portfolio

For over 45 years, CENTERSTAGE has been Baltimore's leading professional producing theater company and a pioneer in America's regional theater movement. Their smart, bold interpretations of both classic and contemporary plays and their exceptional production values have earned the theater a reputation for innovation and excellence—as well as a loyal audience—and have helped to keep professional theater alive and thriving in Maryland.

Each year, a consistently broad range of productions in two intimate performing spaces attracts highly diverse audiences of more than 100,000 people—including thousands of fiercely loyal subscriber members, many of whom have been with the theater during its entire history. Additionally, CENTERSTAGE offers a variety of dramaturgical, community, and educational programs to broaden access and enhance the theatergoing experience, earning its honorary designation as the official State Theater of Maryland.

CENTERSTAGE needed an agency to manage their online marketing efforts for the 2010 to 2011 season—within internal budget restrictions. In particular, they wanted to hit more than their core audience and get in front of people that may not be the traditional theatergoer. Using a geo-targeted paid search campaign, Planit was able to keep their phones ringing off the hook with people who were looking for events in Baltimore. We were able to track not only phone calls, but also actual ticket sales thanks to Planit Target℠, our paid search platform that optimizes search engine marketing campaigns across Google, Yahoo!, and Bing.

Planit also set up behaviorally targeted banner ads and Facebook ads to locate the core audience and increase awareness of The Wiz, which was the theater company’s largest musical production of the season. These online display ads helped CENTERSTAGE to reinforce their brand in the Baltimore area while maintaining a direct response approach to online ticket sales. This focused online advertising campaign worked in “concert” with their offline efforts, which included print, broadcast and out-of-home ads designed to hone in on the devoted followers while introducing a whole new audience to the lineup of great productions featured at CENTERSTAGE. The result was The Wiz being the highest selling show in CENTERSTAGE history.