Creative direction and rebrand for an international ballet competition

The Margot Fonteyn International Ballet Competition is the Royal Academy of Dance’s flagship annual event and it’s one of the most prestigious ballet competitions in the world, attracting the finest young dancers trained in the RAD syllabus, from around the globe.

The 2024 event was given a visual revamp, with extensive use of motion graphics in social media and a bold new look. It also functioned as a stealth launch for the new RAD brand to the widest possible audience.

The collateral extended from social animations across multiple channels and formats to a combined audience of over 700,000 – to postcards, VIP badges, t-shirts, email marketing, an 80-page event progamme, titles and lower thirds for a worldwide live stream, and large format print at both RAD premises and His Majesty’s Theatre Haymarket.

In total, the campaign was tracked to have reached over 1.6 million people globally. The large format graphics at the RAD incorporated an augmented reality experience where the dancers in the posters come to life and dance on the forecourt – bringing the art form to the local community, and contrasting new media with one of the world’s oldest, most enduring art forms.

A pair of 4 metre high posters, that when scanned on a smartphone, triggered an Augmented Reality experience via Adobe Aero. The dancers in the posters reappeared on the RAD forecourt, and danced ‘for real’ while the background animated to match brand animations across other facets of the campaign.