I had the opportunity to work closely with UniverSoul Circus when they returned to the Cincinnati market after more than five years away due to historically poor ticket performance. Despite significant media spending in previous runs, they had not achieved the return on investment needed to sustain a presence in the market.
Together with our sales and programming teams, I participated in initial strategy discussions with their leadership to identify where past efforts had fallen short — and how a more structured approach could change the outcome. Ultimately, a revenue-share was suggested to help ensure our efforts were all aligned.
Strategy & Leadership
It became clear that prior campaigns suffered from fragmented planning and sporadic promotion. To address this, we shifted toward consistency and accountability.
I was assigned project lead and single point of contact, responsible for:
- Building a unified, detailed marketing plan
- Coordinating a multi-month paid campaign schedule
- Managing on-air and on-site promotional logistics
- Maintaining daily communication with circus management
- Overseeing event activations and deliverables
- Supporting discount and promotional strategy execution
Because the client organization had complex internal coordination needs, much of my work involved continuous alignment — via phone, email, and in-person meetings — to ensure every piece of the campaign stayed on track.
Execution & Results
The campaign combined frequency-driven paid placement, structured promotions, and community engagement activities leading up to opening night. Even with challenging weather (an unexpected storm-front) impacting the launch, the outcome was significant:
- 63% increase in ticket sales
- Over $100,000 in additional revenue generated
- Profitable outcomes for both the circus and our organization
- Additional revenue created through third-party sponsorship integrations
Our performance was so outside of expectations that the client paid us more than was contractually required to help ensure we would agree to do the same for their next visit to the market.
Why This Project Mattered
This engagement demonstrated the value of disciplined planning, centralized coordination, and consistent messaging — particularly for organizations that had previously relied on disconnected promotional tactics.
By acting as both strategist and operational liaison, I helped transform the campaign into a structured partnership rather than a collection of individual promotions. The result was a measurable business impact and a strengthened relationship between media, sponsors, and client.
It remains a strong example of how focused coordination and accountability can turn marketing investment into real performance.
