Arena Stage’s Revitalized Brand Continues to Perform
With the launch of a new website, America’s first regional theater makes deeper audience inroads
San Diego, CA, February 15, 2002—Building on a highly successful brand revitalization, Arena Stage—one of the most prestigious
regional theaters in the United States—is launching a new website. Located at www.arenastage.org, the site is the creative work of
San Diego-based Mires, one of the West’s fastest growing brand consulting and strategic design firms. Expanding on the theater’s
recent renaissance, the website will attract and retain a widening audience of theatergoers and donors.
“Arena Stage’s success and heritage are built around a passion and commitment to excellence,” said Scott Mires, a principal of Mires.
“Our goal was to continue telling that story without changing the brand’s existing vocabulary. We needed to capture the emotion and
surprise inherent in the Arena brand and bring it to life online.”
“The Web allows you to tell a deeper, more meaningful story than any other media—it allows you to personalize the brand experience in
a more compelling way,” added Mires. “Arena's new site will leverage the theater's existing equity and take the brand to the next
stage of its evolution.”
During its 1999 season, Arena Stage embarked on a brand revitalization spearheaded by Mires. Since then, Arena Stage has experienced a
revival in all areas of its business. In the highly competitive Washington D.C. theater market, Arena Stage has seen attendance increase
20%, donations rise 60% and subscriptions hit a 15-year high.
The extensive campaign for Arena Stage—ranging from an organizational identity to marketing collateral, advertising and direct mail—has
created powerful brand continuity and opened up new opportunities for communicating the brand to D.C. audiences.
“We’re doing something unheard of in theater and, for the most part, the non-profit sector. Our brand has become an institutional priority,”
said Stephen Richard, executive director of Arena Stage. “We’re using our brand to bring the Arena Stage story to life. It’s exciting. And it’s working.”
“Like every good drama, a good brand is relevant. It is believable. It is memorable. And it is engaging. It appeals to our emotions and
relates to our experience,” concluded Maggie Boland, communications director of Arena Stage. “The new website will become one of the most
important touch points for the theater and the brand by allowing people to interact and connect with us on a more personal level than ever before.”
About MiresBall
Founded in 1984, MiresBall is one of the largest independent brand design agencies in Southern California. A trusted partner of leading national and global brands, MiresBall creates market differentiation by bringing together two powerful ideas—lifestyle and innovation. The agency’s expertise lies in developing and implementing fully integrated marketing campaigns encompassing positioning, identity development, messaging, advertising and print, packaging, tradeshow environment and Web design. For more information about MiresBall, visit www.miresball.com.
About Arena Stage
Arena Stage today stands as a flagship American theater. One of the first not-for-profit theaters
in the United States and a pioneer of the regional theater movement, our legacy of world-class productions includes vast epics, charged dramas,
rousing musicals and probing profiles. From the monumental to the developmental, Arena Stage has helped build the canon of American theater.
As the largest of the Washington, D.C. area’s not-for-profit producing theaters, Arena Stage attracts an annual audience of over 250,000
patrons and 25,000 students. For more information, visit www.arenastage.org.
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