Business to Business
April 6, 2009
Long before the Nov. 4, 2008, presidential election results were announced, CNN had emerged as the winner in the hotly contested media race. Thanks to its innovative “CNN Grill” coverage, CNN was the number one news and information site (Nielsen) for the
Democratic and Republican National Conventions, Then, on election night, CNN dominated Times Square, hosting a viewing party for tens of thousands of New Yorkers, while beating all cable and broadcast media in the 8 p.m. to midnight slot (Nielsen). “A stroke of marketing genius,” declared the Rocky Mountain News, assessing CNN’s innovative coverage of a historic year in politics.
To re-assert CNN’s leadership and deliver on the brand promise CNN=POLITICS, the company developed a two-pronged experiential strategy to “own” the biggest political events of the year: the two conventions and election night.
Days after Minneapolis (GOP) and Denver (Dem) were announced as the two convention cities, CNN secured prime venues and re-branded them in grand style. Meanwhile, CNN sent personalized “CNN Grill” credentials, to media, political and industry leaders, creating demand for what the Washingtonian called the “hottest tickets in Denver.”
Then, CNN partnered with restaurant impresario Danny Meyer and Union Square Group to open its convention venues, serving grilled dishes–such as burgers branded “CNN PRIME”–to VIP guests like Caroline Kennedy, Dan Rather, Ashley Judd and Spike Lee. There were also private events for top advertising and affiliate clients, with panels featuring CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, Anderson Cooper and Campbell Brown.
On election night, two jumbotrons delivered live CNN audio/video coverage to Times Square while an iReport booth let viewers file their own news. Meanwhile, photojournalists and news crews from around the globe captured the scene, resulting in 100-plus stories. In fact, The New York Times review of election coverage featured only one photo–CNN’s viewing party in Times Square—demonstrating who else really won the 2008 election.
For the U.S. launch of Volvo’s newest crossover vehicle, the XC60, the Scandinavian automaker created “The From Sweden with Löv Tour” designed to reinforce the brand’s premium quality and craftsmanship. This traveling event reached 54 U.S. dealerships,
providing retailer training during the day and an evening consumer event with the theme: “From a beautiful place, in a beautiful land, lovingly built by beautiful people, comes a beautiful new Volvo.”
Volvo transformed each showroom into an authentic Swedish experience highlighting the company’s heritage, such as a display of Volvo grilles over the years, while supporting the brand message: Life is Better Lived Together. To reinforce its reputation for safety leadership, Volvo debuted City Safety, a standard feature designed to avoid collisions at low speeds, making the XC60 the first Volvo to stop itself. Tour-goers could drive the XC60 through a course designed to instigate the City Safety feature, and consumer reactions caught on camera were later integrated into a TV safety commercial.
Volvo retailers reported a great response to the tour from both staff and consumers, boosting showroom traffic in an unfavorable automotive climate. In addition to 4.2 million PR impressions to date, the tour generated 3,000 qualified leads–with 3 percent placing a pre-order even before pricing options were made available.
With intensifying global concern about climate change, commercial aviation is facing increased media and government scrutiny. Boeing Commercial Airplanes, a brand rooted in technological innovation, used the 2008 Farnborough Air Show to showcase five key innovations–fuel efficiency, renewable energy, sustainable biofuels, noise reduction and air traffic system efficiency– that address environmental challenges. The exhibit, along with an accompanying Web component, allowed Boeing executives to interact with U.S. and European government and regulatory stakeholders, as well as major aircraft customers. Boeing experts discussed aviation biofuel options with the Obama transition team and facilitated the creation of a new sustainable aviation fuels end user group.