Continuing Conversations: Marketing a World Premiere
You’ve had the conversations with the artistic team. You understand the why. Now the hard part: marketing a world premiere.
We’ve all worked with creators whose vision changes and evolves, leaving the marketer in a difficult place to sell it. This happened earlier in my career as a dancer, when a choreographer was making a new Firebird, and gave the marketer a list of visual inspiration elements that would be present in the piece. This list was used to render a billboard targeting new audiences. Through the creative process the elements on that list got nixed, but the billboard was already up. The marketer was left with assets that were no longer relevant.
HOW DO WE WORK ADAPTIVELY, BUT ALSO NOT WASTE VALUABLE DOLLARS?
GET TO THE SOUL
You can encourage the creative to talk about the “soul of the work” (the part that won’t change no matter what) or their particular creative process (or artist statement). This will be their guiding force as they create something completely new. Are you doing a new Swan Lake? What’s the one new take that this version will bring? Or you can focus on what the choreographer has created in the past to remind audiences of the artistic lens that may come with this work.
Show Audiences More than You WanT TO
Think of the movie trailers that get you excited to go buy a ticket. Or the summary on a book jacket. The good ones don’t give the plot away, but they do spell out a good portion of the plot and action so you feel motivated to make a purchase. We need to do the same. Audiences will not be curious from one still image or a 10 sec clip. While we want to be protective of the art, if no one is in the audience to see it, what are we protecting it for?
KEEP CHECKING IN
As a choreographer, I have walked into a studio on Monday thinking the piece is about one thing, and walked out on Friday with a different interpretation. Art is supposed to do this. So don’t be afraid to establish checkpoints to stay up to date. If you don’t have access to the creative director, check in with the other artists, costume/set designers, other people who are also bringing their vision to life.
SIT IN A REHEARSAL
There is so much to discover by watching one rehearsal. I used to CRAVE someone from marketing coming to see the hard work we were putting into the creative process. Their absence fueled a disconnection. Why miss out on the chance to get a first glimpse, see how the work has evolved, be a test audience, and provide genuine reactions? Investigate what’s getting you excited and channel that into the messaging. Your insight is valid and necessary.
IN PRACTICE
Marketing a world premiere will always require a balance of flexibility, intuition, and structure. When we stay close to the creative process (its soul, its shifts, its surprises) we earn the insights we need to shape compelling campaigns without wasting precious time or dollars. And when we root those insights in real audience behavior, we build a bridge between what’s being created in the studio and what audiences will show up to experience.
If you’re looking for inspiration on how these principles translate into practice, take a look at how CI elevated Ballet Arizona’s mixed-rep program—including a world premiere—with smart creative positioning and strategic digital channel choices.
World premieres ask a lot of us as marketers—but they also offer rare opportunities to invite audiences into something new, meaningful, and rooted in artistic evolution.
