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Identifying and Researching a Market: Nutcracker Ballet Fundraising

"No one offers affordable ornaments in designs for all characters of The Nutcracker Ballet. The

children who play the characters in the first scene don’t have a way to remember their parts.

Neither do the children who play half of the characters in the second act." When Maxine, a

volunteer in charge of fundraising for an amateur ballet company in South Carolina, expressed

these concerns, an opportunity arose to design for a niche market that would include small-scale

production.

Amateur ballet companies are non-profit groups that provide performance opportunities for

children from age eight through high school. They are often associated with a dance school,

where the dancers learn various styles of dance and how to apply them in performance. The

company, not the dance school, is the entity that puts on various productions throughout the

year. The performances require funds for renting and staffing the theater, purchasing costumes,

paying guest artists invited to perform with the group, and other various costs associated with

putting on a performance. Theater rental fees and personnel fees are high – in the $10,000

to $100,000 range – depending on which services are needed and the length of time they are

required. Ticket sales alone usually do not supply the necessary money needed to cover these

costs 8.

Some ballet companies try to offer scholarships to underprivileged students as a way to diversify

their student body 1. These students are among the more enthusiastic and dedicated dance

students. Such scholarships might provide the costs of lessons, shoes, and other dance supplies.

These costs can be quite high: a pair of pointe shoes alone can cost between $30 and $83 a pair

depending on the brand and style of shoes. The dancer’s technique, frequency of dancing, and

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type of foot can cause a pair of pointe shoes to wear out in a time period as short as only two

weeks 2. Due to the cost of providing dance scholarships, ballet companies can usually only offer

scholarships to a few students, sometimes none at all.

One way for ballet companies to obtain funding is to apply for government grants through

the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). This government-funded organization has been

awarding an increasing amount of grant money to ballet companies and festivals each year for the

five out of the past six years; however, when the economy suffers, the size of government grants

to the arts, including ballet companies, decreases 3. Therefore, private funding and funds raised

at performance boutiques, banquets, and sales of donated dance supplies are often crucial to the

company’s existence and its capabilities.

A boutique is a very common fundraiser event. It is a temporary store set up during

performances. Here, goods relating to the performance and/or the ballet company are sold

to audience members and cast members as a way to remember the event. Such boutiques are

capable of raising large sums of money for the ballet company, depending on the cost of the

items to resell and the appeal that the items have to their audience. The audience that attends

the performances is comprised of family and friends of the performers, as well as dance students

from other schools, and members of the local community who appreciate the arts. These make

up the customer base for the boutique to sell to.

Boutiques will start searching for items to sell for the December Nutcracker performances as early

as January (eleven months prior to the event). Many groups aim to acquire all of their boutique

goods by the end of the summer prior to their Christmas season performance. They search for

attractive items that are associated with the characters in The Nutcracker Ballet and/or with the

Christmas season. They search for products that are inexpensive enough to be marked up for as

much profit as possible. After-Christmas sales, clearance sales, and online Christmas stores are

popular places to scout out, as well as craft stores selling inexpensive materials for making craft

items to sell. A large variety of nutcrackers, candles, dolls, coloring books, Christmas ornaments,

bags, pillows, autograph books, t-shirts, and hand-made items are among the typical goods

sold at a Nutcracker Ballet boutique. The boutiques are usually organized and run by volunteers

(mothers and fathers of the dancers in the company), some of whom are very serious about their

roles and will search far and wide for the best items to sell. Volunteers may look for items in

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craft or home goods stores with nutcracker, angel, snow, or candy themes not directly related to

The Nutcracker Ballet, and adapt them by painting, personalizing, or decorating them to sell as

Nutcracker Ballet memorabilia.

Dancers have different roles in The Nutcracker Ballet from year to year. Depending upon the

size of the company, they may have multiple roles as well. This presents an opportunity to

sell different character ornaments or gifts to the same people each year. There are generally

35 different characters in The Nutcracker Ballet. The list of characters varies from one ballet

company to another. Some may have the "Candy Cane" character while others may have "Russian

Trepak" as the same part. Still, others may not have the part at all or something completely

different. For some more obscure characters, it may be difficult or even impossible to find gifts

or memorabilia on the market.

Market Analysis

Thorough market research reveals that there are not many gift items for all of the characters from

The Nutcracker Ballet. The majority of products out there are based on the main four or five

characters of the ballet. The children who play the lesser-known characters in the production

would have nothing to remember their part by. In addition to there being few character

representations on the market, the majority of the items are manufactured overseas, primarily in

China, by people with little to no experience in ballet. The posture and positions of the dancers

are rarely accurate to the discerning eye – the eye of the dance student or dance enthusiast (the

customer and end-user).

One store that specializes in The Nutcracker Ballet merchandise is NutcrackerBalletGifts.com.

They offer a wide variety of gift items based on The Nutcracker Ballet including plush dolls, snow

globes, ornaments, t-shirts, socks and wooden nutcrackers. The items are made of resin, molded

plastic, wood, fabric, and glass. Despite the variety of items, there is still a lack of representation

of many of the lesser-known characters. The majority of the items are based on the few main

characters in the story. Most, if not all of the items are manufactured overseas. Their prices are

quite high and would be difficult to resell for a profit at a Nutcracker fundraising boutique.

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The following images are product examples from www.NutcrackerBalletGifts.com:

Sugar Plum Fairy snow globeClara plush doll

Cast resin ornaments

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Another store that specializes in merchandise for The Nutcracker Ballet is NutcrackerJewelry.com.

They have a wide range of characters represented in their product line of gold and silver charms

for bracelets. There is no indication on the site of where the charms are made. The charms have

attractive designs, but as gifts, they are not suitable for young children or for boys, which is a

market limitation worth noting. The charms are in the $30-$90 price range, making them far too

expensive to use as items for resale at a Nutcracker Boutique.

Priscilla Nicholson, a woman who teaches dance and watercolor lessons in San Angelo, Texas,

makes and sells wooden ornaments of nearly all of the Nutcracker Ballet characters by hand.

These hand-painted ornaments are advertised as being "great for fundraising"; however, the prices

do not refl ect this. One ornament is sold for $20 with prices decreasing as more are bought. Fifty

or more sell for $12 each – still too high to mark up for a reasonable fundraising profi t. She offers

personalization on the ornaments, but "rush orders are not possible". Below are some examples

of her work:

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Charms from NutcrackerJewelry.com

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The Design Process

The following goals helped guide our design process:

- Accurately represent all characters in The Nutcracker Ballet

- Make attractive, quality products

- Manufacture the products in-house

- The final retail price had to be cheap enough to allow for ample fundraising profit for the

ballet company

- Complete design, manufacturing, and marketing within a 2 month time period to

make available for The Nutcracker Ballet season in 2007

Since The Nutcracker Ballet is performed during the Christmas season, we thought Christmas

ornaments would be a successful product line to design. According to Maxine, a Nutcracker

boutique organizer, Christmas ornaments are popular sellers at boutiques. A number of materials

and processes were considered as possible directions to take. Metal casting would have produced

interesting results, but we did not have access to the equipment necessary for the process. The

costs of the metal and tooling would have been high as well. Plastic casts from silicone molds

could produce inexpensive three-dimensional figurine ornaments, but we would have needed to

make over thirty molds for the variety of character designs that we wanted to offer. The upfront

cost per design would have been high with this method as well. Wood carving and scroll-sawn

ornaments were also considered, but the time involved in creating a single ornament would have

significantly driven up the cost to the end-user, making them unsuitable for fundraising purposes.

Finally, we considered laser-cutting wooden veneer and thin plywood as an option. The upfront

investment in the machinery would be high, but it is a process that could be applied to an endless

number of designs and products over time.

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Our next task was to design as many characters as possible in the time period that we had. Using

references from actual Nutcracker productions, past and present, we drew images to represent

thirty-four characters from the show. Below are some of the sketches from this stage in the

process:

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The sketches were then traced into a computer program to prepare them for laser-engraving.

The next task was to find the right kind of material to use for laser-cutting and engraving

ornaments. To keep costs down, we chose to use some one-twelfth inch poplar veneers and

mahogany wood tape that we found, which were intended to be discarded. The wood was old,

but still in fairly good condition for our purposes. We laminated two layers of poplar veneers

and applied strips of mahogany wood tape to some of them in order to have two types of

wood finishes. We then sanded and cut the wood to a size suitable for the laser-cutter's bed.

The process took several attempts until we could find the right amounts of glue and pressure

necessary to achieve adhesion and prevent splitting.

After attending a laser-cutting training seminar, we experimented with various powers and

speed settings on the machine to determine the best settings for etching and cutting our newly

manufactured plywood. For an added feature to our products, we were interested in etching the

characters’ names on the backs of the ornaments. We could also etch the dancer’s name, school

name, company name, part played, and/or date on the reverse of the ornament. Etching specific

information could add worth to the ornaments as it would add a personal touch to each item.

We performed several experiments to accomplish this in quantities of forty to sixty ornaments in

one pass. We ran into several issues in our attempts to register the words in correct alignment on

the reverse side of the ornaments. We were wasting a lot of time and wood trying to line up the

front and back of the ornaments in order to add custom engraved text. Seeking a faster way, it

was decided that adhesive labels would be used instead of laser engraving for the character names

on the reverse side of the ornaments; however, we would still be able to offer personalized laser

engraving on the reverse, just not in large quantities as we had originally hoped. We decided to

revisit the idea of personalizing each ornament at a later date.

To explore the area of aesthetics, we experimented with different surface finishes. Painting the

entire surface of the etched ornaments one color seemed to lessen the apparent value of the

ornaments. The original wood finish appeared to have a higher sense of quality. We then applied

spray paint and later sanded an ornament, leaving the color recessed in the etched grooves. This

process gave the ornament an "antiqued" appearance. The natural wood appearance was still

more favorable. Then we tried etching an ornament on a scrap of colored acrylic. There was very

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little contrast on the colored acrylic making the character difficult to discern and thus making

this material an unsuitable option.

We applied several different types of wood finishes to the ornaments including polyurethane,

polyacrylic, and lacquer in both spray and brush-on varieties. Some of these reacted with the

burnt wood and left a sticky residue while others required a longer drying time. A spray-on

lacquer was the type of finish we decided to use because of its smooth finish and quick drying

time. There were still some options such as the application of color that we were unable to

explore due to time constraints. We returned to these later in our process.

"Antiqued" mahogany angel ornament

Custom engraving tests

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Red acrylic engraving tests

Wood finish tests

Dipped in polyurethane Brushed polyurethane Spray-painted

12 13Mahogany and poplar Nutcracker ornaments

Laser-etched customized text on the reverse side of an ornament

Character name and branding on the reverse side of an ornament

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We had heard that pin-backed buttons were another product type that was well received at

boutiques. They are popular with the ballet students because they cost very little and can

be worn on their ballet sports bags as a personalized reminder of the part they played or the

particular performance they participated in. Ballet students think that they were fun to collect,

display, and show off.

Since we had already drawn sketches of all The Nutcracker Ballet characters, we could easily paint

them, add some color and turn them into buttons. We invested in the equipment to manufacture

buttons and were soon able to produce four or fi ve per minute. In addition to the "Nutcracker

Art" buttons, we were able to easily offer "Nutcracker Art" magnets as well. The magnets are

nice reminders of performances that parents could purchase and display on their refrigerators or

on their fi le cabinet drawer at work. The "Nutcracker Art" buttons and magnets were a colorful

addition to our product inventory. With several products to offer, the idea of a "fundraising

package" or "one stop shop" could be developed as a marketing angle. package" or "one stop shop" could be developed as a marketing angle.

addition to our product inventory. With several products to offer, the idea of a "fundraising

Character paintings for pin-back button designs

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Making buttons in full force

Art buttons

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Online Store Construction

A website was needed to showcase and distribute the Nutcracker fundraising products that we

had developed. We researched inexpensive methods of setting up an online store. An online

store would allow us to reach as many ballet companies as possible and test the market with our

products. We decided to use a free software package called ZenCart, as it seemed to offer the

most options of any free package. In addition to the software being free of charge (also known

as "freeware"), it was able to offer customers a secure payment process while providing an easy

way for us to manage orders and keep all of the details organized. A disadvantage of the software

was that it used a coding language that we were not familiar with; thus, there was a learning curve

involved with implementing it and customizing it to fit our needs. We were unable to completely

customize the appearance of the storefront as we did not have the required time to learn a new

language as well as to apply that language to our website. We were also unable to find a way to

integrate into the checkout process a way for the customer to supply customization details about

the items that they wished to purchase. Since we were unable to do this, the customer had to

remember to fill out a separate form or send us an email with the customization details for their

order.

In the process of constructing our online storefront, we learned more about the importance

of keywords and other ways that search engines like "Google" search for and find websites. In

addition to the technical considerations for making the website, we also had to make decisions

regarding presentation of our products to potential customers visiting the website. Consideration

had to be given to the colors, product categories, product descriptions and text, product images,

additional graphics, and architecture of the website. With the limitations described above, we

knew we would have to revisit and redevelop this website to make it more user-friendly.

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Website home page

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Marketing

Designing a great product is only a small part of the process. You could design a product that

would make millions of people’s lives better, but if no one knows about it, it will not help

anyone.

We researched various marketing methods and narrowed down our choices based on cost and

effectiveness. First, we made a goal of putting our product into the hands of every one of our

potential customers. We wanted to send a sample ornament to every ballet company in the

United States that performs The Nutcracker Ballet. Seeing, touching, and experiencing products

creates a stronger impression than images on a computer screen. We found an online directory

of most of the companies that put on the production. A good deal of time was spent collecting

mailing addresses and email addresses and making ornaments to send out as free samples of our

products. We identified about 350 ballet companies that perform The Nutcracker Ballet. This is

our market. For experimental purposes, we also sent promotional emails to a smaller number of

ballet companies to test the effectiveness of email promotions.

The cheapest and most effective means of advertising is word of mouth referrals. Design a

superior product, provide the best customer service, and you will be positioned for return

customers and customer referrals. We were fortunate enough to have a few of our customers

return even within the first year; and, also a few that promoted our products by passing on our

web address.

With all of the manufacturing that is being sent overseas these days, many people have become

quite adamant about supporting American manufacturers and American-made products. This

proved to be an advantage for us in our marketing. We contacted several websites that promote

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products made in the USA. They put a link to our website on their website. Referral links

between websites aid in getting the word out about your own website. They also help to boost

your website rankings on search engines such as "Google" or "Yahoo".

Promotional flyer sent to potential customers

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Results and Feedback

By Christmas, the last of the Nutcracker Ballet performances had taken place. We were then

able to assess the success or failure of the products we had designed for fundraising purposes.

The magnets and buttons were extremely popular. They outsold the Christmas ornaments.

Customers noted that the paintings, costumes, and poses on these items were colorful and

attractive. It was worth noting that for the customer (the ballet company) the magnets and

buttons were less risky of an investment than the ornaments as they had a lower upfront cost.

The buttons and magnets were also colorful, thus the ornaments may not have stood out as well

as other eye-catching items on display at a boutique.

After the Nutcracker season ended, we sent out a short survey to our customers to ask for their

feedback on our products and services. The questionnaire included the following questions:

1) How happy are you with our products?

2) How would you rate our professionalism and courtesy?

3) Please rate the appearance and ease of use of our online store

4) Would you recommend our products to others?

5) Are there any products or services we do not currently carry that you would like to see?

6) If you were reselling our products for fundraising purposes, please tell us about the

customer response.

We received several responses to our survey. In general, people were very pleased with our

products and services and with our professionalism. They would recommend our products

to others. Some found our website to be a little confusing and difficult to use, but overall

our customers were successful in the checkout process. We also received some very insightful

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suggestions for additional products to offer for the next year’s season. One suggestion was to

adapt the ornament designs to some kind of gift tag to go around a bouquet of flowers (a popular

gift for dancers to receive at the conclusion of a performance or performance season). Another

suggestion was to offer a printed catalog to attract people that do not use the internet or are not

comfortable using online stores. We also received a few suggestions for new characters to add to

our inventory. The feedback we were given was very helpful in planning for the refinement of our

designs, product offerings, and website. We will discuss how we refined our products a little later.

Nutcracker Ballet t-shirts of our own design

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Another Venue: Animal Rescue Fundraising

In conversation with a friend involved with animal rescue, particularly Great Danes, we were

presented with another opportunity for expanding our fundraising product line. Why not

make products for animal rescue groups to use for fundraising for their organization's cause?

With what we had learned designing products for Nutcracker fundraising, we could adapt our

knowledge to design and market new products for animal rescue and shelter fundraising.

People have been enjoying the companionship of animals as pets for thousands of years. In

recent years, pets are often considered to be family members. In 2006, there were more than 72

million pet dogs in the United States and almost 82 million pet cats.4 According to a Business

Week article, "Americans now spend $41 billion a year on their pets—more than the gross

domestic product of all but 64 countries in the world. About 63% of U.S. households, or 71

million homes, now own at least one pet…"5.

There are many animal shelters that conduct fundraising events to raise money for their

organization. Animal shelters are typically 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations that will take in

abused, unwanted, stray, lost, or feral animals and give them the care they need until finding

them a good permanent home. They have numerous expenses including food, veterinary bills,

facility costs, and supplies. They might receive money from the local government to help with

their operating expenses, but it is rarely enough. They will request donations at local events, sell

items at their facility, and/or organize some kind of fundraiser.

In addition to animal shelters, animal rescue groups are also common non-profit organizations

that rescue and place animals into new homes. Animal rescue groups may be specific to a

certain breed of cat or dog. Some breeds are more popular than others as pets; and some breeds

22 23Laser-cut ornaments by Made in Colorado

have a greater rescue demand. For example, Greyhounds are typically bred for racing purposes.

However, when they reach a certain age or physical ability, they are "retired" from racing and need

a loving home. Great Danes are another dog breed that is popular among rescue groups because

they are so often misunderstood. They are docile animals, yet they can be overwhelming to own

if you are not prepared to care for a dog the size of a small horse.

Another segment to the animal rescue market is veterinary hospitals. Veterinary hospitals usually

have a small pet supply store located near/in their lobby area. This store is usually stocked with

pet foods, toys, collars, leashes and other small items. Everyone that visits a veterinary hospital

owns a pet and could be a potential customer.

One advantage to pursuing the pet product market is the fact that it is so big. There is a vast

number of potential customers and large variety of potential products to design. Since, the pet

product market is so big, to command even a small piece could mean a great deal. However, the

pet market is also extremely saturated, meaning competition is plentiful. It is more difficult to

get into this market than it is to get into the ballet fundraising market. The number of companies

that produce gifts for pet owners seems endless. Further research into the market reveals that a

large majority of gifts for pet owners, animal enthusiasts, veterinarians, and veterinary staff are

made overseas. This presents an opportunity. We would provide American-made gift options for

this market. Since our products would be made local to the market and produced in small on-

demand runs, we would have the ability to customize items quickly and inexpensively.

There are a few companies already in existence that laser etch wooden gifts for pet owners. "Made

in Colorado" has wooden laser engraved animals and sports ornaments. Rekey Designs has many

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dog breeds available on customizable wooden Christmas ornaments. The ornament designs from

both of these companies do not appear to take advantage of the engraving capabilities in their

ornament designs. They look as if they were adapted from a scroll-saw pattern book for use with

a laser-cutter. This process neglects an entire dimension of design that is possible with wood and

a laser-cutter.

Design and Production

We researched the most popular dog breeds among pet owners today according to the American

Kennel Club (AKC) as a starting point for our designs. Our initial goal was to create designs

based on all (over one hundred and fifty) of the dog breeds recognized by the AKC. As we

began to gather images of the top fifteen most popular dog breeds, we soon realized that such an

endeavor would take many months if not years to accomplish. We also came to realize that the

list of breeds "officially registered" with the AKC does not give a realistic portrayal of the types

of dogs Americans own. Many people enjoy their mutts and mixed breed dogs that would not

be officially recognized by the organization. Nonetheless, the AKC’s list of popular dog breeds

served as a good starting place. We decided to focus on the most popular breeds and concurrently

design products for other types of pets.

With the images that we gathered, we drew original designs for 17 different dog breeds, some

breeds having multiple designs. When converting the drawings to computer vector drawings, we

added areas to be raster-etched, meaning these areas would be burned by the laser and appear

Laser-cut dog ornaments by Rekey Designs

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darker than the untouched wood areas. This would provide a sense of positive and negative

space on the product giving the image depth and added quality. Another element that added to

the quality of the products was the addition of secondary (double) lines for increased line width

and contrast. This made the designs "pop" out more from the background and appear more

detailed.

The product would have a design of a dog or other pet on its face as well as an area to add

customized text, making a personalized gift for any pet owner. Products we made designs for

included wooden magnets, coasters, coaster sets, trivets, and Christmas tree ornaments. Later

we created designs for colored acrylic coasters and ornaments. The customer would be able to

choose between a variety of products in a variety of materials, colors, and price ranges.

For the Nutcracker Ballet products, we used two one-twelfth inch poplar veneers that we

laminated together and applied mahogany wood tape. The finished products had a tendency to

warp or come apart. We decided to try pre-manufactured laminate wood. We made samples

using an expensive one-sixteenth inch cherry veneered plywood, a mid-priced one-eighth inch

red oak veneered plywood, and an inexpensive one-eighth inch birch plywood. Based on a

balance of cost and apparent value, we decided to use the red oak veneered plywood.

Initial cutout and size tests for Pomeranian magnets

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We then experimented with different finishes including spray-on lacquer, enamel, polyacrylic,

and stain as well as brush on polyacrylic and stain. The finish that provided the highest level

of protection and gloss was a spray-on enamel. We wished we could go back and spray all the

Nutcracker ornaments that we had already sold.

Wood stain and finish tests

Wood stain and layering test

Poplar veneer, birch plywood, and cherry veneer prototypes

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Other explorations into improving apparent quality included the use of cut-outs, marquetry, and

layering. When translating our pen drawing to vector drawings on the computer, we included

areas that the laser would cut out of the wood. We cut out the area between the animal and the

circular frame in the magnet designs. We then tried cutting out background pieces in coaster

designs, spray painting and staining them, and placing them back into the coaster (see page 33).

A full sheet of German Shepherd & Labrador Retriever magnets

Before we could present the products to the market, they needed some further development. The

coasters would require some sort of backing to protect furniture surfaces from scratching. We

made prototypes of coasters with felt, foam rubber, and cork backings of different thicknesses.

The felt and foam backings seemed too lightweight, cheap, and cold feeling. We decided to use

a traditional cork backing to achieve a higher apparent quality. The cork backing could also be

applied to the trivets as well. The magnets needed magnetic backings strong enough to hold the

wooden emblem and several pieces of paper onto a metal surface. With samples from a magnet

company, we tested different magnet thicknesses and strengths in order to fi nd the strongest one

for the best price.

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As we were creating the dog designs, we decided to expand our design scope to include designs for

different types of cats, reptiles, and small animals also. We hoped that the variety in our inventory

would make it more appealing to customers. In the process of preparing these animal designs, we

also wanted to create items that would make great gifts for veterinarians or veterinary staff. The

following pages include a sampling of sketches for our animal fundraising items as well as some

images of our materials tests and of the final products.

Magnet thickness tests

Coaster backing experiments

Foam rubberFelt

Cork

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A sampling of sketches for dog designs

28 29

Sketches for veterinary designs

A sampling of sketches for dog designs

30 31

Custom engraving on a magnetCustom engraving on a magnet

Maine Coon cat coaster set

Rabbit trivet

30 31

In an effort to make more colored items and to apply what we had previously learned with

engraving in clear acrylic, we tried painting one side of one-eighth inch clear acrylic sheets and

laser-etching some of our coaster designs into them. We found that the frosted white appearance

of the etching created a beautiful contrast with the darker colors of paint – particularly red

and royal blue. After gluing the acrylic coasters to their cork backs, however, the frosted white

transformed back into the clear acrylic that we began with, allowing the mottled cork texture to

show through. This had a certain appeal, but it was not the look that we desired. To remedy this,

we tried applying white spray paint to the back of the coaster prior to gluing it to the cork. The

chemicals in the spray-on paint reacted with the color that was already on the acrylic, causing

it to wrinkle and bubble up. Instead, we decided to apply a layer of thin white paper between

the painted acrylic and the cork backing. This, finally, gave the coasters the attractive contrast

and colorful look that we wanted. When holding these colored acrylic pieces up to the light, we

realized that this material would also make great colorful Christmas tree ornaments. Their bright

colors would stand out against the dark background of a Christmas tree and the clear acrylic

would add the same wintry feeling that molded plastic icicle ornaments or snowflakes do – quite

a contrast from the warm and homey wooden ornaments we had previously been making.

Determining correct laser speed and power so as not to leave an undesirable melted honeycomb pattern on the ornament surface

32 33

Acrylic coasters with two layers of spray paint that interacted with each other

Acrylic and colored acrylic tests

32 33

Red painted acrylic coaster

Colored wooden coasters

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Custom laser-engraved items

Persian cat magnet in use

34 35

A collection of coasters in use

Trivets and coasters in use

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Marketing Animal Rescue Fundraising

We had offered customization on our Nutcracker Ballet ornaments for an additional fee. We

contemplated doing the same for the pet gift products, but instead of charging an additional

fee for customization, we thought it would be a great marketing edge to offer laser engraved

customization for free. We decided that when displaying our pet gift products we would strongly

promote personalization for our gift items at no extra charge.

We chose to create an online store to present our products to the public. We worked from what

we had learned from constructing the Nutcracker Ballet website, to make this website easier

to use. We developed the site using a different type of shopping cart software which allowed

us to have greater freedom in designing the site. We were able to better integrate requests

for customization into the checkout process. With improved techniques for photographing

our products and more control over the layout and color scheme, this website is an overall

improvement from our first one.

We employed the use of several marketing techniques to help direct potential customers to our

website. Once again, we sent promotional mailings to a selection of animal shelters and rescue

groups in order to get our products into the hands of our potential customers. We emailed a

number of veterinary hospitals. We informed them that our products would make very good

items to sell in their in-house stores or as promotional items for their office. The veterinarian

designs seemed particularly suited for veterinary promotional items. In addition to veterinary

offices, we sent emails to retail pet supply and pet gift stores to test interest of our products in

the wholesale market. We created and sent a catalog of our items, wholesale information, and

product samples to those who responded with interest.

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Animal gifts website home page

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Animal gifts catalog

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Another method to test the market was to participate in local craft fairs. The warm months of

the year are the season for these events. We researched and signed up for several. These events

gave us more exposure to the general public; and we received useful feedback. Craft fair attendees

often would request a particular breed or a particular animal. We realized that we needed more

dog breeds and more animal types. The lesser known animals or breeds would be particularly

beneficial to create designs for. Fans of less recognized animals would feel more compelled to buy

memorabilia of their animal because there are so few items on the market. Our items seemed

to appeal to children the most. Their faces lit up when they saw the cute animal images on our

coasters and magnets which reminded them of their particular pet.

Testing the market at a local craft fair

40 41

We worked in conjunction with the Mid-Atlantic Great Dane Rescue League (MAGDRL) to test

an idea for an affiliate program. We advertised on our website that a percentage of purchases

made with a designated coupon code during a certain month would be donated to their rescue

group. A member of their group sent out an email notification to the MAGDRL members letting

them know about our "sale". This served as free advertising for us. This test run was the start of

an idea to make a similar program with no time limit.

In the new program, a portion of our sales would be donated to an affiliated rescue group or

animal shelter. This group or shelter would direct their supporters to our store and a portion of

the purchase amount that resulted from their referral would be donated back to their group or

rescue. This would mean free advertising for our website and easy marketing of our products.

For the rescue group or animal shelter, they would receive donations for very little effort.

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Nutcracker Ballet Revisited

After the first Nutcracker season had passed, we noted that there were several areas in which we

could improve our products and our services. The following spring, we revisited the project and

identified the specific areas for improvement. The first was material quality. We required a higher

quality wood for our ornaments than the hand-laminated poplar veneers that we had used the

previous year. We needed a wood that would not warp, split apart, or require so much time to

hand-laminate, while still preserving the high contrast that the light-colored poplar displayed

when laser-etched. We decided to use the same one-eighth inch red oak plywood that we found in

the process of making gifts for animal rescue fundraising.

The second area for improvement was the apparent value of our products. We wanted to use

a higher gloss finish for the ornaments in order to increase the sheen and durability of the

items. We also decided to redesign the ornaments to be larger in scale, have higher contrast, and

have negative space using raster-cut areas, varied line weights, and cut-outs in the designs. We

assembled computer files that would laser-etch and cut the Nutcracker Ballet ornaments on the

colored acrylic that we had experimented with previously, offering ornaments in five different

bright colors. We created designs for several additional characters that had been brought to our

attention. We also added more African-American versions of different characters in our button

and magnet designs. One of our greatest selling points was that we had the largest variety of

Nutcracker Ballet characters represented in our product lines.

In addition to the higher quality materials, new designs and characters, we wanted to attract

customers by offering free customization on our products as we did for animal fundraising

products. We had observed the previous year that many customers did not request customization

because of the extra charge. By making customization standard, we hoped to attract more

42 43

customers, such as ones that wanted customization but didn’t want to pay a lot for it and

customers that weren’t sure if they wanted or needed customization.

In order to broaden our inventory for Nutcracker Ballet gifts and reach more customers, we

brainstormed to think of new product ideas, some of which are included on the following list:

1. Autograph books

2. Note cards

3. Wands

4. Bouquet Tags

5. Display stands for magnets, buttons, ornaments, and other items

6. Coloring Books

7. Picture frames

8. Wooden boxes

9. Wooden Magnets

10. Bookmarks

11. Calendars

12. "Super" Ornaments - extremely large ornaments

13. Puzzles

14. Book ends

15. Figurines

16. Paper Dolls

Of course, to design and thoroughly develop each one of these products would require a great

deal of time. We did not want to disregard any of these ideas yet, but we knew we had to prioritize

them in order to have a substantial but not overwhelming product inventory for the upcoming

season. As previously mentioned, many ballet company volunteers do their research for boutique

items in the summer and early fall. Our goal was to have the top five items on our list of new

products designed and presented on our website before the end of the summer. To this date, we

have completed the autograph book for The Nutcracker Ballet (pictured on the next page). Printed

on red cardstock, each page has one of our character designs with plenty of space for audience

members to have their favorite dancers’ signatures. They would also be great for the dancers to

sign for friends or fellow dancers as a way to remember the performance experience.

42 43

The note cards would be blank greeting cards printed with one of our character paintings on

the front. They could be sold individually or in sets. The sets could be of all the same character,

or in sets based on certain scenes from the ballet. With over forty character paintings to choose

from, we would have the largest variety of Nutcracker Ballet greeting cards available.

The wands would be made from two laser-etched pieces of one-eighth inch red oak plywood or

acrylic, slid together via notches cut down the center, creating a three-dimensional shape that

would be mounted on the end of a wooden dowel and painted. There could be several abstract

designs based on characters or themes in The Nutcracker Ballet including, snow, fl owers, the

sugar plum fairy, the land of sweets, etc.

Bouquet tags (based on a suggestion from a customer) would be smaller versions of our

ornaments. A ribbon would be strung through the tag and it would be tied around fl ower

bouquets traditionally given to dancers before or after their performance. These could be made

from the one-eighth inch red oak or the one-eighth inch colored acrylic that we currently work

with. They could be customized with text wishing the dancer good luck, or congratulating them

on a good performance.

Nutcracker Ballet autograph book

44 45

The display stands would be designed for the volunteers running the boutique reselling our items.

Possibly a collapsible wooden stand with many hooks would serve as a good display stand for our

ornaments. Below is an image of an ornament display stand we made for our craft fair display.

Ornament display stand

We could also offer a metal board that would stand up on a table to serve as a display for the

magnets during a fundraising boutique. The buttons could be displayed on a backer board made

of cork or pinned into a piece of fabric draped over a flat surface. There are many possibilities here.

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Broadening the Target Market

The market for Nutcracker Ballet gifts is a small, niche market. This proved to be advantageous to

us as we were marketing our Nutcracker items. However, the ballet is seasonal and only performed

during the Christmas season. We decided to expand our product lines to include memorabilia and

gifts for other ballet performances and other types of dance. Doing so would expand our potential

customer base, while still remaining in a niche market. The new types of dance that could be

included in our expanded inventory are jazz, ballet, tap dance, Irish step dance, clogging, modern

dance, and hip-hop. To determine which ballet performances other than The Nutcracker Ballet to

design for, we would research the ballets amateur dance companies perform and prioritize them

based on popularity.

We then made designs for four dance styles: ballet, jazz, tap dance, and Irish step dance; and

one design for another ballet performance, Coppelia. Our process was similar to the process we

used for the previous two projects. Based on photographic references, we created sketches for

the designs to be laser-etched on wooden magnets, coasters, and ornaments, as well as colored

acrylic ornaments. From those sketches, we painted colorful scenes and produced computer

illustrations for use on buttons and magnets (and note cards in the future). We took advantage

of the techniques of using double lines and raster-cut areas to create more contrast and intrigue

in the dance designs. An improvement we made to the wooden magnet design was to adhere a

piece of colored cardstock to the back of the wooden emblem so that a larger sized magnet could

be attached to the surface. The colored background also enhanced the look of the magnets,

increasing their apparent value. Instead of having a static image of one dancer or pair of shoes

on a white background, we added colored backgrounds to the designs for the buttons and art

magnets, creating more depth and interest in the designs.

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Ballet sketches

Jazz dance sketches

46 47

Tap dance sketches

Irish step dance sketches

48 49

One-eighth inch red oak ornaments for The Nutcracker Ballet

One-eighth inch red oak ornaments for One-eighth inch red oak ornaments for One-eighth inch red oak ornaments for

48 49

Painted acrylic ornaments for various dance styles

50 51

Dancer magnets with color backgrounds

Dance paintings on pin-back buttons with color background

Dance paintings on pin-back buttons

50 51

Additional Venues and Applications for Laser-Etched Design

We have merely scratched the surface of two of many potential venues that could be receptive to

laser-etched gifts and fundraising products.

Other venues include but are not limited to:

1) School band, choir, and all instruments thereof.

2) Sports and recreational activities

3) Theatrical performances

4) Careers and occupations

5) Friend and family relationships

6) Passions (i.e. "I love chocolate")

7) Seasons and holidays

8) Schools, colleges, and mascots

9) Corporate logos and images for promotional materials

Other applications or products that we have already explored or would like to explore:

1) Plywood coat hooks

2) Boxes

3) Miniature furniture

4) Puzzles

5) Intricate cut-outs (can be scanned-in images)

6) Canvas/denim/fabric applications

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Laser-cut coat hooks

52 53

Laser-cut and engraved finger joint boxes

54 55

Laser-cut and engraved finger joint boxes

54 55

Photo-engraving experiments on wood

Photo-engraving experiments on clear and frosted acrylic

56 57

Conclusion

We hope to continue to create new designs and new products to assist in fundraising for dance,

animal rescue, and other areas. In addition to fundraising products, we hope to further explore

some of the other products that can be created using laser technology. We can then test the

marketability of the products using the knowledge we have gained through the experience

described in this paper.

56 57

Works Cited

1) "Tuition for the 2008-2009 Season." Augusta Ballet School. 20 Mar. 2008.

<http://www.augustaballetschool.com/tuition.html>

2) "Pointe Shoe Buyer's Guide." The Ballet Life. 17 Sep. 2007.

<http://www.geocities.com/pointe2me/pointe-buy.html>

3) Discount Dance Supply. 17 Sep. 2007. Discount Dance Supply

<http://www.discountdance.com>

4) "U.S. Pet Ownership & Demographics Sourcebook (2007 Edition)." 23 June 2008. American

Veterinary Medical Association. <http://www.avma.org/reference/marketstats/

sourcebook.asp>

5) Brady, Diane and Christopher Palmeri. "The Pet Economy." 23 June 2008.

The McGraw-Hill Companies. 6 Aug. 2007. <http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/

content/07_32/b4045001.htm>

58 59

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Bureau, U.S. Department of Commerce. <http://www.allcountries.org/uscensus/440_

attendance_rates_for_various_arts_activities.html>

Brady, Diane and Christopher Palmeri. "The Pet Economy." 23 June 2008.

The McGraw-Hill Companies. 6 Aug. 2007. <http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/

content/07_32/b4045001.htm>

Discount Dance Supply. 17 Sep. 2007. Discount Dance Supply

<http://www.discountdance.com>

Knotts, Bill. "Harnessing the Speed and Power of Modern Laser-cutting Systems." Making the

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58 59

Nutcracker Ballet. 15 Sep. 2007. <http://www.nutcrackerballet.net>

"Pointe Shoe Buyer's Guide." The Ballet Life. 17 Sep. 2007.

<http://www.geocities.com/pointe2me/pointe-buy.html>

Regional Dance America. 17 Sep. 2007. <http://www.regional-dance-america.org>

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"Tuition for the 2008-2009 Season." Augusta Ballet School. 20 Mar. 2008.

<http://www.augustaballetschool.com/tuition.html>

"U.S. Pet Ownership & Demographics Sourcebook (2007 Edition)." 23 June 2008. American

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sourcebook.asp>

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Wren, Celia. "At the Intersection of Optimism and Uncertainty." 10 Sep. 2007. Theater

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