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Shaw Arts Walk
A new arts & culture experience in the heart of historic Shaw, Washington DC.
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The Challenge.
How do you develop a new arts & culture festival focused while empowering our local community of creators? JBG Smith wanted to ensure the new event would highlight area local businesses and residential areas - yet mindful that the Shaw area is home to a eclectic ecosystem of residents. We created the festival visual identity, messaging and digital footprint, while leveraging a keen understanding of the neighborhood culture, people and historical DNA.
Creating a Brand from Scratch
We designed a 360 creative campaign to launch the city-wide event. Our branding and logo approach was inspired by the illustrious Alma Thomas - Shaw resident, artist and community organizer. The branding and design project was divided into three phases: research, design, and implementation. In the research phase, the team conducted a thorough analysis of competitor festival's existing branding, website, and social media presence. The insights gained from the research guided the design phase, where a new brand identity, website layout, and social media strategy were developed.
DESIGN & WORSKSHOP
Print Campaigns
Taking it back to the Grassroots
This is where we rolled out our organic grassroots street team marketing plan - ensuring all the elements from our workshops came through; wheat paste, business window decals, a-frames, map handouts, flyers, paint strokes, bold color blends, inviting, warm and artistic - just like the neighborhood, just like Alama.
Digital Campaigns
Social + Paid Search
Results from our content audit and keyword research informed recommendations on what needed to be created from scratch or archived from related festivals in the Shaw area. With 50+ artists and vendors, creating an equitable strategy where all participates were showcased, required a creative approach. A mix of reels, tiktoks, social influencers, instagram and locally targeted paid search ads was paired with day-of-event video & photography capture. The festival's attendance increased by 50%, and engagement on social media doubled, resulting in a significant increase in ticket sales. The implementation phase involved the development of the website, creation of new marketing materials, and execution of the social media strategy.
Creative Development
Caandor developed the new digital presence and full interactive expression of the new brand. The Caandor project team consisted of a creative director, strategist, three designers, and two web developers. Working across digital & content strategy, design, copywriting, and web development, the Caandor team launched a completely new and mobile-responsive website that helped audiences navigate the day-of-event, drive artist sales and communicates the festivals purpose while remaining true to neighborhood’s history and core themes.
OUR IMPACT
creating impact, is no small feet
More than just foot traffic - our goals for this inaugural involved was creating longevity. Our new marketing and content campaigns turned the inaugural event site into an engagement engine.
Artist Sales
Artist surveyed reported a 45% ROI for their participation in the event - this included art/prints, merch, vendor products and donations.
Social Reach
From zero followers to 200% increase in engagement figures - our approach to successful in every facet, metric and social campaign. exceeding goals by 200%.
Area Sales
Local businesses that supported the festival saw a 25% increase in overall sales compared to non-holiday weekends and October historical sales data.
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