
  
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• Why BGMC?: Second-highest volume of clicks
  While Dolly is a big draw, we wanted to strengthen BGMC’s brand as well and share impactful quotes from Chorus members.
  
• Celebrate Pride – Dolly Parton Style: Strongest Click Rate
  Using striking visuals to catch audiences’ attention, we invited audiences to get a group together, emphasizing the community aspect of Pride.
• Behind the Curtain at Glitter & Gingham: Lowest Unsubscribe Rate
  Your ordinary is the audience’s extraordinary. We loved showcasing the dance moves and wig work happening behind the scenes and audiences loved seeing it.
  

Collectively, the full Dolly campaign drove more total unique clicks than any other promotional/marketing email campaign this season. 

With thoughtful subject lines, targeted timing, and visual consistency, they reached inboxes ready to engage. With CI’s help, BGMC reached more inboxes, more often—without more work.

THE TAKEAWAY

Here’s What Made It Work:

• Structure created space. With the strategy and design lift covered, BGMC’s team had more time to focus on what mattered most—building a magical experience and focusing on needs that required boots on the ground, like creative storytelling and audience connection.
  
• Partnership made the difference. CI didn’t just consult—we collaborated, adjusted, and built in the email platform so their team didn’t have to. A full-funnel approach, delivered. We blended early emotional framing to make audiences care, with late-stage urgency to drive audiences to buy tickets.

Final Bow

At CI, we believe marketing teams should feel empowered—not overwhelmed—when a big show is on the horizon. For Glitter & Gingham, we were honored to serve as a true partner in making the vision real, the emails resonant, and the performance in inboxes as joyful as the one on stage.

Looking to expand your email bandwidth?

Let’s chat about how we can help your organization hone in on a storytelling cadence and execute with creativity and precision!

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