Brand Ad Campaign for Red River Theatres
Sullivan Creative won an award for creating a clever brand ad campaign to help broaden awareness and increase movie and film event attendance and memberships for Red River Theatres (RRT). RRT is New Hampshire's only non-profit, full-time movie house showing independent and locally made films. The theatres also host filmmaker discussions, community gatherings and discussions about films. Sullivan Creative conducted audience surveys (online and at the cinema) to determine why people enjoy seeing movies and attending events at RRT. We developed a series of brand ads that featured compelling headlines with a strong movie-related image and a clean design to stand out on an arts/film page of a newspaper.
Each ad featured the RRT website to see the latest films and showtimes. The brand ads started running in September 2011 and by the end of the year, website visits significantly and RRT membership also increased by about 20%.
Building Attendance for Two Tourism Events
Sullivan Creative won awards for developing successful integrated media—traffic generation campaigns for the Annual League of NH Craftsmen’s Fair and NH Open Doors.
The nine-day, summertime Annual Craftsmen Fair is a vital revenue-generating venue for the more than 350 craftspeople – all members of the League of NH Craftsmen (LNHC) – who rent booths at the Fair to sell their crafts. This is also a critical event for the League itself, as its operating expenses for the next fiscal year depend on the revenue from Fair ticket sales.
Sullivan Creative had developed a new brand identity for the LNHC, highlighting the "spirit of the maker." This brand was incorporated into all marketing materials for the Annual Craftsmen’s Fair, which consisted of advertising (print, radio, television, internet listings), direct mail (print and email), public relations, and social media. All materials featured a detailed photo of a fine craft piece, highlighting the name of the craftsperson in the copy, and directed people to the LNHCs website for more information and to purchase tickets online. Social media was a vital component of the marketing program, with Facebook ads targeted to those interested in fine craft, regular posts, and a Facebook contest to build excitement for the Fair. The Fairattendance as high as previous years and craft sales were better than budget projections. The campaign also brought in a people (a younger demographic) who had never been to the Fair.
NH Open Doors is a statewide Veterans Day weekend touring and shopping event, organized by the LNHC and New Hampshire Made in partnership with the New Hampshire Division of Travel and Tourism, that was designed to promote travel and tourism in New Hampshire. During this weekend, artists, craftspeople, shops and galleries, roadside farmstands and orchards, cultural attractions, restaurants and lodging establishments open their doors with special activities for the public. New Hampshire derives much of its income from meals and room taxes, so this event was one way to generate travel and help support the state's economy during a time of year (November) when tourism is slow. The strategy was to market the tour as a unique way to see, sample, and purchase New Hampshire-made products during a holiday weekend and give people an opportunity to get a jump on their holiday shopping. The NH Open Doors website was the focal point for all of the integrated marketing activities, which included advertising and public relations. People were directed to visit the website to see participants and create their own self-guided tour using interactive Google maps. This year’s campaign also included a passport contest to generate attendance. Regular Facebook and Twitter posts helped build interest for the event. As a result of the campaign, 2,500 maps were downloaded from the NH Open Doors website. The NH Open Doors participants were surveyed after the event and ranked the overall success of the event for their business as a 4 (5 was the best), and 76% of the 300 participants plan to do it again next year.
Launching the League of NH Craftsmen’s Craft Center with a Direct Mail Catalog
Sullivan Creative won the Direct Mail on a Shoestring award for the design of a course catalogue for the League of NH Craftsmen Craft Center. The League of NH Craftsmen's offers classes and demonstrations in a variety of craft media in its new Craft Center (located in downtown Concord, NH) and through its seven retail galleries throughout the state. The course catalog was designed to showcase the quantity and variety of fine craft classes. The catalog used color and images of fine craft and classrooms to add interest. The colors also served a functional purpose to indicate whether the offerings were courses, demonstrations, or lectures. The course/demonstration descriptions were organized by location, with a course schedule featured in the centerspread.
The people who received the catalog could register on the Craft Center website or using the included registration form. The League and its retail galleries were pleased that the majority of classes held at the Craft Center and the retail galleries were at capacity, with no class cancellations.