Experiential Engagement Marketing Idea Competition

Cassidy Skovmose Katrina Cepovski Dana Paciagiu

Marketing and Special Events HRT154-ONB
Ron Caughlin
April 17th, 2018
Introduction/Context
Throughout the course of HRT154, we have focused on experiential marketing and
developing a better understanding of how to promote and brand an idea or company effectively.
With the knowledge we have gained, we have been asked to attract a new demographic for the
RBC Canadian Open. The RBC Canadian Open​ ​is a professional golf tournament, which has
been annually produced thanks to the Royal Canadian Golf Association as well as Golf Canada.
This event has been going on for the last 114 years and been a huge success within the golf
society of Canada. (History. (n.d.). Retrieved April 17, 2018, from http://rbccanadianopen.com)
Unfortunately, the RBC Canadian Open isn’t attracting all of its key targets. Our goal is to create
an interactive way for millennials and Canadian newcomers to feel welcomed, appreciated and
involved in the event. Our proposal will focus on the engagement and promotion of this event,
which will help drive sales with our goal target market.

Research
Historically, the RBC Canadian Open has been developed and centered around the
inclusion and satisfaction of middle aged white males and their families. Recently, the RBC
Canadian Open has tried to target a different demographic; millennials and newcomers to
Canada. They essentially want to shift the focus of the event to the improvement of the
experiences of millennials and newcomers. However, the RBC Canadian Open have encountered
several problems regarding the success of attracting a new demographic. For the last 114 years,
the primary focus of the event was golf. Generally, people associated golf with middle-class
older white males. To a millennial or newcomers to Canada, this may seem like an event that is
not necessarily suitable for them due to these factors. Additionally, the RBC Canadian Opens’
social media pages focus primarily on golf, and not the other exciting aspects of the event that
may attract millennials and newcomers to Canada. Moreover, for someone who is not a big fan
of golf, the price of the tickets may seem expensive as there is nothing else associated with the
ticket, besides golf. In comparison, you can purchase a ticket to a music festival, art festival or
carnival for the same price, and experience a wide variety of things, as opposed to simply
watching or doing one thing. This is the RBC Canadian Opens’ main competition, as millennials
and newcomers to Canada are generally attracted to events that offer a wide range of
experiences.
Objectives
While planning this event, our main objective is to create a unique experiential marketing
campaign that caters to millenials and newcomers to Canada. Our focus this year and for the
many years to come is to introduce a different age range to the festivities. We hope by executing
this event more towards the millennial generation, it will shed a light on a whole new business
target. We expect to achieve success with this event and this comes with a few business
objectives through executing our experiential engagement marketing program. One of the main
business objectives we have is to engage new demographics to become a constant part of ticket
sales this year and for many years to come. When people think about golf, their heads do not
automatically go to the younger generation and this is what we are trying to change. When we
had the pleasure of seeing Bill Paul speak he stated another important business objective that
goes hand in hand with the first. “Estimated sales by 2020 to be $5.1 million”(Paul,2018) By
enlarging the target market with a fresh new experiential engagement marketing program, we
believe this objective to be more than possible to accomplish. We plan to reach this new
demographic by using an experiential campaign. In addition, two other ways to attract our target
market would be through a viral campaign as well as a social media campaign. We would use a
viral campaign to catch the eyes of the younger demographic because they are famously known
for rather “watching the movie than reading the book”, so a viral campaign would be a great
asset. In addition to that we are all very familiar with the popularity of social media and how this
could be an enormous tool to achieve all of the above objectives.

Target
Our ideal target market while planning this event is millenials and newcomers to canada.
This is because the Canadian Open is looking to expand their audience by introducing a younger
crowd. Millenials are a huge target market which will bring a big increase to ticket sales. As well
as this is the starting generation of social media, which means that the news of this event will be
passed along to more people on a daily basis. In the development of an experiential engagement
program for RBC Canadian Open, we believe that the millennial demographic will be most
engaged, as well as this is our goal for the outcome of this event. This target market we are
pursuing are ages; 21-30 years old. The RBC Canadian Open has most famously been known to
cater to an older demographic and potentially their families. This is not an ideal way of moving
forward if an intended goal is to make this event more popular and for ticket sales to increase. By
expanding this target, it will bring this event to a much more mainstream position and could
change the meaning of this event for the future.
 On another note, not a lot of eyes are on the RBC Canadian Open and that means not a lot
of people are talking about it. When you hear RBC Canadian Open your mind goes to middle
aged suburban men playing golf and this is a mold we are trying to get out of with our
experiential engagement program. When developing the experiential engagement program, we
plan to create experiences and activities that cater to the younger demographic.

Strategies
Throughout the research and development of this event we noticed what makes
millennials involved in activities. To access this younger demographic we plan on going to
harbourfront on a weekend before the event begins. We plan on putting into action our
experiential marketing campaign there to engage with millenials and promote the event. Our
experiential campaign will include getting millennials together and spreading the word and
showing it on all social media platforms. During this, one main tactic we want to use is by
recording this campaign and getting people to speak to the camera and then posting it on
Facebook. This will then attach to the RBC website as well. This will advocate for the event and
then we can use our logo “Golf isn't Just For Dad’s Anymore” and create a hashtag that people
can share with their friends and the world and create a lot more traffic on the RBC website. This
campaign is intended breaking stereotypes about golf and what it means and who gets involved.
Execution/Implementation
The basis of our experiential marketing campaign is to provoke Millennials and new
Canadians by making the RBC Canadian Open an event that gives people an excuse to dress up.
In conversing with a variety of millennials, an idea surfaced that the only way people of this
generation would pay to attend the open is if there was a reason to dress up, a reason to drink
alcohol, and a reason to post a selfie on Instagram. Therefore, we’re choosing to implement a
dress code that includes similar attire to what someone would wear to a Polo match. Examples of
an appropriate male or female ensemble are as follows:

To further this “Polo-style” theme, we suggest that the event include décor that is
eye-catching and photograph-worthy. Our big budget purchase, would be a flower wall backdrop
for guests to gather in front of and take pictures. This wall will be accompanied by overhead
twinkle lights for when the sun starts to set and other shabby chic elements to highlight the new
sophisticated event.
 In addition to dress code and décor, we propose that the RBC Canadian Open have
musical guest performances by local Canadian artists. Some artists have already shown interest
in being part of this project and have thus provided their wage to be a potential guest. Some of
the popular artists include Alyssa Reid, Alessia Chole, Stereos, and Hailey Reese. These famous
Toronto musicians will bring another element of excitement to The Open, prompting new
visitors to attend. The artists will also be ambassadors via social media, promoting their
appearance at the open and generating a following for the event based on their fanbase.

Now, in terms of making all these plans come alive, a lot of advertising needs to be done
before the event takes place. So, to accomplish this, we propose that a marketing experience take
place on the May long weekend from the 18​th​- 21​st​ at the Harbourfront Toronto. This date and
location will bring in a high traffic of customers that are celebrating the long weekend near the
lake.

During this time, we will set up an attention-grabbing booth that three brand ambassadors
will run. The staff will dress in polo-attire, demonstrating “the look” that is being strived for with
the dress code. There will also be signage and pamphlets with a guide to what to wear to the
dress-code event. The pamphlets will also highlight which musicians can be expected to attend
and an inside look at all the Instagram-worthy opportunities there will be (such as the flower
wall.)

When people approach the booth, they will then be encouraged to try a karaoke game that
can be played solo or with up to a group of four people. The Singstar game can be used on the
PlayStation 4 and is compatible with smartphones. This makes it easier and more intriguing for
tech-savvy millennials and Canadian newcomers because everything they need to play is right at
their fingertips. The karaoke game also adds to the theme of what can be expected at The Open
because it addresses the musical element of the new theme.
 Moving forward, once participants have engaged in the karaoke game, they are each
eligible to obtain a coupon for $5 off their entrance ticket to any day pass for the duration of The
Open. This extra tidbit will encourage participants to take part in the upcoming event.

In addition to everything mentioned above, we will have a Humber Student-Production

team onsite that is willing to film and edit the experience to make a viral video for Facebook and
YouTube. The video will be a string of footage of participants competing in the karaoke game,
while laughing and having a great time. We will ask some people to do interview-style takes
with us as well. In addition, will have anyone who is willing, say the phrase “This is my open,”
to the camera combine it with footage of the karaoke game to make a promotional viral video.
The opening title screen of the video will read “Golf isn’t just for Dad anymore” and then move
on to all the fun things that happened at the Harbourfront booth. Accompanied by a great
soundtrack and catchy hashtags, the video is a surefire way to attract more attention to the RBC
Canadian Open via an online strategy.

The final detail to consider is staffing. To succeed in carrying out a project of this
immensity, dedicated staff are a necessity. We propose that for the Harbourfront booth
experience, three staff will be required for an 8-hour shift each day Friday through Monday. The
staff will be given a wage of $15/hour each. To set up and maintain the concert day at the
Canadian Open, a larger team of staff would be required. We propose that six staff and four
volunteer work Friday and Saturday for an 8-hour shift. The staff will be paid $15/hour each.
Having a larger team for the concert will allow for individuals to do different shifts and take
appropriate breaks throughout the day to avoid burn-out.

Budget Considerations
To carry out our experiential marketing idea properly, our budget was geared toward both
what we need before and during the RBC Canadian Open. Our wish to properly execute an event
that provokes millennials to attend, requires a great deal of detail. The strategies that take place
before the event and during the event to further our theme are mutually exclusive. One cannot
exist without the other. Activities carried out at the booth become void if the entertainment at
The Open falls short and vice versa. For this reason we have outlined all expenses that allow us
to ensure our guest experience is at its fullest.
Evaluation/Metrics
How will you evaluate the success with respect to:

Brand:​​ We want to brand ourselves effectively to ensure millenials and newcomers to Canada
know that they are being represented. To determine and track the success of our brand, we will
be evaluating the engagement and involvement of our customers with different questions such
as: How many new followers and young followers have now followed the instagram, twitter
and/or facebook page? How many millennials stopped at our booths compared to the older
generation? We will also being track the sharing and usage of our hashtag and ticket sales with
the coupons we are handing out.

Promotion:​​ We will be evaluating our promotional advancement through the use of “​Marketing
Metrics and KPIs”. With the help of this performance indicator, it will allow our campaign to see
the growth within our marketing techniques. To ensure that we have been successful with this
promotion, we hope to have a growth of 40 percent more ticket sales from millenials or
newcomers to Canada.

Overall Impact: ​To determine the overall impact of our marketing proposal, we will be focusing
on the ticket sales compared to previous years at the RBC Canadian Open. We also want an
opportunity to do a guest survey at the end of the event that is sent out to the participants to see
what their general thoughts and experiences with the event were.