PRSA-Inland Empire Best Media Event 2018 – Top Award
Media Event, Melody Brunsting/Melody’s Ad Works, Inc.
2018 Temecula Valley Balloon & Wine Festival Press Kit
INTRODUCTION:
The 35th Annual Temecula Valley Balloon & Wine Festival June 1-3, 2018, is a visual and experiential event that features dawn hot air balloon launches and evening balloon glows, wine tasting, food pairing, chef demonstrations, and concerts on two stages. Melody Brunsting of Melody’s Ad works, Inc. was contracted to promote the event through an integrated Public Relations and Marketing Campaign. The Festival adopted the theme of “Light it Up” for the 2018 event. This theme drove the public relations and marketing. To increase media coverage media day and media flights were both Friday (a preview) and Saturday (during the balloon launch).
Media events were held Friday June 1 and Saturday June 2 of the event. Originally May 31 and June 1 were offered. However, we adjusted the schedules for interested media. The goal was to create more engagement between the crowd and the media; thereby producing more positive social media posts and engagement, while growing the Festival’s database and fulfilling its mission to enhance the charitable, cultural, educational, and economic development of the region. The Media Event(s) fit(s) within category: Tactics, Media Relations, T5d – Media/Press Kit for the Polaris Awards. It included media flights, full weekend passes to evening glows, and tethered rides, VIP access.
RESEARCH:
Primary research: On-site intercept surveys of the Festival attendees are done annually providing primary research data that demonstrates the effectiveness of the public relations and marketing, while obtaining attendance demographic trends, and attendance motivation. Online ticket purchasers are also surveyed after the Festival and the results combined for targeting media.
Survey questions identified: 1)Guests basic demographics (age, county/state of residence, income, sex, single or married, and income); 2)Whether guests booked rooms, camping or vacation rental; 3)Motivating factors for attending the Festival (Wine, Balloons, Food Pairing, Concerts, Camping); 4) Where guests obtain their concert and entertainment news; 5)Type of device guest uses for booking/buying tickets (mobile device/phone, computer, tablet); 6)Guests preferred or frequently used media (cable television, radio, satellite radio, newspaper).
Secondary research provided by the Media, Social Media and/or Nielsen ratings, were matched to the Festival’s core target audience based upon both quantitative and qualitative profiles of the media’s audiences. Targeted media was also based upon guest responses to surveys and social media analytics of the Festival audience, likes and dislikes.
Opportunities:
- The Festival offers appealing visuals for print and broadcast media. This includes: balloon launches, evening balloon glows, Lake Skinner views, chefs preparing food, wine tasting, and concerts.
- More than 50% of the 2017 Festival attendees obtained concert and entertainment news from social media, online subscriptions, and news services.
- Given 3 choices, the 2017 Festival Guests stated the reasons for attending the event were #1) Wine (58.7%), #2) Hot Air Balloons (54.6%) and #3) Concerts (54.1%)
Challenges/Problems:
- KTLA’s news team had been misled into believing they were covering the Festival in April 2017, only to find the television broadcast was of one hot air balloon, from a winery under construction. A reparation of trust continued through 2018 as we developed new subject matter and more audience engagement.
- 30-40% of the Festival attendees are from the Los Angeles/Orange County market area, and 15% of the attendees come from San Diego County, requiring news coverage from outside the Inland Empire to meet attendance goals.
- The Festival is not considered local news to the Los Angeles, Orange, and San Diego County major news sources.
PLANNING:
Communications with targeted television news began in March and offered balloon flights, balloon rides, the evening balloon glow, interviews with headline entertainment, wine tasting and food and wine pairing events. Press Kits and Invitations were designed to entice participation from media influencers via colorful, succinct messages, appealing graphics, and components that illustrate the “Light It Up” theme. Visuals included the 2018 souvenir poster, a 3-fold brochure with keys to content on flash drive, and the USB drive in the shape of a wine bottle. Television broadcasters were provided etched wine bottles illuminated with LED light strands and attached to a wine cork stopper. Media was targeted based on their audience’s qualitative and quantitative demographics: 25-54-year-old adults, household income over $100,000, knowledge and interest in Temecula Valley, wine, wine & concert goers, female decision makers, foodies and photographers. The cost for the events was limited to the cost of the press kit and invitations at $1500. Flights and participation at the event were part of the Festival’s overall costs.
Objectives:
- Obtain live broadcasts of 2 or more Los Angeles and/or San Diego targeted TV News Shows.
- Obtain broadcast and video coverage of the Festival engaging the audience from all target markets and including balloon glow coverage.
- Obtain weekend coverage from top bloggers, photographers, and social media influencers in the entertainment, concert/music, and food/wine media.
IMPLEMENTATION:
Media was researched, reviewed, and contacted eight weeks prior to distributing invitations and media kits to determine interest and participation. Invitations and media kits were distributed six weeks prior to the Festival. Depending on the media, offers for interviews with concert headliners, in-studio interviews, and backstage interviews were offered, as well as balloon flights and rides. Onsite interviews with winemakers, winery owners, and chefs were also established. Broadcasters were delivered custom press kits inside silver boxes with custom labels made with the souvenir poster image. Key elements included an etched illuminated wine bottle with the Festival logo, 35th Anniversary insignia and a matching wine glass. Press kits included a wine-bottle-shaped USB drive made of cork with press releases, PSAs, photos and videos included on the drive, and a 3-fold brochure that guided journalists through the flash drive contents. Souvenir posters were mailed to key influencers and broadcasters. A separate information sheet was provided television and online broadcasters. These offered links to Vimeo stored b-roll and the formats available. Hispanic media received translated press releases and PSAs. All entertainment stories included social media and/or website links of the performers. Follow up communication to verify receipt included phone calls, emails, and preferred method of contact to the journalists.
EVALUATION:
The Festival media coverage reached more than 100% of its targeted geographic goal and received the bulk (738 of the 782 hits) of its media coverage beginning six weeks prior to the event (April 16) and continuing for one week after the event. 26 media outlets attended the Festival’s Friday Media Day. The event was covered by 34 newspapers and magazines within the targeted DMA’s, 6 within the regional and out of market areas, and 16 national and international media. States covering the event included New York, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Florida, Texas, Arizona, Ohio, Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and California. Countries with media coverage included China, Korea, Philippines, Germany, Canada and India. Television News Coverage in Los Angeles include 5 of the 6 targeted stations (ABC, NBC, CBS, KCAL and KTLA targeted (83%). KTLA covered Saturday’s balloon launch, tethered rides and wineries. KTLA also opened the press kit on the air on May 26th, “lighting up” the bottle. Sugar Ray was interviewed live on KTLA May 30 and replayed throughout the weekend. CBS/Kcal covered Friday’s evening balloon glow – another goal achieved. In San Diego, 3 of the 4 (NBC, KSWB- Fox and CBS) television news stations covered the event (75%). Local international media covering the Festival met goals with one South American media – and four Asian market media covering the event.
High powered travel bloggers attended and reviewed the Festival: Coucou Jolie (275 K Instagram, 28K Facebook), Viva Luxury (731K Instagram, 699 K Facebook), Travel/Love/Fashion (39.4K Instagram), Just Luxe (212K Facebook, 34.4 K Twitter, 11.2K Instagram), One Modern Couple (127 K Twitter, 19.4K Instagram) and Always 5 Star (29.2K Twitter).
Ad Value Equivalent for entire campaign was $3,231,759. This is a 195.5% increase over 2017’s AVE and more than 25 times the Festival’s paid advertising budget. Television coverage generated 4,062,376 impressions and produced $539,539 AVE (Ad Value Equivalent). This is an 183% increase from 2017 AVE of $190,810. The Festival received 46 television news program hits from May 26 to June 4.
Publicity Coverage resulted in over 282 MILLION impressions, * improved from 82.65 million impressions in 2017 *Accumulated from Meltwater and Metro Monitor News reports.
Data base/and social media growth: Festival data base of customers was increased by 6,062, (36%) from 16,691 to 22,753. Festival social media audience growth was: Facebook +1,565, (5.3%) from 28,637 to 30,191; Instagram + 655 followers (52.1%) from 1,241 to 1,896; Twitter + 202 (8.7%) from 2,330 to 2,532.
Target attendance/audience goal achieved: 25-54-year-olds made up 60.75 % of attendees, with top three reasons for attending in order 1) Wine, 2) Concerts 3) Balloons. Household income of attendees: 58 % over $75K; 46% earned $100K+. 28% came from Los Angeles/Orange County area, 13% San Diego County, 6% out of Southern California market area. Total Guests from outside of Riverside County = 58% tourists supporting sponsors City, County and Winery objectives. 26% reported that they stayed in a hotel rooms or vacation rental for the Festival weekend