Launching something new isn’t the challenge. Launching something lasting is.
For more than a decade, Derby had been missing something. When the city’s Assembly Rooms closed following a devastating fire, the community lost far more than a performance venue. It lost one of its cultural focal points. Since then, residents had become accustomed to travelling elsewhere for major concerts, comedy and live entertainment.
What had disappeared was belief. That was the challenge facing Vaillant Live.
Long before the first act stepped onto the stage, the new venue needed to convince people that Derby was about to enter a new chapter.
+1,600
new email signups
6:1
return on ad spend
Launching a new venue is unlike launching most new businesses. There are no customer reviews, no audience experiences – and no established reputation.
Every ticket sold depends on people believing in something they haven’t yet experienced. For Vaillant Live, success wasn’t simply about generating awareness. It was about changing perceptions that had been shaped over more than a decade.
Many people had come to accept that if they wanted to see world-class entertainment, they would have to travel to Nottingham, Sheffield or Birmingham. That wasn’t simply a marketing challenge, it was a mindset that needed to be changed. The venue itself would transform Derby’s cultural offer – but only if people believed it would.
Before developing creative concepts, we focused on understanding the city as much as the venue.
Drawing on decades of experience working across Derby, including journalism, place marketing and long-standing relationships within the city’s business community, our team recognised a sentiment that had become deeply embedded in local conversations. “Nothing happens in Derby.” was a phrase people repeated almost without thinking.
That insight became the foundation of the entire launch strategy: Nothing Happens in Derby. Everything Happens in Derby. The campaign acknowledged a familiar perception before confidently turning it on its head, positioning Vaillant Live not simply as a new venue but as a symbol of Derby’s changing future. Once that central idea had been established, every element of the campaign was built around reinforcing it.
Working closely with the venue team, we developed an integrated launch strategy spanning creative, digital marketing, paid social, outdoor advertising, direct mail, print and media planning.
Every channel carried the same message, ensuring audiences encountered a consistent story wherever they came across the brand. The objective wasn’t simply to promote events. It was to build anticipation before the venue had even opened its doors.
Every piece of creative encouraged people to think differently about what Derby could offer, creating excitement not only around the performances themselves but around the role Vaillant Live would play in the city’s future.
By grounding every activity in one strategic idea, the campaign created momentum that extended well beyond launch day.
The campaign delivered exceptional commercial results.
It generated more than 2.1 million impressions, reached over 220,000 people and drove more than 312,000 website visits. More than 1,689 people signed up to receive updates, while digital advertising achieved a return on ad spend of more than 6:1, generating over 2,000 tracked conversions.
More importantly, the conversation changed.
Before the venue had opened, Vaillant Live had become one of the most talked-about developments in Derby, creating excitement, optimism and anticipation around a project that represented far more than a new entertainment space.
The campaign helped establish Vaillant Live not simply as somewhere people would visit but as somewhere they felt proud to have in their city.
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