BRIGADE elevates Audience Rewards through official Tony Awards Challenge
As an extension of our long-term partnership with Audience Rewards, we designed an interactive website and suite of digital assets for the 2019 Official Tony Awards Challenge. The official promotion — sponsored by Audience Rewards in partnership with the American Theatre Wing, Tony Award Productions, and the Broadway League — gives theater fans the chance to earn free Broadway tickets for an entire year if they correctly guess the winners at this year’s ceremony, hosted by James Corden and aired live on Sunday, June 9 on CBS.
2019 is the second year of the Official Tony Awards Challenge, a chance for the Tony Awards and Audience Rewards to reach new theater enthusiasts and further build upon an esteemed reputation in the performing arts industry. Our collaboration provided us a chance to increase awareness of Audience Rewards and elevate the overall aesthetic of the Tony Awards Challenge.
The elegant interactive website includes an interactive ballot that invites players to choose the winners from this year’s talented pool of Tony Award nominees. Correctly guessing all 26 awards categories — best play, performances, etc. — earns a participant the grand prize of free Broadway tickets for a year.
The online game also encouraged engagement by incentivizing participants to form “leagues” to submit their guesses. Every league formed earned players additional entries to potentially win tickets to the 2020 Tony Awards dress rehearsal and an autographed 2019 Tony Awards poster.
In addition to the interactive ballot website itself, we also created all assets for Audience Rewards to promote the Tony Awards Challenge; including social media posts, digital content for media buys, and email marketing materials — including a promotional takeover on Broadway Briefing, the must-read newsletter that reaches some of the most influential professionals and thought leaders in the theater industry. The aspirational aesthetic of the creative suits the glamour of Broadway’s biggest night, while building on the Audience Rewards brand.
“The Tony Awards Challenge gave us a chance to take Audience Rewards to the next level,” said Hali Miller, Senior Creative at BRIGADE. “We are thrilled to help Audience Rewards cultivate a successful history with Broadway and performing arts lovers, and injecting their brand style into this challenge allowed us to give them a well-deserved spotlight at every touchpoint for being the official partner to the most respected awards show in theater.”
To heighten excitement leading up to the awards ceremony, Audience Rewards offered incentives such as additional ShowPoints for submitting ballots early. Up to five winners will receive the grand prize, and their year of free Broadway tickets will be distributed as redeemable vouchers through the Audience Rewards platform.
We’ve been happy to continue a multiyear partnership with Audience Rewards. Our earlier work with the brand included a complete visual identity refresh and website update; and creative for promotional presale and advanced access, a VIP membership program, short-run seasonal programs, member onboarding, targeted email and digital campaigns, and Audience Rewards’ 10-year anniversary gala. Through every touchpoint, the Audience Rewards story unfolds, positioning the brand as the premier portal for exciting performing arts experiences.
Ballots for the 2019 Official Tony Awards Challenge closed on Sunday, June 9, at 2:00pm ET. The 73rd Annual Tony Awards aired that evening at 8:00pm ET.
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