In 2016, The Actors Gymnasium decided to launch a 9-month professional training program for circus performers. Our challenge was twofold – not only is this a new program for the company but a program that is unique in the US and would need to have a far-reaching footprint in order to raise brand awareness in time.
Marketing Plan
The original marketing plan includes many ideas that couldn’t be achieved for a lack of resources and budget but a surprising amount was achieved from the decision to create the program in October and the public announcement in December.
Website
Pages for the program needed to be created including Overview, Program Information, Partnerships, Faculty, Application Process, Class of 2016
Press
Press releases were sent with every development to local institutions as well as specialty sites.
Social Media
The current social media followers we engaged in a series of social media posts. Additionally, an intern reached out to many circus organizations on Twitter and asked them to share the announcement of our new program.
“A Day in the Circus Life” Blog
A blog run by one of the students was created during the inaugural year to give potential students an idea of what to expect.
Phone
In an industry that is still very traditional, we chose to include telephone calls in our strategy as well. After the emails announcing the program had gone out, the outreach on social media, and the direct mail was received, the Program Manager personally called many locations to answer questions they had about the program and ask them to encourage their best students to apply.
Segmented emails were sent to announce the program to current students and circus organizations.
Video
A three-person film crew was brought in to create two videos – one that included interviews about the program used to market it for the years to follow and one specific to that class of students as a trailer for their capstone production.
Direct Mail
Print campaigns were sent to over 2000 circus organizations around the world that contained posters, flyers, and introductory materials about The Actors Gymnasium. The second year added on college theatre and dance programs as well as physical theatre organizations.
Paid Social and Search
Facebook and Google Ads using demographic information were launched using specific language geared to the diverse circus, dance, and physical theatre audiences.
MarketingMichelle 