Strategy

In September of 2020, Maron PR worked with Caves Valley and the WGA to announce that the 2021 BMW Championship would be played in Maryland in August of 2021. Following the initial announcement and significant media coverage of the news, MPR’s focus shifted to developing a paid strategy to launch ticket sales, a push for volunteers, and the sale of corporate hospitality that was largely headed by the Caves Valley team.

Because it was still widely unknown how long Covid-19 restrictions would last, Maroon PR and the WGA needed to devise a strategy that allowed them to launch ticket sales effectively for the holidays but in a more limited way than normal due to the current environment.

The initial partnership was with the Baltimore Ravens. Maroon PR encouraged the WGA to capitalize on the dominant popularity of the team during the season. The relationship consisted of part buy and part trade and the results were astronomical.  Other smaller initial holiday buys came in radio with Entercom, local TV with WMAR, and print/online with the Baltimore Sun.

The next round of buys normally begins in April, around The Masters, when thoughts turn from winter to golf season. However, with Covid-19 still prominent in our world at this time but improving daily, buys were pushed back to begin in May of 2021 and run through the tournament at the end of August.

Results

The reaction from the market was extraordinary. Corporate hospitality nearly sold out in 2021, the event secured all 2,000 volunteers needed with several hundred on a waiting list, and ticket sales were steadily ahead of the historical pace in past years.

Maroon PR was able to engage the perfect target market after signing a deal with the Baltimore Ravens. The Ravens relationship included digital ads, social ads, a web takeover, and email blasts to their PSL owners and season ticket holders. The response was overwhelming and resulted in ticket sales that far exceeded the goals of the campaign with:

• 245,092 total views from Digital PreGame Live Ads
• 389,244 impressions from the Homepage Takeover
• 4,671 ticket link clicks from the PSL Owner Dedicated Email
• 912,680 impressions from the Run-Of-Site
• 5,512 impressions from the Pre-Roll Video

The Baltimore Sun’s wide reach of the community through online, native, and print materials, as well as giveaways on social generated a total of 383,466 impressions.

Working with Entercom Radio, Today’s 101.9 also known as Baltimore’s Christmas Music Station ran 332 15-second commercials during holiday programming.

Lastly, WMAR’s success with its tv and streaming commercials and digital display was significant with more than 250,041 impressions. 

The remainder of the advertising campaign was deployed May-August of 2022 and included TV, Radio, Digital, Print, and Online to ensure maximum exposure.