Considered strategy. Confident storytelling.

THE CHALLENGE

Hit ambitious audience and revenue targets across subscriber retention, upsell, acquisition - and then fill houses again with single ticket buyers.

THE SCOPE

National subscription seasons across Melbourne and Sydney (five productions annually), additional major city seasons, plus a regional tour with The Australian Ballet School.

End-to-end campaign development:

• Concept. Creative direction. Cross-channel rollout.

• Organic + paid media planning spanning direct mail, TVCs, print, and OOH - translating brand prestige into ticket sales momentum.

THE SCENARIO (Pre-Digital Era)

This was before dashboards and real-time attribution.

ROI meant Excel spreadsheets.

You watched daily ticket sales climb as each channel landed - direct mail drop, TVC launch, print hit the stands.

Phase one: lock in loyal subscribers early and strong.

Phase two: pivot to single ticket buyers - especially in Sydney, where the Sydney Opera House meant tourists, premium pricing, and a completely different buying psychology.

Strategy wasn’t automated. It was observed, adjusted, and instinctively timed.

PROFESSIONAL ROI

This role sharpened my strengths in:

• Strategic campaign architecture.

• Loyalty marketing.

• Story-led creative development.

• Media agency management.

• High-value partnership alignment.

• Creative briefing and complex print production.

And perhaps most importantly - how to build sustained revenue in a live performance environment where every seat counts.

Marketing a bold, human-only circus across Australia - where creativity had no limits and every idea needed to stick the landing.

THE CHALLENGE

Circus Oz was unlike any other touring production: contemporary, political, proudly animal-free and deeply collaborative. The task was to drive ticket sales across a national and international tour - launching in Melbourne’s harsh winter under the Big Top - while also building awareness and participation in a diverse workshop program. This all took place in a competitive entertainment landscape, including going head-to-head with major global acts like Cirque du Soleil entering the Melbourne market for the first time.

THE SCOPE

As Marketing Director, I led the promotion of the full touring program, with responsibility for achieving box office targets and workshop KPIs.

The role spanned:

• strategy development

• campaign ideation and execution

• media buying across TV, radio, out-of-home and print

• PR

• partnership development

• merchandise development

A key focus was working closely with national and international venues to ensure Circus Oz’s iconic brand was consistently represented across all channels. The remit also extended to supporting a comprehensive circus skills workshop program for all ages, including corporate offerings that pushed participants well beyond their comfort zones.

THE TWIST (Pre-Digital Era)

This was not a desk-bound marketing role. It meant stepping into the spotlight - whether hula hooping live on a national breakfast show or acting as an on-the-ground reporter in remote Kununurra to capture a community workshop when no media crew was available. The campaign environment demanded agility, creativity and a willingness to embody the brand at every touchpoint.

One standout moment included partnering with Melbourne’s Metcard system, placing Circus Oz on the back of millions of transport cards - while still delivering strong ticket sales during direct competition with Cirque du Soleil.

PROFESSIONAL ROI

This role sharpened my ability to balance creativity with commercial outcomes, and to lead campaigns that were both strategically sound and culturally resonant. It strengthened my confidence to step outside traditional marketing boundaries, adapt quickly in unpredictable environments, and collaborate across diverse stakeholders -from performers and venues to media and community groups. Most of all, it reinforced the value of bold ideas backed by clear strategy - and the impact of truly living the brand you represent.

Starting my own agency has meant a lot of things. New challenges, new freedoms, and unexpectedly, a chance to look back on a career built across some of Australia's most respected entertainment marketing teams.

Across my agency years I worked with two of Australia's leading specialists in live entertainment, attractions and performing arts - Millmaine and Mollison Communications. Projects included the inaugural Spiegelworld activation at the Australian Open's live entertainment village (even though the balloon striptease was banned) and delivering campaigns for Cirque du Soleil, Frontier Touring Chugg Entertainment, Bohm Presents...and too many clients to mention here.

But one campaign still stands out as the toughest brief I've worked and one of the most rewarding.

THE CHALLENGE

Shane Warne the Musical arrived with a marketing problem before a single ticket went on sale: how do you sell a musical to cricket fans, and a controversial cricketer's life story to musical theatre audiences? Two markets with almost no natural overlap.

There was also a very real commercial risk attached. Warne's team could have stopped the production at any stage if the producer and writer didn't handle its subject with care.

What made it work was this would be a warts-and-all telling of Warne's story, told with honesty rather than caricature. That commitment gave us something authentic to sell and something worth defending.

THE STRATEGY

As the marketing and PR agency, our job was twofold:

• Reach Shane Warne's audience wherever they consumed media (sports press, talkback, mainstream news) not just the arts pages

• Reinforce Eddie Perfect's reputation as a serious, celebrated musical theatre performer in his own right, giving theatre audiences a reason to trust the production

• The campaign had to bridge two completely different audience mindsets and convince each that this show was made for them.

THE RESULT

Opening night delivered the moment that proved the strategy had worked: Shane Warne walked on stage during curtain call to a genuinely rapturous response from an audience that, on paper, should never have fully existed.

It's a campaign I still draw on when thinking about how to market something that doesn't fit neatly into one category - because the audience isn't always where the obvious brief says it is.

Looking for a marketing partner to find the audience your brand doesn't obviously have? Let's talk.

Video credit: Eddie Perfect