Marketing

Carlos Acosta:
Myths and
Modern Masters

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Carlos Acosta is one of the most celebrated dancers of his generation, with a career spanning some of the world’s leading stages and dance companies.

HDK works with Carlos on an ongoing basis, managing his Facebook and Instagram channels, engaging with his online community, and connecting his social media activity with the work of Birmingham Royal Ballet, Acosta Danza and the venues he performs at.

Most recently, we led the creative campaign for Myths and Modern Masters, Carlos’s five-performance return to the Royal Opera House Main Stage, alongside guest dancers from Birmingham Royal Ballet and Acosta Danza.

Main photo: Johan Persson

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Carlos Acosta: Myths and Modern Masters - Paid ads on social media

The challenge

With five performances at the Royal Opera House, the campaign needed to build excitement around Carlos’s return to the Main Stage and help sell tickets.

The programme brought together a varied mix of classic and contemporary works, involving dancers from different companies. We needed a campaign identity that could bring the programme together, while making the most of Carlos’s own profile and following.

There were also several organisations and channels to consider. As well as creating content for Carlos’s social media, we needed to coordinate with Birmingham Royal Ballet and Acosta Danza and produce creative for the external media agency to use across paid digital and out-of-home advertising.

Photo: Helen Maybanks

Carlos Acosta: Myths and Modern Masters - Royal Opera House

The solution

We started by developing a visual identity for Myths and Modern Masters, using bold production photography and a consistent typographic treatment to give the campaign a recognisable look across different formats.

For social media, we complemented the campaign artwork with more informal content featuring Carlos in the rehearsal room. This included interviews, rehearsal footage and short-form video, giving audiences the chance to hear from Carlos directly and see the work taking shape ahead of the performances.

The campaign identity was then adapted across a wide range of formats, from organic social and Meta advertising to animated HTML5 display ads and out-of-home placements across London. Throughout the campaign, we managed Carlos’s social channels, sharing content and engaging with his community as anticipation built around the performances, while coordinating activity with various stakeholders.

How we did it

Visual identity developed for Myths and Modern Masters and adapted across the campaign.

Ongoing management of Carlos Acosta’s Facebook and Instagram channels.

Social media content planning and creation throughout the campaign.

Interviews, rehearsal footage and short-form video created with Carlos.

Content coordination with Birmingham Royal Ballet and Acosta Danza.

Creative assets designed and adapted across Meta advertising formats.

Animated HTML5 display ads produced for Google advertising.

Out-of-home creative produced for use across London.

Carlos Acosta: Myths and Modern Masters. Facebook reel
Carlos Acosta: Myths and Modern Masters

The results

Myths and Modern Masters played to near-capacity audiences across its five-performance run at the Royal Opera House.

Across the campaign period, Carlos’s Facebook and Instagram channels generated more than 2.4 million organic views and almost 100,000 engagements, while his combined following grew by more than 10,000.

The rehearsal content performed particularly well. A Facebook Reel of Carlos rehearsing Christopher Bruce’s Rooster received more than 560,000 organic views and almost 15,000 engagements.

Nuts & bolts

Campaign identity
We developed a recognisable look for Myths and Modern Masters, combining production photography with a consistent typographic treatment. The creative was designed to work at very different scales, from social and digital advertising through to large-format out-of-home placements.

Social content
Alongside the campaign artwork, we created interviews, rehearsal footage and short-form video with Carlos. Shot in the rehearsal room and edited for social, this gave the campaign a more immediate side and provided content for both organic and paid activity.

Animated HTML5 advertising
We designed and built animated HTML5 display ads for Google in a range of formats, using the same visual treatment as the wider campaign.

Multi-channel creative
Campaign assets were adapted for organic social, Meta advertising, Google Display and out-of-home placements, with paid creative supplied to the external media agency responsible for media planning and placement.

2.4m+

Organic social views

99k+

Organic engagements

10k+

New followers during the campaign

560k+

Organic views on a single rehearsal reel

5

Near-capacity performances at the Royal Opera House

Carlos Acosta on Instagram

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