CONTENT CREATION

In November, we had a Marketing video shoot to create ad and digital content for our 2023-24 season. For The Temple, we invited the Music Director + English Librettist + Arranger to come film a series of short videos that we could use to promote the show. This content ranged from explaining what an "English librettist" is, creating a The Magic Flute in 60-seconds song, to creating fun lip syncing content to the famous arias of the show! For this show, we also collaborated with The People's Circus. We invited their Founder to come talk about the collaboration, and perform some stilt work for us.

In addition to this pre-show content, Opera Columbus loves to show the behind-the-scenes process to our audiences! We did this through rehearsal photos and videos, Instagram Story Takeovers, podcast recordings and more. 

DIGITAL MARKETING STRATEGY

From newsletters to social media campaigns to digital ads, our strategy is based in three key elements: 

1. Educating our Audience about the Show
2. Showing the Process
3. Uplifting Opera Columbus' Brand

We have found that many people in Columbus might not know opera like they may know a Broadway show like Wicked or Mamma Mia. Building excitement and interest in an opera begins with explaining and connecting the show with things in pop culture that people know and love, like whether the plot is similar to a TV show, making playlists for a character, relating the costumes to a fashion era, and more.

Something all marketers can agree on - is that people love to see and interact with real people. At Opera Columbus, we limit our static graphic design posts and focus on curating content that showcases actual people through rehearsal photos, pre-recorded content and behind-the-scenes sneak peeks. 

Finally, increasing our brand awareness is major priority in all our marketing strategies. At Opera Columbus, we are taking opera off its "high class" or "stuffy" pedestal, and invite our audiences to "make it yours"! This is not your traditional opera, we purposefully take a unique approach. For example, there is no dress codes for our shows so we have some people dress to the nines and some come in jeans. Our audiences are welcome to eat, drink , take photos and more at our shows. And we encourage our audiences to engage with and be an active participant in the opera - clap, cry, laugh!

GRAPHIC DESIGN

For each main stage show, Opera Columbus offers pre-show events to help our audiences engage with the show - from SALON, Coffee with the Creative Team, Drag Shows and more! I create the graphics and marketing posters for all of these events. 

Grassroots marketing is one of our top marketing pillars at Opera Columbus. For each show, I create flyers that highlight the show, cast and connections/reasons why the community should come to the show. We place these flyers at local coffee shops, libraries and community spaces. We also go door-to-door flyering with these show flyers throughout Columbus suburbs. 

One of my biggest projects for each show is to create the program. I collect all of the assets, design, finalize and coordinate printing for the program for all of Opera Columbus' main stage shows.  For The Temple, we had a non-traditional program where we printed napkins with QR codes on them for an online program.

AUDIENCE EXPERIENCE

Curating an audience experience beyond just seeing a show is very important to us. Like I mentioned before, this show was a hub for audience experiences! 

When they entered into our secret speakeasy, they would find me - in full character with a costume and script. They would tell me their secret code, and get their seating card. After that, they would enter into a big party, and be greeted by Mozart (a.k.a. our Music Director dressed up as Mozart!). They were encouraged to eat, drink and watch all of the Acts + Atmosphere performances by The People's Circus. These acts ranged from knife balancing, clown acts, aerial work and stilt walking. They were also greeted by the character in the shows who were walking around and visiting with people as well! After experiencing the immersive opera, they were invited to stay and hang out at the bar! The singers stayed out to meet audience members during this post-show experience. 

Thanks for visiting ♥