D+ ImproV
Improv troupe event and social media marketing
D+ Improv is Drake University’s best, and only, improv troupe. The student lead organization hosts live shows and performs at other events on campus. I spent three years on the organization’s executive council, two as the marketing director and one as the vice-president.
MY ROLE
As marketing director, I produced all promotional material for the troupe. I created posters for shows, content for social media, facilitated communication with outside organizations, and gave input on general troupe affairs as a leader. This role required constant communication and decision making with the rest of the executive council.
EXPRESSING THE BRAND
D+ Improv's greatest strength is its people, so I built much of our branding around the personalities of our performers. Featuring troupe members in our marketing helped create a more approachable identity while celebrating the community behind each show.
SHOW POSTERS
The main role of the marketing director was to create promotional material for our live shows hosted on campus throughout the semester. This involved creating physical posters and social media posts to increase our reach.
Planning and Brainstorming:
To start each poster, I typically met with the rest of the executive council to discuss themes or preferences for the upcoming show. I had a lot of creative freedom, so it was up to me to come up with ideas to create something exciting.
Photoshoots:
For most posters I included images of troupe members to be the focus. I scheduled and organized photoshoots with our members and took the photos myself.
Iterations:
Once I had photos and a theme I began iterations on the design of the poster. This involved finding inspiration, sketching layouts, and creating custom typographic elements to include.
Final Designs:
Before finalizing a design, I got confirmation from the executive council to make sure everything is consistent. I then prepared files for campus printers and adapted each design for social media.
OTHER PROJECTS AND DUTIES
Along with main show posters, it was also my duty to communicate to outside organizations through email and social media. I was responsible for being a point of contact for the troupe, and creating promotional material for other events as needed.
Brocal Chords Collaboration Show:
One of the largest events I led promotional material for was a collaboration event between two live performance student organizations. Coordinating promotion for such a large event was challenging, and required thorough communication and leadership skills to organize filming and photo shoot days.
I successfully learned new video and audio editing software to create multiple forms of content. My ability to collaborate and adapt allowed for effective promotion of the event.
The second half of the collaboration show special promo video.
Static Website:
During my own free time, I created a static website for our troupe. I developed the layout, color scheme, and fonts by what values the organization displays. I gathered images from my collection that I had taken during live shows and added them to the website to focus on our members for a personal feel.
REFLECTION
My time in positions of leadership on D+ has helped me grow in my skills in so many ways. It has given me time to explore and hone my technical skills while also pushing me to further my personable ones as well. My confidence, communication, time management, and ability to work under pressure were all refined in this role.