Situation / Challenge

For over 75 years, The Washington Ballet (TWB) has elevated its prominence as a world-class ballet company in the nation’s capital. TWB represents a diverse community with a cadre of professional dancers, a high-caliber school, and its repertoire reflecting an evolution of ballet’s relevance in today’s times. To broaden awareness of TWB’s performance company and school, Sage developed creative collateral to engage prospective patrons while retaining current TWB season ticketholders.

Approach

Sage conducted a kick-off meeting to review TWB’s upcoming timeline of performances and stakeholder events. This meeting served as the foundation for messaging to inform a universal brand voice for translation into content creation (from social and web, to print and video) and digital / print materials for various advertising initiatives. This also served as an umbrella for other events and programs to sit beneath – holding their own look and feel while still remaining grounded in TWB’s core brand.

Results

Working in collaboration with TWB’s marketing team, board members, and community stakeholders, Sage ideated and created materials used in tandem with communication strategies related to advertising, branding & creatives, marketing, ticket sales, and digital and social media experiences. In Sage’s first year supporting TWB, the flagship performance, The Nutcracker, saw a rise in sales by over $650K, a 27% increase. In addition, The Nutcracker sustained a $3.1 M revenue in the following year. Sage also supported TWB’s 75th Anniversary, developing the logo and outward-facing brand materials to align with its updated and expanded offerings.

In 2020, Sage assisted TWB with shifting its holiday Nutcracker Tea to a virtual setting. With COVID-19 restrictions halting aspects of TWB, The Nutcracker Tea @ Home was born. Sponsors and ticket purchasers were sent gift packages for an interactive virtual experience featuring the Sugar Plum Fairy, herself. Sage was responsible for editing together the video footage provided by TWB and making it into a 40-minute feature – which ended up garnering more that 10,000 views. This video worked in tandem with digital graphics, print ads, tea towels and more, all of which Sage produced the creative for. Additionally, Sage helped TWB pivot in other ways – developing the look and feel for their 2021 Virtually Un-Virtual program and for their MarqueeTV debut as well (a platform for audience to stream TWB’s range of ballet performances during the on-going pandemic).