When Pavilion Dance South West came to our creative marketing agency to help plan and brand the “Out of this World” festival, we were so thrilled, so much so our creative director instantly jumped on his bike (cycling to save the planet of course!) and hit the town centre to begin a brainstorm session. 

They approached our Bournemouth design studio with plans to bring their festival to life, a brief which we delivered on (and then some)!

This festival includes an eclectic mix of dance performances, coupled with interactive dance events, scattered around Bournemouth, Christchurch, and Poole.

The Inspiration 

The headline acts for Out of this World were Future Cargo (a sci-fi dance show performed in a 40-foot haulage truck) and Geophonic (a dance act using Geophones that’s inspired by how geology affects our landscape), these acts are unique and abstract. 

Pavilion Dance South West saw the event as a dance takeover, and so the name “Out of this World” was born. Inspired by their headline act’s otherworldly-ness. To portray the ethereal performances, and the brainstorming session conducted we felt it was only right to go with a futuristic sci-fi marketing angle.

We love anything out of the ordinary here at CuCo Creative, so our design was ‘giant’ inspired. Drawing on inspiration from the classic TV show Land of the Giants and the Rolling Stones music video “Love Is Strong”.

How did you portray futurism in print?

We’re glad you asked! The design of the posters was inspired by sci-fi, we displayed this by making an otherwise bright Bournemouth look dark, gloomy, and ominous as if aliens had come to take over and join your seaside picnic. 

The dancers from Geophonic and Future Cargo were blown up to giant proportions on our poster designs and placed around the most famous parts of Bournemouth, where the dancers were also performing. These dancers in eccentric costumes were blown up to huge proportions to convey how “Out of this World” these performances would be, it’s not every day you see a 600ft alien-looking dancer hanging around Bournemouth Pier. 

We made a variety of different posters using different photos of the dancers to advertise the event so that everyday pedestrians could see the variety of dance performances being shown.

As part of our marketing strategy, the poster designs were glitchy and robotic to exhibit the futuristic theme and make it seem like the 600ft dancers themselves are interfering with the signal. 

Posters on other planets?

Not quite. Bigbelly bins! Pavilion Dance South West purchased advertising space on Bigbelly bins,  these bins are scattered all around the Bournemouth and Dorset areas. This made a very effective marketing space, as it always feels like you’re looking for a bin in Bournemouth! 

Our poster designs were blown up to A0 size and displayed outside Pavilion Dance South West, with each poster only using one of the words from “Out of this World”, this was so pedestrians walking past from afar could notice the “Out of this World” festival. 

This represents quite a literal takeover, though not in a “Mars Attacks!” way, as a mixture of different dancers were coming to town.  

A marketing campaign as hot as Mars  

Not only did Pavilion Dance South West love our creative marketing campaign, but it also generated a buzz in Bournemouth through its impactful design. The creative campaign would be recognised for local business award entries, with results to follow.  

Not to blow our own Geophone (which would be difficult because it’s not a trumpet) we think this is an “Out of this World” campaign!