Division A - Public Relations Programs
Category 6 - Internal
ALL-TEAL STADIUM
Kevin Punsky, Bill Kral, The Dalton Agency
Award of Distinction
Judges' Award
Research/Situation Analysis:
Prior to last season, the Jacksonville Jaguars had not played a game on
Monday Night Football in five years. Due to the team’s tremendous
success in 2005, the NFL awarded the Jaguars two Monday night home
games in 2006, including one against the defending Super Bowl Champion
Pittsburgh Steelers. When the Jaguars last played the Steelers at home
in 2004, the Steelers were accompanied by more than 20,000 enthusiastic
fans whose black and gold jerseys and notorious “terrible towels” made
ALLTEL Stadium look like home turf for the Steelers. The spectacle
embarrassed the Jaguars and the city. To create an exciting way for
Jaguars fans and the team to overcome another invasion of Steelers
fans, the Dalton Agency developed an imaginative and creative public
relations campaign to turn ALLTEL Stadium into “ALL-TEAL Stadium.” The
premise was that fans would come dressed to the game only in teal to
rally the city and create a rowdy home-field advantage. To pull this
off, the agency faced two major challenges: 1) Convince skeptical
Jaguars executives that fans and retailers would embrace the idea; and
2) Plan and execute the campaign in less than 10 days prior to the
game. There was substantial risk if fans did not turn out en masse in
teal that the city would again be embarrassed on national television.
Before presenting the plan to the Jaguars, the agency compiled research
by contacting local media, city agencies, major sponsors and sports
apparel retailers to secure their interest and to confirm that they
would be willing to help promote the plan. Our research showed these
groups were more than willing to participate.
Objectives: The main objective of the campaign
was to persuade at least 75 percent of Jaguars fans to blanket the
stadium dressed in teal to create a compelling visual for the
nationally televised game and create a home-field advantage. The agency
would accomplish this by: 1) Developing an activity to allow all
Jacksonville citizens to participate in the campaign whether at work,
school or the game; 2) Securing the city’s endorsement by getting Mayor
John Peyton to issue an official proclamation and directing city
workers to decorate the downtown area in teal; and 3) Educating the
media and the public about the campaign by securing at least 10 media
placements.
Implementation: To kickoff the campaign, the
agency developed and disseminated a press release to launch “ALL-TEAL
Stadium.” Talking points were also developed to prepare key Jaguars
spokespersons. The agency produced several over-sized “ALL-TEAL
Stadium” signs to be held during interviews and at the game, and
created teal T-shirts to present to TV anchors to wear on camera. Every
local media outlet in the market covered the ALL-TEAL news as their top
story that day and several anchors either wore or displayed their
T-shirts on camera. Four days prior to the game, the agency organized a
press conference for Mayor Peyton to declare Sept. 18 as “All-Teal Day”
and appeal to Jaguars fans to make a strong statement for the national
television audience by blanketing the stadium in a sea of teal. Dressed
in teal attire provided by the agency, the mayor invited the entire
city to wear teal to school and work on Sept. 18. To add excitement to
the press conference, the agency secured the help of Jaxson de Ville,
the team’s mascot, and several members of The Roar cheerleading squad,
as well as representatives from the Jaguars. The mayor’s proclamation
also was the top story in the local media that day. Throughout the
campaign, the agency secured more than a dozen interviews with Jaguars
spokespersons and e-mail blasts were sent to season ticket holders,
sponsors, major corporations and city workers to remind fans to wear
teal. The agency also persuaded the city to decorate downtown the
weekend prior to the game by turning fountains teal, placing teal
ribbons on street light posts and projecting teal spotlights on
landmarks and city buildings.
Evaluation: The agency’s “ALL-TEAL Stadium”
campaign was a tremendous success and the extraordinary efforts to pull
it off paid huge dividends. The agency accomplished its overall
objective by persuading an estimated 80 percent of fans to wear teal to
the game—five percent more than goal. The day after the game, The
Florida Times-Union headline said it all: “JAGS FANS PAINT THE TOWN
TEAL.” The story reported: “Jaguars fans delivered on Mayor Peyton’s
All-Teal Day declaration. Roughly eight out of 10 Jacksonville fans
dressed in teal jerseys and T-shirts.” After the game, Jaguars Coach
Jack Del Rio said the “teal showing was outstanding” and credited fans
in the Jaguars’ 9-0 victory. The mayoral proclamation helped the agency
achieve its first two objectives by securing city involvement and
creating an opportunity to encourage all fans to wear teal to work and
school, as well as to the game. In all, the agency secured 91 media
placements — a phenomenal 81 more than goal! The agency also secured
hundreds of ALL-TEAL mentions on blogs and message boards. To show off
its results (22 million impressions and $12,548,000 in publicity
value), the agency produced an exciting compilation DVD of TV news
coverage (see binder under “Media Placements” to view DVD).
Budget: The Dalton Agency secured an
extraordinary amount of media coverage for the Jaguars despite having
an extremely low budget. Costs for the campaign design and
implementation were about $1,000, a portion of the agency’s monthly
retainer. This included about 120 hours of staff time for writing press
releases and a proclamation, pitching media, monitoring blogs and
message boards, participating in media interviews, as well as measuring
campaign results. The only out-of-pocket costs incurred by the Jaguars
were $55 for placard signs and $250 for promotional teal T-shirts. For
the Jaguars small investment, the Dalton Agency secured $12,548,000
worth of publicity value – a return on investment of 12,548 percent!