Little Shop of Horrors
About Little Shop of Horrors at USF
For the 2017-18 season, the USF School of Theatre & Dance performed the musical Little Shop of Horrors for a two-week engagement on the Tampa campus. In this hilarious, sci-fi rock musical, Seymour, a down on his luck flower shop employee, discovers a new breed of plant. Little does he know that this plant’s food is human blood!
Campaign Objective
Sell at least 75% of the USF Theatre 2's 270 seats at full price.
Campaign Duration: Aug. 15, 2017 to Oct. 29, 2017
Media Outlets
Season Banners
Little Shop of Horrors was featured on two 10 ft by 13 ft banners on display outside of the Dance and Theatre 2 buildings on the USF Tampa campus. These banners raise awareness of the School of Theatre and Dance on campus, as well as inform campus visitors of upcoming stage performances. The Dance building banner is visible from the road on USF Holly Dr, while the Theatre 2 is visible to pedestrian traffic walking near the campus student hub, the Marshall Student Center.
Little Shop of Horrors was featured on two 10 ft by 13 ft banners on display outside of the Dance and Theatre 2 buildings on the USF Tampa campus. These banners raise awareness of the School of Theatre and Dance on campus, as well as inform campus visitors of upcoming stage performances. The Dance building banner is visible from the road on USF Holly Dr, while the Theatre 2 is visible to pedestrian traffic walking near the campus student hub, the Marshall Student Center.
My direct role: Collaborated with the Theatre & Dance marketing coordinator to generate concept ideas. Directed design interns on arranging the layouts for Machinal, Musical Theatre Cabaret, The Crucible, and the Dance Concerts. Created the composite artwork for Little Shop of Horrors with stock illustrations. Created the Illustration for She Kills Monsters. Designed the final banner layout.
Print calendar: 9,000 distributed
Little Shop of Horrors was featured on the back cover of the Aug-Oct 2017 edition of the quarterly print calendar for all college events because a press photo of the cast was not available at the time of publication. This piece was direct mailed to an established list of subscribers, and available at information desks across the USF campus and in tourism centers around the Tampa Bay area.
Little Shop of Horrors was featured on the back cover of the Aug-Oct 2017 edition of the quarterly print calendar for all college events because a press photo of the cast was not available at the time of publication. This piece was direct mailed to an established list of subscribers, and available at information desks across the USF campus and in tourism centers around the Tampa Bay area.
My direct role: Organized event managers to provide events and information. Planned the calendar layout. Designed the calendar spreads. Copy-edited the descriptions and provided final proofreading.
Email calendar: 8,000 reached
Little Shop of Horrors was the featured event for the School of Theatre & Dance in the October 2017 email calendar sent to subscribers around the Tampa Bay area. The Arts Monthly has an established list of subscribers interested in all events from the College of The Arts.
Little Shop of Horrors was the featured event for the School of Theatre & Dance in the October 2017 email calendar sent to subscribers around the Tampa Bay area. The Arts Monthly has an established list of subscribers interested in all events from the College of The Arts.
My direct role: Planned the calendar layout. Programmed the email template in HTML and CSS. Organized event managers for event information proofing. Provided final proofreading and distributed the email.
Email invitation: 3,200 reached
Two email invitations were sent to subscribers around the Tampa Bay area who noted a specific interest in School of Theatre & Dance events.
My direct role: Planned the email layout. Programmed the email in HTML and CSS. Provided final proofreading and distributed the email.
Two email invitations were sent to subscribers around the Tampa Bay area who noted a specific interest in School of Theatre & Dance events.
My direct role: Planned the email layout. Programmed the email in HTML and CSS. Provided final proofreading and distributed the email.
Facebook event: 6,600 reached
A Facebook event was set up as co-hosted by the School of Theatre & Dance and the College of The Arts to reach audiences among both pages and share metrics.
A Facebook event was set up as co-hosted by the School of Theatre & Dance and the College of The Arts to reach audiences among both pages and share metrics.
My direct role: Organized the project tasks for other team members. Designed the event cover. Proofread the social media event set up by the social media interns and published on Facebook.
Social media newsfeed posts: 3,500 reached
Posts to build anticipation were programmed for Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.
Posts to build anticipation were programmed for Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.
My direct role: Organized the project tasks for other team members. Copy-edited and proofread the social media post texts set up by the social media interns.
Print ads in Creative Loafing
To reach audiences interested in culture and entertainment, print ads were run in Creative Loafing. Once during the Fall Arts Preview edition, where the entire School of Theatre & Dance season was presented and a second time to advertise just the Little Shop of Horrors production.
To reach audiences interested in culture and entertainment, print ads were run in Creative Loafing. Once during the Fall Arts Preview edition, where the entire School of Theatre & Dance season was presented and a second time to advertise just the Little Shop of Horrors production.
My direct role: Designed the full page Fall Arts Preview Ad. Directed a graphic design intern to layout the Little Shop of Horrors solo ad in the style of the event poster. Copy-edited and proofread the final versions of both ads.
Community web calendars: 40 calendar entries
Event information was entered in to 40 Tampa Bay area community calendars run by small, medium and large news organizations. This medium was chosen because it has a regular audience of community members looking for arts and culture activities.
Event information was entered in to 40 Tampa Bay area community calendars run by small, medium and large news organizations. This medium was chosen because it has a regular audience of community members looking for arts and culture activities.
My direct role: Provided an image and final description text to the marketing interns responsible of calendar data entry.
Event posters: 200 posters distributed
Posters were printed for distribution across the USF Tampa campus, inside the residence halls, and at local high schools.
Posters were printed for distribution across the USF Tampa campus, inside the residence halls, and at local high schools.
My direct role: Directed a graphic design intern to layout the poster. Copy-edited the description and proofread the final piece.
Campaign Results
The musical theatre performance sold an average of 81% of seats at full price over the course of the two weeks of performances, and averaged 84% of total seats filled.
The popularity of the play helped attract news media attention, including a feature on FOX 13's Good Day.
