ASSIGNMENT
FWV’s assignment was to strategically help the growth of the CIAA Tournament as well as introduce it to a new host city, Charlotte, NC. It was important to maintain and continue the recent momentum of the CIAA Tournament while still bringing the “CIAA for Life” experience to our core fans, young adults and students. FWV strived to position the conference and its basketball tournament as the premier African-American cultural event in the country. FWV leveraged on past successes and news events to increase the amount of the bid packages each city would submit to support the General Scholarship Fund. It was vital to seamlessly manage the public fallout of awarding the tournament for the 2006-2008 years to Charlotte, NC in order to continue the growth trends seen in Raleigh. Finally, FWV positioned the tournament as a commodity for potential television and corporate partnerships.MESSAGE
Based on research, FWV broke down the CIAA audience and potential fans to include:• Core fans, 45-to 65-year-olds that have attended the tournament five or more times
• Young, professional 25-to 65-year olds who would have an affinity for the CIAA due to school affiliation, geographic location or race
• CIAA students and additional area college students (i.e. Duke, NCSU, UNC)
VALUE PROPOSITION
In order to bring the “CIAA Experience” to core fans, young adults and area students, FWV developed and executed a totally integrated marketing program, including public relations, grassroots mobile marketing, sponsorship initiatives and national media relations. The “CIAA Experience” is an exciting event complete with a first-class basketball tournament, stepshow, fashion show, concerts, academic seminars, terrific social and networking opportunities.PROGRAM ELEMENTS
FWV garnered promotional and media value by supporting the CIAA.FWV leveraged the event’s capability, message and culture by:
• Holding a press conference/pep rally at the Charlotte Convention Center to raise awareness among media and downtown employees and visitors
• Earning media via proactive local and national media relations, press conferences, interviews and press kit dissemination (USA Today, Street & Smith’s Sports Business,
Ebonyand Jet magazine)
• On-campus and in-market mobile promotions that increase tournament and collateral event awareness resulting in increased ticket sales
• Negotiating radio and television-trade-for-mention programs and Web site promotions
• Coordinating ‘special sections’ in local newspapers in addition to sports section coverage
RESULTS
The 2005 CIAA Tournament was the winner of PRWeek’s Multicultural Marketing Campaign of the year in 2006. Futhermore, FWV and the CIAA were chosen as the winner of the Silver Anvil Award, the Sabre Award, and PRWeek’s award for Multicultural Program of the Year in 2001. Key business objectives achieved include:• Increased tournament attendance from 42,000 in 1999 to 124,114 in 2006
• CIAA Economic Impact on the City of Charlotte was $15.4 million in 2006
• Increased attendance among non-CIAA graduates from 18 percent in 2001 to 60 percent in 2006
• Increased CIAA Scholarship Fund contributions from $480,000 in 2000 to $1.8 million in 2006
• Increased ticket sales from $958,456 in 2000 to $2.1 million in 2006
• Television household penetration increased from 20.7 million in 2000 to 87 million in 2006, which allows for additional sponsorship opportunities
• Web site hits have risen from 713,000 in 2001 to 18 million in 2006
