Press and Publicity Event
NBC
To Support the Launch of one of the most ambitious mini-series in the history of television
Geronimo created this event in Rockefeller Center in New York City. The show featured more special effects than most major movies. Created by Hallmark Entertainment, the producers of Lonesome Dove and Gulliver’s Travels, the new mini-series took the classic story of King Arthur’s Camelot and told it from the perspective of the wizard, Merlin. Titled Merlin, the show had an all-star cast that included Sam Neill, Isabella Rosselini, Martin Short and Helena Bonham-Carter.
In order to generate awareness and build an audience, NBC wanted to create a press and publicity event for the show. It would take place at Rockefeller Plaza in New York City the week prior to sweeps week and the objective was to generate incremental print press and word of mouth “buzz.”
Geronimo created a concept that, in effect, turned Rockefeller Plaza into a three day medieval Renaissance Fair during the days leading up to the mini-series premiere. Decorations from movie and men in armor strolled around interacting with pedestrians, and prominently featured and guarded 24/7 was the famous Sword in the Stone. One main sponsor, Kodak, and four secondary sponsors helped fund the event. Named the World of Merlin, each sponsor had a tent that tied into the overall theme. Chrysler had a computer on which you could magically create your own car. Kodak had a green screen picture booth in which consumers could have their picture appear in Merlin’s crystal ball. Prudential sponsored the main stage on which appeared costumed magicians, sword fighters, singers, jugglers and rope-walkers. Lucent Technologies promoted their Merlin phone system with a green screen video in which visitors could appear in a scene from Merlin and walk away with a copy of their screen test. Wizards of the Coast taught visitors how to play the strategy card game Magic using scenarios from Merlin. Hallmark Entertainment sponsored the Merlin Museum displaying costumes and props from the show, along with a trailer showing scenes from the show.
On opening night of the event, all the stars of the show, the director and the producer appeared for a gala opening that was hosted by Al Roker of the TODAY show. After introducing the stars, Al called two children onto the stage to pull Excalibur from the stone into which it had been locked all day. The act of pulling the sword from the stone cued a unique event never before seen in Manhattan. As helicopters hovered overhead, and news crews filmed, the ice skating rink filled with smoke and music from Merlin filled the Plaza from a massive sound system. Then the first fireworks ever shot in midtown Manhattan filled the sky dropping from wires suspended overhead, shooting up from the smoke filled ice skating rink, and shooting off the set backs on 30 Rock Center all timed to the music. As this was happening, a giant Merlin began to stand up from out of the smoke-filled ice rink. In just 100 seconds, a 100 foot tall, highly realistic duplicate of the lead character from the mini-series stood up in the rink holding Excalibur and a glowing crystal ball. As the music died, the crowd of more than 25,000 spectators heard the low rumbling laugh of the Mountain King (James Earl Jones) float over the plaza.
For the next three days, the giant Merlin stood watch over the World of Merlin as more than 250,00 visitors participated in the event. The results were clearly stated in trade publication headlines the following Monday as the audience numbers came in: MERLIN MYSTIFIES 52 MILLION! Due in a large part to the unprecedented publicity generated through the event, Merlin achieved the largest audience for a mini-series in opening sweeps history.
Press & Publicity Event
CBS
CBS Wanted to create some buzz around the launch of their new series, Jericho…
The show depicts a fictional Kansas town cut off from the world by what appears to be a nuclear bomb attack. The network’s initial idea was to have a town in Kansas change its name temporarily for a period of time. Geronimo was then tasked with developing ways to further extend this idea and make the program bigger and more interesting.
Geronimo Promotions implemented the following components:
- A nationally recognized artist was retained to turn a 40-acre field in Kansas into photo-realistic land art that showed the signature picture of the series, a boy standing on his roof with a mushroom cloud in the distance.
- The nearby town of East Lawrence changed its name to Jericho for the program premiere.
- On the day of the premiere, a major press and publicity event was held in a tent on the farm next to the land art. At this conference, the governor of Kansas, Kathleen Sebelius, was in attendance and gave a press conference with the star of the show, Skeet Ulrich. At the press conference, she read a proclamation that announced that it would be Jericho Day in Kansas the day of the premiere.
- Helicopter rides were given to local VIPs and camera crews so people could get a birds-eye view of the land art.
- The Mayor of East Lawrence read a proclamation announcing their temporary name change on a stage erected in downtown East Lawrence.
- Following the proclamation, the world premiere of the series was shown for the residents of Jericho on a giant outdoor screen and a nationally acclaimed blues singer, Kelly Hunt, gave a free concert.
The combined impact of the events and the press and publicity that was generated contributed substantially to the successful launch of the series.
Itinerant On-Premise Event
MillerCoors
To generate on-premise sales, raise awareness of brand attributes and build customer loyalty, we created:
The world’s first mobile green screen studio that allowed patrons of bars and attendees at major events like the Super Bowl to appear in a Miller ad and walk away with a video of their “screen test”.
Event toured for almost 4 years across the U. S. and participants, as well as passive viewers, walked away with the brand nugget memorized. Media value exceeded the program cost.
Convention Services / Special Events
MillerCoors
To Create booth traffic, client interaction and good will at major trade shows and special events, as well as promote their partnership with Harley Davidson
Miller hired Geronimo to create and implement a digital photography event for use at high profile events and conventions.
On convention floors and at special events around the country, Geronimo leased a new Harley motorcycle, hired models, and used a state of the art commercial digital photography system developed in partnership with Polaroid, to take pictures of event attendees and VIPs on the Harley. We provided the props, and customers would line up to have their picture taken. Often done as a “magazine cover”, the copy could be customized for the event and customer. These pictures were inevitably taken home and shown to their friends, further extending the reach and impact of the promotion.
Also used to support racing themes, music themes and celebrity events, this flexible tool has been used regularly by a host of clients to draw attention, generate booth or event traffic, and provide a branded gift to visitors while directly supporting brand imagery.
In addition, at many of these conventions, Geronimo would set up and run a reception or party for 300 – 500 people. These were always in unique venues such as from a harbor cruise ship, a bank vault, a stage at a major casino, and an art gallery. They featured live music, food, cigars, an open bar and activities. Their objective was to provide Miller Sales Reps one-to-one time with key accounts. Over a ten year time frame, the events became so popular that they were THE most desirable tickets at any convention where the reception/party was implemented.
Experiential Marketing Tour
Libman Company
The Libman Freedom Tour
Libman introduced the new Freedom Mop in 2011. In addition to advertising, they were looking for effective tools to generate awareness, trial, and purchase, as well as build long term loyalty to the brand. To do this, Geronimo developed and implemented an integrated program that used an in-store tour to generate content for social media at the same time it did consumer sampling and education. Key thematic elements were freedom, family and America. The name of the tour was called The Libman Freedom Tour.
The Tour Reached Thousands with Incentives to Purchase
At the heart of the program, a mother/niece team made a twelve week tour of America. Starting in New York, they visited 14 major markets and a group of national monuments and historical sites along the way. Each week they visited retail stores and high profile events in these markets to pass out information and rebates on the Freedom Mop, and videotaped consumers in front of a backdrop as they answered the question: What person or thing in your family represents Freedom to you and why?
Ever Changing Content Generated Online Interest and Interaction
Each week, the best videos from each market appeared on Libman’s Facebook page with links to/from the Libman home page. Consumers from around the country were encouraged to post video entries also. At the end of the tour, we selected 14 finalists based on the following criteria: creativity, clarity of video and audio, relevance of content to questions and compelling nature of the video. Each finalist’s video was posted, and consumers were asked to vote for the best. The winner of the contest got their own Freedom Tour consisting of a customized trip to any three cities in the continental US or a cash alternative.
The tour also offered multiple opportunities for announcements, publicity and on-line consumer interaction: pre-tour, during-tour, and post-tour. The search for the mother/daughter team itself generated press as we lead up to the tour. During the tour, our mother and daughter posted daily blogs and photos recounting their observations and experiences. Weekly video diary entries added further to the content and interest. At the conclusion, the consumer voting and announcements of the winners generated participation. Finally, we used the video footage to create a special Freedom Montage for the Libman FaceBook page and Libman Home Page.
Social Media Content
Libman Company
At the heart of the “So You Think You Can Dance” tie-in Libman Behind the Scenes Social Media Content were 14 videos that provided new content
To encourage creativity and an atmosphere of collaboration among some of the biggest stars in SYTYCD history, Geronimo created a four day video event in Hollywood during which these unique dance videos were created and shot.
The Libman – So You Think You Can Dance tie-in was a multi-faceted program had at its heart 14 videos that provided new content each week on Libman’s Facebook page during the promotional period.
These unique dance videos were shot entirely at a two day shoot in Hollywood and featured some of the biggest stars of So You Think You Can Dance.
Music Festival
The Eastside BID
The Summer Soulstice Music Festival
This annual street festival on the East Side showcases local and emerging Wisconsin-based music acts, and over its 12-year run has gained both local and national attention for its diverse line-up. Attendance in 2013 was estimated at over 20,000, with a total of 20 bands and acts on three stages and numerous daytime activities. Geronimo was brought in to expand the audience of the festival and professionalize its implementation.
To enhance the East Side’s positioning as a crossroads for culture and expand the festival’s offerings beyond music, we added a third “family stage” and an “Arts Avenue.” Beginning at noon, we brought in acts and activities to appeal to the whole family during the daytime hours. We featured regionally famous jugglers, magicians, and acts, as well as creative activities from local institutions such as the Milwaukee Zoo, Discovery World, the Art Institute, Murray Hill Pottery and Whole Foods. All the major Wisconsin sports teams were represented by mascots, cheerleaders, activities and/or stars. This included the Green Bay Packers, Milwaukee Bucks, Brewers, Mustangs and Wave. Thirty local artists and craft vendors displayed and showed their wares as well. During this time, we created other non-music activities throughout the festival: bicycle polo, BMX demonstrations, ski ball, a dodge ball tournament, and even bocce ball played on real sod courts set up on the street. Of course, 20 local restaurants and vendors provided award winning food for the attendees for the duration of the festival. As day began to fade, the festival turned to music, and a line-up that has generated national press took to the stages until midnight.
Geronimo substantially increased the size of the event, significantly broadened the appeal to a much wider audience, expanded sponsorship and participation, and greatly increased sponsorship dollars and overall income.
Fund Raising Event
The Eastside BID
The Tomato Romp
The Tomato Romp is the oldest and biggest rotten tomato fight in the US. Geronimo was brought in as the Event Director to help expand its audience and bring professionalism to its execution. We added live music, entertainment by Comedy Sportz, live “tomato art”, a samba parade and a food crawl nicknamed the Tomato Chomp. We doubled the participation in the rotten tomato fight at the same time we expanded the famous Bloody Mary Contest. Together they raised over $4,000 for the local food banks, as well as five digit funding for the East Side Business Improvement District.
