Meet a Marketer: Rachel J.S. Hewitt, Founder of Rachel / Media

This interview originally appeared in the new BroadwayWorld Monthly Marketing Update, a monthly email designed for theatre marketing professionals. In each update, we'll share data and trends from our audience, wider trends in the marketing industry, helpful tools and resources that you can use to promote your shows and seasons, and, introduce you to some of the best marketers working in the arts today.

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With nearly a decade of marketing leadership and design expertise, Rachel J.S. Hewitt now leads her own multimedia creative marketing and advertising agency, Rachel / Media. Rachel / Media's client roster includes notable names such as The Writers Guild Awards, Ensemble Studio Theatre, The Directors Company, TheaterWorksUSA, and The Acting Company.

Rachel / Media has managed substantial advertising budgets, consistently achieving key performance indicators (KPIs) that drive sustainable growth, conversions, and brand awareness. A highlight of their work includes the social media campaign for Elegies, which gained international traction through strategic celebrity engagement and account development, and the creation of the viral digital event Lightning Thief Appreciation Day for TheaterWorksUSA. Additionally, her campaign for the Writers Guild Awards 2021 garnered attention from prominent accounts, including The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

Rachel's journey began at Bromley Communications, an international advertising agency, where she served as assistant producer, managing editing sessions and overseeing multimedia creative campaigns for major clients such as Proctor & Gamble's Bounty, Pepto Bismol, Cheerios, and more. After earning her master’s degree and while working as a freelance artist, she received an internal marketing director role for an independent film company, where she led both sales and marketing strategies to successfully achieve global distribution and national box office success.

Driven by a passion for modern marketing, Rachel launched Rachel / Media to create impactful marketing solutions that blend digital and physical strategies, helping individuals and organizations thrive in today's dynamic landscape.

What is your biggest challenge marketing productions at the moment? How are you facing it?

Many organizations in our industry lack effective marketing systems. In today’s digital landscape, consistent returns rely heavily on a seamless user experience and measurable engagement, which necessitate streamlined marketing technology and systems. For this reason, we prioritize audits, analytics, and strategic planning just as much as content creation, enabling us to optimize efforts and respond in real time to audience engagement and sales trends.

What advice would you offer to other marketers based on what is working for your clients at the moment?

Use email to build relationships. Too often, our newsletters turn into "infomercials" or clever nudges. Instead, consistently sharing wins, staff bios, behind-the-scenes insights, and more—especially during the "off-season" when sales are low—can create meaningful connections, but we have to curate them with intention. We call it a "nurture" campaign for a reason. Write out three months and make at least half of it relationship development. Then, compose the body of the email as if you’re addressing an individual, encouraging responses regardless of your list size. When you do have an event with tickets on sale, it will feel like an opportunity rather than a pushy sale because you’ve prioritized connection in your previous communications. The potential for conversion through email marketing is significant, but nurturing relationships beforehand is essential for realizing that potential.

How do you approach designing the various assets for your campaign? Is it driven by the marketing department, the show's creative teams, or a hybrid?

Our company is a multimedia creative marketing and advertising firm, so our team of design specialists and video editors fulfill our clients' design needs. We’ve found this approach significantly eases the marketing burden on an organization's internal teams. Often, the Artistic team shares inspirational or foundational images, and we collaborate from there to bring the design aspect of the marketing vision to life.

Why do you utilize BroadwayWorld as part of your marketing mix?

BroadwayWorld remains one of our most accessible vendors, offering diverse packages that cater to organizations of all sizes—from micro to large. Their offerings include digital ads with guaranteed impressions, editorial features, email promotions, social posts, featured listings, and more. This trackable investment in advertising is crucial for optimization and making financially sustainable decisions. The variety of promotion types allows us to saturate a geo-targeted audience, increasing engagement potential. Typically, such diversity is reserved for high-end packages, but BroadwayWorld provides it across different tiers, enabling smart investments that meet our clients' varied budget needs.

What has been your favorite show that you’ve had the pleasure of putting together a campaign for?

Choosing a favorite show is impossible! We’re truly passionate about the work our clients create, and their creativity inspires innovative campaigns. Some highlights include the Writers Guild Awards' national social media campaign, three seasons of key art and comprehensive marketing for Solas Nua's Capital Irish Film Festival - and their recent groundbreaking productions, Distillation and the double billing of Summertime/Ar Ais Arís. We also loved working on the season announcement for Constellation Theatre Company as well as concepting and creating video trailers for Theater J's mainstage productions for two consecutive seasons. Exciting multimedia and design projects are on the horizon with The Directors Company, The Anthropologists, and several other arts organizations, and we're so proud to be a part of what's coming next.

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