Case Studies

Seventeen Seventeen Magazine, under the Hearst group of publications, is in the forefront of newsstand popularity among women from the ages of 15–22. To further their brand identity and that of their loyal advertisers', Seventeen hired The Passion Group to develop and execute a turn-key college marketing event, reaching both loyal and prospective readers alike. The Campus Groove tour visited college campuses geographically located in the three major U.S. regions – East Coast, West Coast and Midwest. All schools chosen had an enrollment of 25,000 or greater to optimize the high impact sampling program. The event featured a mobile exhibit organized in a high traffic location on each campus. Product specialists distributed product samples and branded premium items to thousands of visitors at every tour stop. Seventeen's participating advertisers included Maybelline, Tweezerman, Akademiks, wet'n'wild, Stride gum, L.e.i., Nike, Anchor Blue, and Jessica's Fancy. The evening segment of the event tapped into the Greek life on campus as Seventeen visited a chosen sorority at each campus and offered free makeovers, palm readers, product, prizes, and more to create an emotional bond with female students on behalf of Maybelline cosmetics. TPG creatively designed a custom truck and trailer wrap enhancing the reach while the tour traveled around the country. Additionally, TPG handled all pre-promotional elements including placing radio spots on popular local stations, developing and placing ads in school newspapers and creating impactful posters that we hung around highly visible campus locations. The overall success of Campus Groove proved to be such that Seventeen magazine adapted it as a yearly program for the brand and its advertisers. ^ Back To Top
Scion Slam Toyota Motor Sales asked The Passion Group (TPG) to develop a program reaching their target audience of active military personnel on military bases. TPG created the concept of a turn-key 3-on-3 basketball tournament and car show traveling across the country to over 70 military installations over the contract period. TPG fully staffed this event and provided the necessary resources, logistics, marketing material, and supplies needed to perform this 3-on-3 Military Tour. The purpose of the event is to show appreciation to the Military families and their community and ultimately provide the MWR with sponsorship dollars put towards future retention programming. Since its inception in 2005, this national Military tour has activated on over 70 installations resulting in over 5.7M impressions nationwide with an approximate total attendance of 145,000. Encompassing all branches of the military we have included stops at Marine, Army, Navy and Air Force Bases from Norfolk to San Diego. The event was two days on each base, commencing with a tip off party on Friday night followed by the basketball tournament on Saturday. The tip-off parties were created so the players could see who they were teamed up against and see their brackets. To encourage participation, food and live music were provided at the parties, including local VIP DJ's and personalities. In addition to the tip off parties and the tournament, we produced a car show, 'Scion Slammed', coinciding with the tournament on Saturday afternoon. It was a multi-category custom car show which was created to showcase the customization features of the Scion vehicles, which the brand is extremely passionate about. Although it showcased Scion vehicles, it was not limited exclusively to them and averaged about 75 cars per installation. Another aspect of the tour was a featured a ride'n'drive element at each event site where attendees could test drive the full Scion vehicle line-up in a real driving environment while sitting alongside a trained product specialist employed by TPG. At the conclusion of the tournament, we held an awards ceremony honoring the 1st place men's team and 1st place women's team. We also had automotive enthusiasts judge the cars in the car show using a custom automotive grade sheet. All the winners were given prize packages including products from the value add sponsors' as well as a custom plaque featuring a Scion gear shift knob. Additionally, at the conclusion of the tour the three bases with the highest attendance received a Gala party featuring celebrity DJ Jazzy Jeff. ^ Back To Top
US Army The Passion Group (TPG) has successfully executed one of the top three lead generating programs of all US Army events throughout the year. Our primary goal was to develop an event which endorses the US Army as a fun and exciting organization to be associated with, while fostering and expanding brand recognition. We designed the event to be a casual environment to promote the Army in an entertaining, positive setting. As the program manager we coordinated simultaneous, 21-day consecutive events taking place in two different geographic locations – Panama City Beach, FL and South Padre Island, TX. Through TPG's exclusive access to the premiere beachfront properties, our client generated maximum exposure to the target demographic aged 18-24, reaching more than 6 million potential enlistees and generating 250,385 leads over the contract period. TPG deployed an immersive media technology system that collected real-time actionable data for aggregating and reporting. This allowed for Army surveys to be performed electronically ensuring a 96% lead qualification rate. Additionally, the system was connected to wireless signals enabling the reports to occur daily in both markets so that recruiting actions were immediate, further supporting the strength of appointments going to contract. In 2011, this event was seen as a superior example of Youth Marketing and granted the runner up title in the Grassroots category for GennY award. TPG produced above and beyond programming on their behalf including the creation of physically challenging students to be "Army Strong" by designing a custom built, 75' climbing tower as well as a nine-level obstacle course which replicated the activities found in the traditional 8-12week basic training program. Additionally, we built a mechanical bull riding Rodeo experience and Army Sports Zone lounges where we equipped an area with flat screen televisions to showcase sporting events such as NCAA tournaments, and Army-sponsored athletes in NASCAR and NHRA leagues. We also constructed two branded entertainment stages with daily activities such as Army Strong push-up and arm wrestling contests. We provided 24 hour security, restrooms with daily cleaning service, trash removal and pick-up along with landscaping of the event area. ^ Back To Top
The Maxim Party Alpha Media Group (AMG) publishes Maxim, the largest men's magazine in the world, which reaches one in every five men ages 18-34. AMG contracted The Passion Group (TPG) to implement year-round events on their behalf, including three simultaneous events during the NFL's Super Bowl weekend. The events were geographically dispersed by region: East Coast (Ft. Lauderdale, FL), West Coast (San Diego, CA) and Midwest (Chicago, IL). TPG managed all talent, VIP coordination, public relations, logistics, venue acquisition, sponsor activations, vendor relations, creative, collateral production and staffing. This included hiring performers at all events, securing transportation and lodging, branding and décor, staging, video, sponsor coordination and activation, photography and media. In addition to our own public relations efforts, we also worked with local agencies in each market to ensure media coverage and celebrity coordination. Responsible for the design, production and installation for all branding at the events, we worked with all the participating sponsors to ensure all signage and other collateral material was properly branded, trademarked intellectual property was correctly utilized, all material was used in approved methods, all while maximizing brand messaging. The programs were highly successful, not only meeting the requirements but exceeding our client's expectations by accommodating over 7,500 attendees. This success has resulted in AMG expanding their local market initiative for future years to include 15+ simultaneous events in addition to the host city. ^ Back To Top
Hooah! Palooza – Army National Guard The Passion Group (TPG) and the ARNG put together an event targeting college and high school students as part of ongoing efforts to tap into the youth demographic in the United States and reach new recruits. The event was designed as a mobile recruitment opportunity for the ARNG, aiming to be the #1 cost per lead recruitment program. As the program manager, TPG coordinated two simultaneous 21 day events taking place in different geographic locations – Panama City, FL and South Padre Island, TX. Through TPG's exclusive access to the premiere beachfront properties, our client generated maximum exposure reaching more than 2.5 million potential enlistees over the contract period. The program reflected the ARNG in a safe, entertaining and positive setting while challenging students physically via a custom-built dodge ball arena, basketball and volleyball courts. A huge feature of this activation was that we produced a one day beach-side concert highlighting national recording artist, 3 Doors Down, which kicked off the Citizen/Soldier ARNG promotion and was the very first concert the ARNG has ever produced. In addition, National Guard "Cool Zone" lounges were constructed equipped with wi-fi laptops and flat screen televisions to showcase NCAA sporting events. We developed tie-ins to existing ARNG sponsorships with major sporting associations by creating custom signage with images of ARNG sponsored athletes in NASCAR, INDYCAR and AMA leagues, including Dale Earnhardt Jr. of NASCAR. In each market, TPG managed a branded stage with daily interactive contests and live entertainment, day and night e-shot applications for lead generation and exhibits with ARNG mobile assets including the ARNG Hummer and the Patriot Chopper. We executed weekly luncheons focusing on high priority qualified students while managing all RPI's (including receiving, storage and distribution) and all staffing. TPG created, produced and strategically placed ARNG custom signage, fabricated to the National Guard's specifications, in the most highly visible places on the entrances and public spaces within the resorts. We designed and produced additional media elements including hotel key cards, elevator wraps, wristbands, custom inflatables and other associated collateral. In addition to brand recognition, the overall goal for this program was to increase mobile recruitment efforts. Realizing the importance of this factor, TPG and our highly trained staff exceeded client's expectations producing over 84,000 leads and eShots for the ARNG. This program is viewed to be among the most efficient cost-per-lead recruitment programs. ^ Back To Top
Australian Gold "Live The Gold Life" The Passion Group helped launch Australian Gold's "Live the Gold Life" campaign taking local distribution in the Florida market to a national level and gaining 10,000+ social media market (Facebook) 'Likes' within a one month event time frame. We took a relatively unknown company in the sun care category and through carefully planned pre-promotion and event activation, brought their brand national recognition. Australian Gold was known as an in-door sun care product nationally but only in the state of Florida as an outdoor sun-care brand. They came to us with the initiative to expand their brand to coincide with the national distribution launch of their outdoor sun care line. Through our simultaneous 3 city Spring Break campaign targeting college students nationwide, we successfully gained the brand recognition as a top contender in the outdoor sun care industry, competing with top brands such as Banana Boat and Hawaiian Tropic. The program elements included daytime and nighttime programming as well as mass sampling efforts distributing an excess of 200,000 product samples. TPG designed and executed all of Australian Gold's beachfront programming at tier 1 venues including full scale custom branding, volleyball courts, beachfront pods, and a custom stage with daily contests. Additionally, Australian Gold was the title sponsor to nightly concerts featuring national recording artists from all genres. ^ Back To Top
Asbury Park Oysterfest In the inaugural year of the Oysterfest event, the Asbury Park Chamber of Commerce came to TPG for assistance solely with logistics of the one day event. Based on our performance and the comfort level the client had working with TPG, the following year the Chamber contracted the Passion Group to produce the entire event turn-key extending it into a weekend long experience. We were responsible for sponsorships, media, budget management, event location, event design and layout, neighborhood relations, special event permitting, trash, recycling, insurance, vendor procurement, talent, staging and all rentals. Some of the highlights we have implemented the past couple years include the Oyster Oasis, live bands on three stages, and an HDTV sports zone featuring NCAA & NFL football games. The change in responsibility resulted in a swing of Chamber financials from a $20k loss in the inaugural year to an $18k profit in the second year and every year thereafter. Most recently, TPG further supported the community by raising over $5,000 for the local Boys and Girls Club on Monmouth County during the Oysterfest weekend. ^ Back To Top