Winner: Hill and Knowlton Chicago
Campaign: Bikers Go Hog Wild Over New Wahl Trim 'N' Vac
Budget: The budget for this "wildly" successful event marketing campaign was a slim $20,000.
In August 2001, Hill and Knowlton Chicago employees found themselves dressed in neon green T-shirts and khaki shorts, surrounded by 500,000 leather-clad bikers and bikini-clad
babes. A bizarre dress-code misunderstanding? Nope. Just one of many event tactics designed to generate attention for client Wahl Clipper Corporation, a manufacturer of grooming
appliances like electric clippers.
The event was the 2001 Sturgis (South Dakota) Motorcycle Rally, an annual nirvana for bike enthusiasts, and H&K was there to support the launch of the new Trim 'N' Vac by
positioning the product among consumers and creating buzz before the holidays.
The PR team initially considered where they could find lots of facial hair in one place. "We needed to make a big splash, and we wondered where there would be a lot of beards
and a lot of foot traffic and a lot of media play," says Maura Devine, managing director. The possibility of the 61st annual festival in Sturgis came to the team in a brainstorm
session, and they immediately began checking out video of previous rallies, confirming that the event would meet all their needs. They purchased booth space and headed out with
product, signage and other materials.
When they first arrived, team members realized their booth was a bit off the beaten path and in competition with 950 other vendors. To eliminate that hurdle, they came up with
a quirky hook to grab bikers' attention. Attendees arrive at the event dirty after days on the road, so Wahl's booth offered a "clean-up" theme, with combs, after-shave, and -
naturally - demo Trim 'N' Vacs. The team also moved out into the crowd with giveaways and signage to drive traffic to the booth.
While the team in South Dakota schmoozed with bikers, staffers back in Chicago pitched biker trade pubs and local media to ensure coverage.
An estimated 20 percent (100,000) of the bearded bike-lovers attending the event were exposed to the product at Sturgis, and 5,000 passed through the booth. Wahl sold out of
its stock at the event and hundreds of attendees placed orders. Media coverage included NBC, Fox, "The View," The Chicago Tribune, Newsday, Popular Science, Iron Biker News and
other outlets. And although advertising also contributed, Trim 'N' Vac sold out in stores during the holidays. (Contacts: Maura Devine, Tory Neff, 312/255-1200)