Winner: Miller PR - Launch of LA KISS Arena Football Team
Miller PR launched the latest expansion team joining the Arena Football League, LAKISS, in August 2013. Faced with the challenge of breaking into sports media with a game that was sometimes overlooked and not necessarily a focus for sports press, MPR strategically prepared, educated and executed a launch campaign in only seven days which engaged sports and entertainment press alike via a live press conference in Orlando, FL. The launch and ensuing campaign secured coverage across the board and achieved MPR and LAKISS’s business goal of increasing season ticket sales.
The first AFL team in Los Angeles, MPR positioned LAKISS as a revolutionary linkage between sports and entertainment that was both relevant for serious sports fans, entertaining for families, and affordable enough for the casual consumer. One of the major challenges for MPR was making sure the media and the public understood what LAKISS was and why they should pay attention. Through a number of local promotions, partnering with the local hospital (CHOC), and securing articles in key media outlets, MPR created a growth of excitement around the LAKISS brand, the team, and the upcoming season.
Miller PR’s efforts resulted in not only an incredible reception from the media, but an ongoing media interest in LAKISS. The campaign accumulated more than 2 million broadcast impressions, 2.3 million print impressions and was featured in an imposing 70 online articles. Well-rounded coverage in Billboard, ESPN, Yahoo!, LA Times, and USA Today surpassed the Miller PR’s objective to cover out-of-category media and reinforced the fusion of sports and entertainment that the campaign set out to convey.
Honorable Mentions:
- BackBay Communications
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- Murphy O’Brien Public Relations
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- PepperComm
- Strauss Media Strategies, Inc. – Best Buy Holiday
- Tanis Communications