How do you make centuries-old performances resonate in today’s digital world? To find out, I caught up with Henny van Haelen, Senior Online Marketer at The Hague’s leading performing arts centre, Amare.
As the driving force behind Amare’s digital transformation, Henny has overseen everything from early technology experiments to the launch of Stories—a Peppered feature now widely embraced by the CultureSuite community. She reflected on Amare’s decade-long partnership with us and how it has transformed the way audiences connect with the theatre, keeping performances alive long after the final curtain falls.
Henny’s life has always revolved around the arts. With a background as a singer and a lifelong passion for the stage, her journey into performing arts was a natural one. It started during her studies and continues to shape her career.
Henny likes to make an impact. This led her to join the Amare team about ten years ago. At that time, Amare was undergoing significant changes, evolving from its roots as the Dr Anton Philipszaal and the Lucent Danstheater into The Hague’s cultural epicentre.
Today, we know Amare as a dynamic home for the arts, housing four prominent dance and music institutions. It has ambitions to be a theatre that serves diverse communities within the city and beyond. With 750 events a year and space for 4000 people, it’s a stage for everything from world music and classical symphonies to family musicals, pop concerts and everything in between. "There’s truly something for everyone, and I love that," Henny shares.
CultureSuite and Amare’s partnership has been long and rewarding. Amare’s website has been on the Peppered platform for ten years now. “We explored other tech solutions over the years, always looking for the right fit”, she quietly admits. “But Peppered’s flexibility and collaborative approach is so beneficial to us.”
These days, Henny works hand-in-hand with Peppered Consultants, tweaking the website almost daily to make sure the audience’s experience is as seamless and engaging as possible.
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Peppered’s Stories feature brings performances to life online
“Whether it's developing bilingual content options or implementing a remarketing module: our work in the marketing team here is to adapt and innovate based on what the theatre needs,” Henny reflects.
A pivotal moment in Amare's collaboration with Peppered was the development of the Stories feature – these are content blocks in Peppered for news items and articles; anything that isn’t an event or product.
In spring of 2020, Henny and her team faced a new challenge. As the world shifted online, their passion for the diverse plays and performances at Amare—each with its own unique story and background—led them to ask: how could they bring these rich narratives to life in the digital space?
“Every performance tells a story. And we know our audience is curious”, Henny explains. “An opera performed here isn’t just a date on the calendar. There is history, artistry, and countless hours of dedication to artistic expression. How did Greek gods inspire centuries of music? What’s the story behind Die Zauberflöte?”
Henny and her team strongly believe in the power of content marketing and how it can position Amare as a brand. With a team of talented writers who grasped the depth of what actually happens here on stage, we wanted Peppered to empower storytellers with new capabilities to engage audiences.
But for her, it wasn’t just about creating a digital space to answer questions. It was a strategy, too. As someone who aims to make a difference, her goal was for this feature to do more than just inform: she wanted it to inspire action, much like how Orpheus's music stirred the hearts of the gods.
"I always believed that weaving these stories into our content would not only engage our audience but also guide them naturally toward purchasing tickets, connecting them to the essence of each production."
With this in mind, the Amare team started their year-long journey with CultureSuite to develop the Stories feature. Little did they know at the time, it would go on to be adopted by many other venues within the CultureSuite community.
Having worked with the team before, Henny knew what to expect, but this time felt different—like they were brewing something new and innovative together, despite working around a “virtual table” during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It was a real team effort. We brainstormed a lot, with both our colleagues and the CultureSuite team, constantly asking ourselves: how do we want this to function? Is this right?” Henny recalls. “We knew, of course, that CultureSuite aims to develop something universally applicable for all their clients, while we, as a theatre, had our own specific needs. In the end, we struck that balance, and the result was something we’re really proud of—and it’s still evolving.”
As Henny reflects on the process, she fondly remembers how the team deliberated over what to name the platform. “But 'Stories' just felt right,” she says.
Amare's new role as a cultural educator
With the Stories feature in place for several years now, we asked Henny about its impact on the theatre. "There are different kinds of impacts," she says. "But one thing I personally love about the feature is how it helps content to stay relevant, even when a performance isn’t running. It’s timeless," Henny explains.
“Some stories, like the piece on the Hindu Festival of Lights called Diwali, the history of European opera or the piece on the myth of Orpheus have become iconic, allowing us to reuse and expand on them across multiple performances. It’s been widely shared, even internationally."
The Stories feature even added a new dimension to Amare’s role, transforming it from a traditional production house into a digital platform for sharing cultural knowledge. Henny wholeheartedly agrees: “People like to learn more about the culture they’re about to witness; the beauty lies in how our writers create a lasting connection to the musicians and artists who walk through our doors.”
But did this new feature truly captivate audiences digitally, much like Orpheus did with his music? Henny is thrilled to say that it has—the results are clear in their analytics data.
Not only has web traffic increased, but visitors are spending more time engaging with the site. “We often see spikes in traffic when an orchestra that once performed here plays in other venues, like in Amsterdam. New audiences constantly discover us and return through the stories," Henny shares.
Looking to the future
What lies ahead? Henny envisions a future where Amare’s stories can reach everyone. Inspired by Digitaal Toegankelijk’s talk at Peppered's 200th Release Party last month, a partner of CultureSuite, she’s excited about the possibilities for inclusivity.
“I was moved by Digitaal Toegankelijk’s insights on digital accessibility. We want to connect with every resident of The Hague. There are so many small details that can be overlooked as marketers, but having an expert guide us through them makes all the difference,” Henny enthuses.
This reflection led Henny to think about our partnership as a whole. “It’s amazing what you can achieve when you have a strong, collaborative relationship,” she says.
“If you think about it, we’ve driven developments that will benefit us for years to come. And it’s not just the theatre that’s feeling the impact. It touches the artists, the visitors, and everyone working behind the scenes. CultureSuite brought the tech know-how, while we have real-time insights into what's happening in the theatre world and what keeps it thriving.”
She’s eager to see how other venues will drive digital transformations alongside CultureSuite, knowing her team will benefit from those innovations as well.
For those just starting out or looking to revamp their digital approach, she shares some valuable advice: “Look at what other Peppered users are doing. There’s much inspiration within the community. The cultural sector is incredibly collaborative—marketers are always ready to help each other out. CultureSuite offers CultureHub, a space where users can connect, share questions, explore best practices, and so much more. And of course – the CultureSuite team is always just a call away.”
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