Ross Chicago Leads New Team to Create a Brand Strategy for Ballet Chicago
Neha Mehta (BBA'09), Chandra Wiggs, Margo Ruter (BC-Mktg), Patricia Blair (BC-School Dir), Bob Bondlow (BC-Ops Mgr), Rose Quasarano, Leslie Hinchcliffe, Sandy Popick (BC-Board Pres). Not pictured: Dan Duell (BC-Artistic Dir), Anne Bommi (MBA'04) & Hugh Jedwill (MBA'04)
On April 18th, the fourth Ross-lead Taproot team kicked off a new project with Ballet Chicago. It is a Brand Strategy and Key Messages project that will run for six months. Having worked with Ballet Chicago last year on their Strategic Plan, we had already decided that BC need to position themselves as a ballet education conservatory to best leverage their strengths in their school.This year’s team includes Anne Bommi (MBA’04) as the Brand Strategist, Neha Mehta (MBA’09) as the Community Manager and Hugh Jedwill (MBA’04) as the Account Director.When it comes to BC’s branding they have classic issues with brand identity and mixed messages. At a basic level many people confuse “Ballet Chicago” with “Chicago Ballet.” In addition, many people think of ballet and dance as the same thing. Even those who consciously recognize the difference typically don’t know that the Ballanchine-style ballet training is considered the most comprehensive, modern style.The first part of the challenge is to create a Positioning Statement that Ballet Chicago can use internally to identify what space do they compete in, what they do, how they do it and what their point of difference is. Then the team will focus on Key Messsages that BC can use in communicating with their key stakeholders.
Ballet Chicago is extremely excited about the project as it comes on the heels of the Ross Student MAP project that created a Marketing Plan for their Nutcracker and Spring Repertory performances. Taken together, BC will have a strong communication plan with tight, consistent messaging. This in turn will help them define themselves in the crowded dance space of Chicago, receive more funding from donors and foundations and recruit more board members.
Ross Alumni Welcome MAP Teams to Chicago
Yesterday on an unusually hot Chicago Spring day, more than 20 people gathered at Rock Bottom Brewery to meet Ross MBA1′s who were in town working on MAP projects. The teams working with Ballet Chicago and MillerCoors met alums and talked about their projects. In addition, one of the faculty advisors for Ballet Chicago, Valerie Suslow, an Associate Dean and Professor of Business Economics and Public Policy, mingled with the students and alums. It was all business, until the Artistic Director, Dan Duell, and School Director, Patricia Blair of Ballet Chicago showed. They shared their story of their Ballanchine-based ballet school where they built not just the future dance stars but also the individual confidence and character of their students.
The mixer was part of Ross Chicago’s Alumni-MAP Initiative (AMAP), a non-profit outreach meant to create deep, positive change in our community. This year’s focus is Ballet Chicago, an arts education ballet institution. Hugh Jedwill, MBA’04, worked with Ballet Chicago to bring a student MAP team to help Ballet Chicago with a marketing plan for their Nutcracker program. Ballet Chicago was already familiar with Ross as they had worked with a Ross-led team last year to build a new Strategic Plan. Starting in April this year, a Ross-led team will help them with a Branding and Key Messaging project.
By focusing 100% of Ross Chicago’s considerable resources on one non-profit each year, we can make a significant impact on our community. Other Ross alums, Manisha Singh, EMBA’04, and Kevin Wiliams, MBA’86, have helped Ballet Chicago on their strategy and public relations, respectively. Neha Mehta, BBA’09, is coordinating additional family-friendly events including a Sunday afternoon performance to Ballet Chicago’s Spring Repertory.
The mood at Rock Bottom, however, was not about business. It was on the school and the experiences that made all of us–alumni, faculty and current students–remember why Ross is important to us: the connections and relationships we made (and continue to make) that will always stay with us.
Chicago AMAP Program Grows
The Ross Chicago AMAP Initiative has received a lot of recognition. The first two projects with Casa Central and Family Matters was featured in the Fall edition of Dividend magazine. The Los Angeles Ross Alumni chapter discussed ways to utilize the AMAP model in their non-profit initiative. Alumni relations from Ann Arbor were also very interested in hearing about the potential for the Chicago AMAP program to scale nationally.
And most importantly, we are continuing our work with our next project, a Strategic Plan project with Ballet Chicago. This project just kicked off April 20th. Faced with an increasingly competitive field and increasing investment costs, Ballet Chicago needs a strategic plan to help them leverage their $1 million budget for future growth. The team for this project is: Marianne Hewitt – Project Manager; Manisha Singh – Strategy Consultant, EMBA2004; Anju Upadhay – Strategy Analyst, MBA2007; Nathanael Hall – Strategy Analyst; Nicole Lusignon – Community Manager, MBA2009; Hugh Jedwill – Account Director, MBA2004. Stay tuned for more as this story develops.
