The Arts – Case Study
Connecting Arts and Community
Houston, Texas
The Assignment
- Theater District Houston’s Open House: Annual event to signal the start of the fall performing arts season and recognize the world-class performing organizations that call Downtown Houston home.
- Carbonara Group’s role: To deliver an integrated public relations, advertising and social media campaign that raised awareness of this one-day only, free event that introduces Houstonians to a vibrant sampling of Theater District offerings and encourages early purchase to the season’s shows through specially discounted single and season ticket sales.
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The Approach
- Developed a paid advertising and digital marketing campaign targeting those interested in arts & cultural happenings, along with previous attendees and families with children in near-Downtown neighborhoods who would appreciate family-friendly arts activities for kids.
- Identified unique media opportunities, such as popular performances or visually appealing behind-the-scenes activities, to secure local media coverage in the weeks leading up to the Open House.
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Pitched photo-worthy stories about the event’s large-scale sidewalk art titled ‘Meet on the Hearts,” by Houston artist Joan Dodd as an interactive feature of this year’s Open House. Utilized the installation and hashtag to engage audiences via social media.
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Developed a social influencer campaign, featuring Converse sneakers custom designed by each of the major performing arts groups to encourage “show and tag” pre-promotion of Theater District Open House.
- Coordinated a live taping and an on-scene broadcast pop-up present for the newly launched local NPR station podcast, “Unwrap Your Candies Now,” featuring guest appearances of spokespersons from each arts organization.
The Results
The campaign garnered 82 earned media stories and mentions for pre-event day coverage, for a total of 136,867,385 impressions and a publicity value of $1.4 million.
News coverage highlights include:
- Story and photo featured with a photo on front page of the Houston Chronicle Metro section.
- Advance preview stories on the Open House and its activities placed in the Houston Chronicle, Houston Press, Downtown Magazine, Houston Public Media (News 88.7), CultureMap, Houstonia Magazine, KHOU-TV, KIAH-TV, Univision, KPRC-TV and KTRK-TV.
- 40+ social media mentions of #MeetOnTheHearts to promote Joan Dodd’s installation, and several TV mentions of the installation.
