Wild postering: an effective out of home strategy for sports marketing
The 2024 Winter Classic being played in Seattle’s T-Mobile Park between the Seattle Kraken and Las Vegas Golden Knights
Sports are a big deal.
There are nearly 200 professional sports teams in the US, and annually they account for $520 billion in revenue. Sports teams utilize a vast array of marketing tactics to reach fans, sell tickets, make announcements and more. Despite marketing trends in the digital sphere, teams and sports commissions continue to employ out of home marketing media to great success. Out of home marketing provides an authentic “edge” to traditional marketing efforts that responds to fan loyalty and brings audiences closer to the teams they love. It’s far from as passive as it seems.
Out of home successes
In Seattle alone, 2023 saw out of home campaigns by the Sounders FC, Kraken, Mariners, Ballard FC, the MLB All-Star Game and the NHL’s Winter Classic. These featured transit ads, billboards, and most importantly, wild postering. The public response was overwhelmingly positive on the street level, as people get caught up in the hype and energy of the posters, bringing a fresh anticipation of the upcoming big games.
But why did they use wild postering?
Wild postering is a successful tactic for high-traffic areas where billboards and other out of home media aren’t available or too expensive. Wild postering is cheaper and can reach more locations than other strategies. Sports teams can drive greater engagement through this medium and deliver more localized and personal messaging. There is more power for creativity with wild postering designs and layouts.
Women’s sports: on the rise
Today, women’s professional sports are undergoing a renaissance. The boom is largely due to new viewership deals and streaming offerings, new teams and leagues being formed, and an overall increase in awareness. As viewership and attendance surge, there is even more need to reach new audiences and maintain the growth nationwide. We believe that wild postering will be an invaluable addition to the marketing mix for these new teams, especially for some that don’t yet have the budgets for billboards or other more expensive media buys.
What do sports teams really need to market?
The possibilities are endless, really. We have worked on campaigns with messaging targeting many different goals, including:
Announcing a new season schedule
Season or single-game tickets going on sale
Upcoming rivalry matches or special exhibitions
New jersey or logo designs
Playoff or All-Star game hype
Highlighting specific players
And much, much more!
We love seeing different teams harness the creative power of wild postering in so many different ways. It really is a great way to bring a team’s identity on the streets and connect with fans (and make new ones!)
Consider how wild postering can help your team’s marketing needs next season!
Sézane: Promoting a new pop-up store all over town
Sézane is a prestigious French clothing brand with flagship stores in Paris and London. Recently they have expanded into the US market with temporary stores opening in Boston, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
When they approached us about their upcoming Seattle store (open at University Village until January 2024!), we were excited for the opportunity to execute some creative activations for them to raise awareness. We started with a citywide wild postering campaign featuring bold poster designs highlighting the new store and the fashion line. Their plan was to ride the initial hype of the store opening for a few weeks and then conduct some strategic activations around the city to maintain interest in the store following the rush.
We developed a few concepts for activating locally in order to show off the clothing and tell people about the store location and hours. The idea that Sézane felt would best resonate and remain on-brand was a series of small events at various locations throughout the city. We would dress models in Sézane clothing and have them hand out branded flower bouquets and tote bags. We had flyers with information about the store for people to take as well.
The planning process was fairly simple, but required coordination. We ordered flowers and had them cut and dressed at the office. The models were fitted and made up to fit the style of the brand. We brought a cute cart to hold the flower arrangements and tote bags on site, as well as a branded tent featuring the poster designs as a backdrop. Then we hired a local band named Rouge to sing French standards as entertainment while the brand ambassadors would hand out the items.
The activations were a huge success. People raved about the clothing and many visitors said they had visited the store or knew of the brand already. All the flowers and bags were given away, much to the delight of the client.
NEW BELGIUM BREWING: GLITTERY GLOW-UP AT SEATTLE PRIDEFEST
Pride Month in Seattle features some of the biggest celebrations in the world. 200,000 people descend on Seattle Center following the Parade, and many companies understand this opportunity to show their support of the LGBTQ+ community as well as highlight their brands in a fun and welcoming environment.
This year, our longtime relationship with the PrideFest organizers yielded a new partnership with New Belgium Brewing. They wanted to offer attendees in one of the beer gardens a free, fun activity that would also let them highlight their beer sponsorship of the festival. Our big idea: to construct a Glitter Garden.
Our initial proposal had to be adapted due to on-site size constraints, so we went back to the drawing board for a fresh concept that would work.
We drew up some plans and then converted them into a 3D model for being able to precisely measure the dimensions and materials we would need to execute the vision.
Preliminary Concepts
Initial rendering of our concept in Sketchup
We obtained all the wood and lattice we would need, and spent several days painting it all white and sprinkling glitter onto the pieces that would be facing out.
Once we had the materials itemized and priced out it was just a matter of assembly. The complication was that this had to be done on-site, as the final structure would be too big to move. Further, we could only set it up on a single afternoon the day before the activation was taking place.
We gathered all the pieces and prepared for the big day. Here are the results:
BEFORE:
AFTER:
It took a few hours and a couple mishaps but the final vision had been realized. The Glitter Garden was ready for business tomorrow!
We included framed photos of previous Seattle Pride Parades for a splash of color and featured fake ivy and wisteria to maximize the “garden” feel. New Belgium had room to display their products in the glass cabinets, and we brought real salon chairs and mirrors for the guests.
When we returned to the activation the following day everyone was really enjoying themselves and the line to get glittered was across the beer garden! We deemed it a very fun and creative project with an awesome outcome that really pleased the client and spoke to their brand and values. They hope to reproduce this next year!
NÜTRL SELZTER: TWIXMAS EVENT PRODUCTION
In late 2022 we were approached by Anheuser-Busch, a wild-posting client of ours, to create a community-focused event around the holiday season. They wanted to put their new American product, NÜTRL, a vodka seltzer beverage in front of a group of local influential people that would help spread buzz about the brand. We came up with an idea that would do just the trick.
With AB’s blessing we partnered with two local nonprofits, Sonic Guild and One Reel, to produce a memorable event centered around the beverage release. Sonic Guild was able to team us up with two great local music acts to perform at the event, and One Reel provided a stellar art gallery space in which to host it. We provided the rest!
With very short notice we put together a list of invitees and marketed tickets to the general public. We set up a stage and bar inside the gallery, with tasteful NÜTRL branding to remind guests of the evening’s sponsors. As soon as the doors opened people started rolling in.
Getting people to try the drinks ended up not being a very tall task; NÜTRL was a huge hit with attendees. People loved the fun flavors and classy look of the brand.
The music started with DJ Marco Collins and flowed into a melodic set by Bijoux before Chong the Nomad brought the house down with her high-energy performance.
The night was a tremendous success and we hope to partner with NÜTRL again in the future for more fun events! People didn’t want to leave when the show ended. It was a very memorable way to close out 2022 with friends and fun.
Chateau Ste. Michelle: Pride in the Park Sponsorship
Our handcrafted Pride display for Chateau Ste. Michelle
How does one of the largest wine distributors in the country approach a local pride event sponsorship in a fun, meaningful and tasteful way? Chateau Ste. Michelle approached us with exactly that task after buying a sponsorship for Seattle Pride’s Pride in the Park at Volunteer Park.
The goal was to create an “Instagrammable Moment” that would have visitors interested and engaging with the booth at the event. After brainstorming a few concepts we decided on a build-out of a large 3D backdrop that would bring both color and impact to the scene. We were going go make a huge PRIDE sign that people could photograph and that would serve as scenery for their selfie backgrounds.
Chateau Ste. Michelle loved the idea, so we were a go! Now the issue was… how were we actually going to build this from scratch? From concept to execution was going to require a bit more effort and materials than we originally thought.
Another consideration was how to situate this onsite. The field at the park is not flat, so our concept had to stable enough to hold the letters upright without tipping over, but also ensure that the bases were big enough to weigh everything down and hold the large rainbow arrangement of flowers we wanted to display.
The ensuing work involved a few weeks of precise measuring, cutting wood, gluing down foam blocks to hold the flowers, wrapping the bases in mesh, attaching ivy wraps, mounting the letters, and building the arrangement. The photos below outline the process.
The end result was an impressive sign that would be visible from across the park. We installed the piece on the morning of the festival and tented it off for shade. People lined up straight away to see what we were working on and we even made it on a local news report! The installation was semi-viral at the festival and brought a great number of visitors to the Chateau Ste. Michelle booth. Everyone wanted their photo taken in front of the sign.
At the end of the day we came to pack it back up and we were very glad we had put the tent up over the display - it was pouring rain that evening! We carefully loaded the display back into the truck and luckily nothing was damaged or too wet to save.
The activation was so successful that Chateau Ste. Michelle approached us again for another Pride activation the following year!
Starting to lay out the base
Shaping the caging once the foam is set
Tying the ivy blanket onto the base
Planning the flow of the plants across the piece
Almost ready for the letters
Finally taking shape
Ready for the big day!
Setting it up at Volunteer Park
People were lined up to take their photo before we were even done setting up
It was a hit!
Even the pets loved it