Pittsburgh Ballet Theater used focus groups to help develop the print ad for "Indigo in Motion." Focus group members were told that Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre would be performing a new ballet set to jazz. Without providing a great deal of detail on the production at this point in the groups, participants were asked to give their opinions regarding four potential print ads for the program. The direction was to think about their immediate reaction to and their interpretation of what the program would be like, based on the overall image projected by the individual executions.

Samples of focus group members' comments appear below each ad.

Looks too much like an ad for a classical ballet to be appropriate for a jazz-oriented performance.

 

Key dancer visual is appealing but does not communicate the jazz element.

 

Positive response but lack of jazz connection. Placement of Indigo in Motion on side is difficult to read.

 

Positive response. Strong jazz component. Dance positions show more contemporary movement.

 
 
"Focus groups told us that the most compelling image included both ballet and jazz artists, so we took the concept even further than in the mock-up ads the focus groups saw. We organized another photo shoot with Stanley Turrentine and the dancers on the set together at the same time. This resulted in the vibrant image that we finally used in print ads."

Steven Libman