Clients, Projects & Partners
Here’s a taste of some Impakt projects since 2019, with arts clients ranging from household names to growing dance companies.
We’ve also advised charities in education, housing and sport, and supported some local businesses during the pandemic. Plus: a few other project partners we’ve been delighted to work alongside in recent times.
Sheffield Theatres
The world famous home of the Crucible, Lyceum and Playhouse Theatres. Deep review of current and non-attending audiences along with stakeholder opinion survey as part of business plan review and brand development.
“With our ‘Big Listen’ project we wanted to get a detailed understanding of what attenders, non-attenders and stakeholders thought of Sheffield Theatres. We worked with Rob to do just that, and tracked sales data alongside feedback about all aspects of our organisation to give us a deeper sense of where we are now. What we discovered will underpin our long-term strategy, help us to communicate our ambitions and give us a baseline to measure future success.”
Tom Bird, CEO sheffieldtheatres.co.uk
Belgrade Theatre, Coventry
Brand-tracking survey and competitor analysis, providing support for future positioning and messaging plans. Stakeholder review of senior voices assessing plans for long-term changes, staff consultations on development opportunities, tone-of-voice workshops and copywriting review. Full rebrand design support (brief-writing, agency selection etc) plus launch event planning.
Jerwood Arts
Brand voice review, copywriting and naming for investment funds and project reports.
“Working with Rob on our tone of voice and copywriting style was brilliant – good to have so many fresh ideas to work with. It was REALLY illuminating, and though our initial reaction was quite defensive, we’ve come round to recognising the gains we could make through a revised style and tone. The process was full of useful frameworks and reminders. Rob’s push to improve how we write about what we do has been very helpful in revising some of our language as we launch our new website, simplifying our grant application guidance and naming some new projects. We’re really happy with where we’ve got to. Change is hard!”
Lilli Geissendorfer, Director jerwoodarts.org
Birmingham Festival 23
Marketing and comms campaign developed over six months to showcase city talent at this free 10-day festival marking the Commonwealth Games anniversary. Strategic planning including budgeting, scheduling and commissioning design, copywriting and print; photography and video; outdoor, radio and digital advertising. Working with freelancers, agencies and consultants; promotional partners, funders and sponsors.
153 performances (including 40 new works), 800+ performers and creatives, 185 partner organisations, and estimated audience of over 120,000.
Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford
Audience intelligence review, brand-tracking survey and strategic advice for future positioning and messaging.
“Impakt helped us take a fresh look at our current bookers compared to the wider non-attending potential audience not on our database – the hardest ones to understand. Rob’s invaluable work will be critical in helping us adapt how we position our offer and get our key messages across if we’re to grow an even wider customer base for the future.”
Joanna Read, Director & CEO yvonne-arnaud.co.uk
Royal Court Theatre
Sounding-board and planning support for Marketing Director.
“Rob’s insight, experience and advice has proved really useful in getting a handle on all the changes we’ve been through this year. Planning longer term how we communicate our wider brand values… is so important as we rebuild audience confidence.”
Holly Conneely, Marketing Director, Royal Court Theatre
Lichfield Garrick
Qualitative audience research, competitor tracker, and advocacy survey for strategic future planning at this 600-seat theatre in one the UK’s most picturesque cathedral cities.
“Reviewing our business plan, we needed to discover what partners, audiences, and non-attenders really wanted from us, and where we should focus our resources most effectively. Rob took us through a strategic consultation process asking probing questions about future direction so we could formulate a plan based on hard intelligence rather than intuition or out-of-date thinking. We’re building a confident brand that knows where it’s going.”
Daniel Buckroyd, Artistic Director and Chief Executive lichfieldgarrick.com
Birmingham Hippodrome
Advocacy support, pricing review, Annual Report (copywriting and production), supporting capital plans, evaluation framework, Fundraising Gala event planning.
Cheltenham Festivals
Strategic support for marketing/comms planning and campaigns.
Aberdeen Performing Arts
Brand tone-of-voice review, copywriting support, plus marketing planning for shows and catering at His Majesty’s Theatre, The Music Hall and The Lemon Tree in the sparkling Granite City of the far North East.
“Rob supported us with practical changes to our promotions, our brand voice and future planning at a busy time of uncertainty. The insights he’s provided from audience and stakeholder research have enhanced our perspective on future strategic direction, hopefully enabling us to articulate our story better and track progress. You just can’t make proper plans without knowing this stuff.”
Jane Spiers, Chief Executive, aberdeenperformingarts.com
Grand Opera House Belfast
Strategic marketing advice and scheduling review.
“Rob helped us understand some scheduling challenges, particularly with daytime audiences for matinees. It was useful to see the wider picture and get a better appreciation of similar problems facing other venues. We feel better equipped to start addressing this as we reboot our brand.”
Simon Goldrick, Head of Marketing & Sales, Belfast Grand Opera House
Birmingham Ormiston Academy
Perception survey and new brand guidelines.
“We’ve really listened to our stakeholders and taken time to look at how we communicate some exciting changes. Rob has helped us find a disciplined and strategic balance between consistency and creativity which is key if we are going to get all our messages across successfully.”
Gaynor Cheshire, CEO, Birmingham Ormiston Academy (BOA)
Coventry UK City of Culture 2021
Interim lead on Comms/PR supporting in-house marketing, production and fundraising teams alongside national and regional agencies. Worked closely with media teams at Arts Council, City Council, DCMS and other funders to put Coventry’s mass public events in the public eye.
“The final few months of the City of Culture were amongst the busiest of a very unpredictable year for a huge team. We needed interim senior Comms support fast, and Rob stepped in ready to go. His decades of regional knowledge, calm creativity, and quick understanding of the challenges helped us pull it all together. And the resulting front page news told Coventry’s story brilliantly.”
Martin Sutherland OBE, Chief Executive, Coventry UK City of Culture 2021
Tixly Ticketing
Industry perception surveys for strategic business development support.
“We worked with Rob to get a fresh and honest perspective on the needs and concerns of the UK market. The detailed feedback and insight has been so useful as we grow our presence here, extending our successful European operation.”
Patrick Morsman, Sales & Operations, UK & IR https://tixly.com/
ExtraCare Housing
Fundraising training and strategy review.
“Thanks for getting us all to appreciate that fundraising is intrinsically linked to our overall brand.”
Henriette Lyttle, ExtraCare Charitable Trust
Dance Woking
Perception surveys, business development and brand strategy.
“Impakt helped us address our vulnerabilities, galvanise our board, and reorientate our messaging with renewed confidence.”
Sam McCaffrey, Dance Woking
Birmingham Repertory Theatre
Marketing support, brand review, campaign planning, perception surveys, audience research. The new brand went on to win Gold in the Graphis Design Annual Awards 2024 in New York.
“Following a deep perception review, plus audience surveys, planning advice and sessions with the wider team, Impakt helped create the brief to appoint an excellent design agency as we continue to reinvent what a future Rep can be. Rob’s understanding of the commercial and artistic balance, and his experience across marketing, PR and fundraising has been really beneficial for us.”
Rachael Thomas, Executive Director, Birmingham Rep
CORE Education Trust
Design review, new brand guidelines and website (delivered with Luke Tonge Studio and Glass Design); establishment of new Foundation.
“Rob understood our challenges quickly, came up with some creative solutions, and encouraged us to expand our plans. I’d recommend Rob if you are looking for creative and practical solutions to any marketing or brand challenge.”
Adrian Packer CBE, CEO Core Education Trust
DanceXchange (Dance Hub Birmingham)
New brand and launch.
“Rob is great to work with. He gets to the heart of the matter and has a great knack for distilling the complex into the readable and understandable!”
Debbie Jardine, CEO, DanceXchange
St George’s Bristol
Strategy planning, perception survey, audience review, new website copy support.
“Alongside a new website build, we made time to review wider stakeholder opinions which fed into a review of our look and feel. Rob pushed us with some good, probing questions and just got it. Impakt’s work has helped us improve our wider brand communications plan and make better strategic connections for the future.”
Verity Slater, St George’s Bristol
Midlands Arts Centre
Board awayday, fundraising and anniversary planning.
“Huge thanks for a splendid session, I got great feedback from the Board over the weekend, you pitched it perfectly, I’m very grateful.”
Debbie Kermode, CEO, Midlands Arts Centre (mac)
People Make It Work
Change Creation, Culture Reset, advising on brand strategy and future planning.
peoplemakeitwork.com
Rose Design & Words Direct
“Collaborating with Rob continues to be an energising and entirely positive experience. Like us, he is constantly looking to realise the potential in the briefs he writes and organisations he advises, and to exceed expectations in the process.”
Simon Elliott, Partner, Rose Design
Leicester Haymarket
Business planning and audience research.
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Arts Marketing Association/UK Theatre
Training on shared marketing challenges for producers, venues and agencies.
Arts Fundraising & Philanthropy
Training and feature writing for this Cause 4 programme.
The Jointworks
Copywriting, promotions and membership strategy.
“Impakt clarified our unique offer in a competitive new sector – the enquiries started almost immediately”
University of Sheffield
Sheffield Performer & Audience Research Centre (SPARC): marketing and copywriting training.
Cameron Mackintosh Ltd
“Working with Rob and his team – whether on Mary Poppins, Les Miserables, The Lion King, or the Mathew Bourne programme – was always enjoyable. His audience knowledge, pricing and communication skills, and the way he projected the Hippodrome brand, ensured strong box office results for us every time.”
Robert Noble, Managing Director, Cameron Mackintosh Ltd
Baker Richards
“The way Rob applied what was learnt alongside the Hippodrome’s wider brand and communications strategy gave it the best chance of success, generating considerable additional value over the last decade.”
Tim Baker, Founder, Baker Richards
Dance Consortium
“No matter the marketing or repertoire challenge, Dance Consortium tours to the Hippodrome were always treated with the same degree of enthusiasm, creativity and intelligence as other larger touring shows. Rob and his knowledgeable team were tenacious and diligent, encouraging both crossover audiences and first-timers to make new artistic discoveries.”
Ros Robins, Executive Director, Dance Consortium