Branding – Bergen Performing Arts Center Challenge
How do you bring a large regional cultural center back to life after an untimely closing?
Strategy
Ritta strategized and created a wide-ranging branding and marketing campaign to transform this 80-year-old former vaudeville theater into a vibrant center of entertainment, culture and education for the North Jersey area. Start by creating a new image – from the “in-motion” waves of the logo to a sophisticated redesign of the inner lobby décor and lighting – featuring photo murals and an illuminated bar. Build an integrated marketing program, including an interactive website, an eye-catchng 24-page season brochure mailed and inserted into major newspapers, full-page ads in The New York Times and regional press, dynamic posters, colorful figurative banners on light poles throughout the city and banners across main streets, and fundraising efforts for major prospects that included intimate concerts by Tony Bennett and Marvin Hamlisch at a trustee’s estate.
Results
In its first season, over 54,000 patrons and enthusiasts attended more than 75 world-class performances of top classical, jazz, ballet, family, comedy, blues, rock and international artists. Ticket sales generated over $1,900,000, and over $2 million was raised from benefactors to help fund this non-profit’s operations. The bergenPAC brand has risen from financial ashes to become the entertainment center of the North Jersey region.
