Slava's Snowshow

OBJECTIVE

After a successful off-Broadway run at the Union Square Theater Slava’s Snowshow came to Broadway for a limited holiday run. Allied Live was hired to create an integrated plan which included full service marketing, advertising and interactive elements tailored to the show’s demographic while working to expand to a broader audience during the 2008 Holiday Season. The Allied Live team comprised a careful plan within the limited time frame of the show to encompass marketing and advertising efforts, including strategy development, media buying, and grassroots & promotional outreach.

ELEMENTS

Advertising and Media

Allied Live developed a campaign that allowed for media assets to reach the marketplace in various ways within the limited time allotted for the show’s 4-week run. Various media channels were used both pre- and post opening by using the established image of the show to remind those who had already seen it that it was back and by informing a new audience how successful it was off-Broadway. This targeted plan included leveraging Print, Online, Outdoor and Electronic channels to address every major audience demographic of the show. All media recommendations were made in context of industry, seasonal and sales trends.

For example:

Print
While it was important to be included in The New York Times it was clear the audience was met by expanding outreach to the tourist publications as well as with a strategic Metro full page placed the week of Christmas to support the holiday schedule for the show. Additional trade opportunities helped increase the word of mouth and brand of the show.

Direct Response
Email blasts to popular theater sites proved profitable while non-traditional means of direct response, like TravelZoo produced a greater profit than anticipated. This proved to be a perfect outlet for the show as sales continued to grow well after the initial blast was deployed.

Broadcast
A 6-week buy was placed on NY1 in addition to several cable networks such as Animal Planet, ABC Family and Cartoon Network. This buy began the week after the 2008 Presidential Election and ran for a total of four weeks. There was gradual boost in sales after these spots began running.

Banner Ad Campaign
Two online banner ad campaigns were created with an offer and displayed on targeted Mom Blogs. Overall the click through rate was very high which ultimately drove traffic to the show’s website.

Grassroots and Promotional Outreach

Allied Live identified a range of affinity groups to target through grassroots and promotional outreach. These initiatives required little or no cash investment from the show.

For example:

The Pond at Bryant Park
- Partner with The Pond at Bryant Park, a holiday and winter staple in New York City, to create an event the Saturday after Thanksgiving to promote the show to local families and tourists.
- Elements
  - Face Painting: Slava’s Snowshow provided a face painter to paint children’s faces throughout.
  - On-Site Entertainment: Slava’s Snowshow provided a clown to pose for photographs with children and families. The Pond also played the show soundtrack during skating sessions.
  - Enter-to-Win: Slava’s Snowshow provided two family four-packs of tickets. Guests of The Pond at Bryant Park were given the opportunity to enter-to-win these tickets at the face painting station as well as an information table outside in holiday shops. Two announcements were made during the event selecting the winner and providing additional information about the show. Flyers with a special ticket offer were also provided at the information table and face painting station to encourage ticket purchases.
  - Media: The Pond at Bryant Park promoted the event via inclusion in a full page advertisement in Metro (approximate value: $14,000)
- Overview of Results: Approximately 170 people entered to win the family-four packs of tickets and 60 children and adults participated in the face painting. The event raised awareness for the show and created excitement among families.
Fresh 102.7
- Media Investment: 4-week on-air advertising buy
- Added value package consisted of a large position skyscraper banner ad with a 20% rotation on the website, one email blast deployed to over 41,000 My Fresh Listeners, 25x :15 promotional announcements to support an on-air contest for a Family Four Pack of tickets; and a sponsorship billboard 1x a day along with 15 live mentions and 25 on stream promotional mentions to support a Sing Bee Contest allotting 5 sets of Family Four Pack tickets to the winners.
Promotional Partnerships
- Additional promotions were secured with partners such as:
  - Time Warner Center
  - Serendipity
  - Hershey Store
  - Suburban Malls
Trade Advertising
- Negotiated advertising on 100% trade in publications such as New York and Brooklyn Family
- Secured website presence and over 37,500 impressions through e-blasts with affinity organizations such as www.elmcityparent.com, www.hellobrooklyn.com, Trapeze School of New York, Circus NYC and Museum of the City of New York.