Lore

The Gaillard Center – For Everything. For Everyone.

Charleston is gearing up for a major cultural moment. In Fall 2015, the renovated Gaillard Center will re-open its doors to the community to reveal a world-class performance hall, an expanded exhibition hall, public spaces and city offices. It was designed and built to be an inspired gathering place for the whole community – whether you’re enjoying a show, attending a conference, participating in an educational program or just pulling a permit. Among all that it has to offer, the fact that it’s designed for daily, multi-purpose use is the coolest in my book.

We’ve been working with the Gaillard Performance Hall Foundation team and Gaillard Center team to develop marketing programs and materials to support the project. It all began back in 2013 with early fundraising campaign materials that helped build a case for the need and donor support. In more recent months we’ve launched a variety “functional” materials that help drive the day-to-day marketing for the venues and programs (look for an upcoming blog post on those efforts).

To complement the early fundraising and operations efforts, we recently launched a community campaign to build grassroots awareness and energy around the new facility, its programming, and its impact on Charleston-area residents and businesses. The campaign launched in late September and will run all the way to opening night.

We started this campaign with our usual first step…diving into interviews, surveys, benchmarks, tours and more to hone in on the central premise behind the brand. And then we pivoted and articulated that premise through a brand story and design platform. The theme is “The Center for Everything. For Everyone.” – reflecting the diverse nature of the experiences and audiences. In many ways the Gaillard Center is a focal point of all that’s happening in Charleston today (arts, business, education, etc.).

Here’s a look at the core story:

2 Gaillard Center Story

To bring all this to life, we asked actual residents to share their perspectives on what the new Gaillard Center means to them and the community and reflect on their own arts experiences and influences. Each month the stories will rollout through the campaign website interviews, videos, the Post and Courier, and social media. Here’s a look some of the screens from the website developed by Nic, Bennett, Jenny, Jake, David, Greg and the Gaillard team. Props to them all.

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Gaillard Center Stories

Sara Clow page

If you’d like to share your story, drop us a line and let’s talk. And tune in each month to hear what other Charlestonians have to say. If you’re so inclined, the website makes it easy for anyone to make a monetary contribution to the building. The significant cost of the building project means that a portion of the funds needs to come from the wider community, and now’s the time.

And lastly, a important note about the Post and Courier’s role in this effort. From the start they stepped up to partner in the campaign, and we’ve collaborated with their team on every aspect of the program. We’re immensely thankful for all their help, guidance and smarts, and hop over to their website and/or pick up a paper to see how the stories are being featured in their channels (sponsored content, ads, email, video, social and more). Here are a few examples of that goodness:

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9 GC PandC Print Ad

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More to come as we gear up for the opening night and ongoing events, and hope you’re as excited about the new Center as we are. A one-of-a-kind arts center for our one-of-a-kind city.