West Yorkshire Playhouse has a big reputation. As one of the UK's major theatre companies, the quality of its productions and the stature of its actors, sets it apart from other regional theatres. However, it had a problem that almost all artistic organisations have to face at some time - developing new audiences. Our job was to help change the organisation from thinking tactically about their marketing to behaving strategically as a brand.

The theatre had a loyal core audience and a dynamic Artistic Director & CEO in Jude Kelly. We could see how the company could do more than attract targeted audiences to specific productions – it could actually stand for something. This could help to develop audiences who are attracted to the brand, as much as the productions. We modelled our response on companies who present a varied artistic output, but who also manage to maintain values that tell us what to expect overall – like Channel 4. The brand identity programme covered all of their practical needs - season brochure & programme production, posters and a huge internal and external signage plan. Each season was announced with a dedicated campaign, with the 'Brand New' baby kicking-off the first under the new identity.

It turned out to be the perfect first image, attracting huge interest and making the brand attitude instantly clear. This became the core of their strategy – don’t just market productions to their obvious audiences, create a buzz around the season, reinstating theatre-going as a lifestyle event.

During the re-brand, Jude left to pursue her own Arts business in London. Her successor, Ian Brown embraced the process and added another dimension – popular appeal. We worked with Ian to develop ‘The Big Night Out’, a vehicle to make the experience more accessible to some of the audiences who were harder to reach.

The brand framework is now second nature to the organisation. We worked closely with the Playhouse’s talented in-house marketing and design team, and our guidelines for them focused on the ‘spirit’ of the brand, rather than a book of rules. Our work was rewarded at The Design Week Awards and at The Roses Design Awards where it received a Gold for Best Corporate Identity Programme.