Client-Owned Community Event
OBJECTIVE
This case study covers our large law firm client in North Carolina. With 12 offices across the state, the firm already enjoys significant brand recognition. At our annual marketing planning meeting, a Strategic Marketing Summit®, we decided it was time for the firm to have its very own philanthropic effort or event. Knowing what community organizations and efforts the firm already supported helped us move to the next step: Figure out a right-fit event/effort for them.
STRATEGIC PLAN
The CIM team came together with our account managers, public relations team and creative team. There was a common thread in the community support (cash donations and time) the firm has given North Carolinians over several decades: They love pets.
We conceived an event that would bring together the public for a pet adoption day, held in one of Raleigh’s more than 100 parks. The four-hour event would have a dozen or more rescue groups participating with adoptable pets for families to explore. In addition, we’d need to have additional activity to help magnetize the draw for the public, reasons to show up. So, we invited food trucks and more than a dozen pet product/service vendors.
Overall, the theme was a day in the park for families and dog lovers. The public was invited to bring their dogs, as well.
An event like this has hundreds of details, so we chose a timeline of nearly a year to pull it together. We envisioned this inaugural event to become an annual event, so we needed to get it right.
EXECUTION
Once we had buy-in from the client, we created a catchy name and fun logo for the event, which contained reference to the firm’s name. We explored parks to find one that would be centrally located, have easy, adequate parking and a good space (open grassy field) for booths, tents, etc. We searched calendars of events across the city to avoid choosing a date that would conflict with our client’s new event. The park, date and time were all locked in.
Absolutely critical, though, was to solicit a media group to get behind the project. Without significant publicity to alert the Raleigh community about the event, nothing else mattered. Since this was a total do-good endeavor, and most people love pets, it was a great fit for a radio group with six stations. They agreed to fully support the event, running radio spots hundreds of times across all their stations over the course of three weeks leading up to the event.
Rescue groups were contacted. Interestingly, some were hesitant because they had difficulty conceiving why a law firm would be doing this, at no expense to them…it sounded too good to be true. Once they saw the flyer we had created, with the fun logo, and that the media group behind its promotion were real, they couldn’t wait to sign up.
Multiple food trucks agreed to participate, and they promoted the flyer with their contact database (many food trucks have true followers!), encouraging them to come out the day of the event. Pet themed vendors, from pet food to doggie daycare services, signed up, as well.
Concurrently with the above activities, the CIM team was creating and producing banners and other signage and preparing a comprehensive PR plan, which included social media activity, news releases, media alerts and getting the event information onto community event calendars across the area. Information was shared via the firm’s e-newsletter, pre- and post-event.
The event was staffed by more than a dozen firm team members (all wearing event-branded shirts), greeting the public, helping the vendors and rescue groups set up and break down their booths, etc.
RESULTS
The event, which took hundreds of manhours to execute, came together beautifully. Mother Nature cooperated with pleasant temps, a perfect early fall day. We estimate between 400-500 residents came out for the event, mingling and playing with adoptable pets, visiting with vendors, and enjoying lunch and desserts from the food trucks. The rescue groups couldn’t have been happier with all the potential adoptions that were lined up.
The firm pulled off such a positive event, one that was thoroughly focused on doing something good for the community. It was family oriented, a fun day that helped so many pets find their furever home.
In the days following the event, thank you notes went back and forth, to and from the firm and the many participants. The radio station group was elated with the feedback they received, and the common question was as expected, “When are you doing this again?!”
Turns out, it was such a hit in Raleigh, the firm is already conceiving and planning to replicate the event not only annually in Raleigh, but also in other cities where it has offices.