The Cup Experience

Project
Campaign launch

Media
television, radio, print, outdoor, website

Description

Multimedia awareness push that involved Louisville citizens in all things Ryder Cup.

The Client

Widely considered the Olympics of golf, the Ryder cup is in a disappearing category of world-class sports, in which the entrants compete for prestige rather than prize money. The Cup is held every two years, and pits 12 of America's best golfers against a dozen of the best players Europe has to offer.

The Challenge

The winning of the Ryder Cup was a watershed moment for sports in the State of Kentucky and the City of Louisville. When the 2008 host city was selected, Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson and Kentucky Governor Ernie Fletcher immediately convened a task force to take responsibility for the marketing of the Cup. Its goals were twofold.

First, to present the State of Kentucky and the City of Louisville in the most favorable light possible to the international media and the Cup viewership: 160 million households in 150 countries around the world. Second, to involve the residents of Louisville and the surrounding area to as great an extent possible this very prestigious event.

The Solution

From the outset, CurrentMarketing built a campaign around the concept of participation. The Cup Experience identity was created as the event's core brand, and an "It's Par-Tee Time" awareness campaign was rolled out over television, radio, print, outdoor and web-based media.

However the central pillar of The Cup Experience brand was live events. Dozens of events were created for the week of the Cup, including the establishment of 4th Street Live as the official "Cup Village". An aggregator Cup Experience web site was created as the online home for the Cup, and a variety of social media were employed to build and maintain public involvement.

The Fightmaster Cup, a tournament for one-armed golfers which similarly pitted a 12-man American team against a group of their European counterparts, was a major piece of the overall effort.

The Results

It isn't too much to say that CurrentMarketing created what will become the new template for marketing the Ryder Cup for the foreseeable future. Venues for the Cup and its associated events were without exception filled to capacity with eager, excited fans. The golfers themselves claimed never to have seen such a level of excitement for the Cup.

But perhaps the most telling testament to the overall impact of the Cup campaign has come from the future host of the Ryder Cup, the city of Celtic Manor in Wales, which has requested the blueprint of the campaign as the basis for their marketing efforts in 2010.

Examples

Website
www.thecupexperience.com