CASE STUDY

Colorado State Fair

We began working with the Colorado State Fair in December 2020 and have renewed the contract in one-year terms. They remain a current AdPro client. Each year, we have created a strategic marketing plan that identified what makes the Fair different and how its services benefit its target audience. The strategic marketing plan guided all of our efforts.

In every strategic marketing plan, we review the competition, current positioning, and priorities, past marketing analysis, and create clear objectives and goals for the upcoming year. Then we compile our research in order to identify target audiences, strategies, and tactics. From this, we are able to put together an entire year’s marketing flowchart that identifies the timeline and budget of all media.

Our objectives were to communicate a consistent message about the Colorado State Fair across all platforms, grow awareness by targeting metropolitan and rural areas, build lasting awareness of the event, and increase attendance and ticket sales for general admission, concerts, the carnival, and rodeos, while building lasting event awareness.

Scarborough Research

  • Colorado Springs/Pueblo DMA used as the base for the target audience
  • Visited the Colorado State Fair in the past 12 months
  • 300 Respondents – Projected to 104,416 audience
  • Demographics and Media Usage

Target Audience

Through Nielsen Scarborough research, we identified the whole of Colorado as our primary demographic, appealing to individuals and families eager for outings and activities that provided outdoor space, safety, and family-friendly fun. We focused on accessibility in Colorado via the I-25 corridor and a diverse set of audiences, including:

  • 4-H and FFA Communities
  • Commercial Exhibitors and Vendors
  • The Carnival Ride Enthusiast
  • The Fair Foodie
  • The Concert-goer
  • Families
  • Hispanic Population

Target Audience

Through Nielsen Scarborough research, we identified the whole of Colorado as our primary demographic, appealing to individuals and families eager for outings and activities that provided outdoor space, safety, and family-friendly fun. We focused on accessibility in Colorado via the I-25 corridor and a diverse set of audiences, including:

  • 4-H and FFA Communities
  • Commercial Exhibitors and Vendors
  • The Carnival Ride Enthusiast
  • The Fair Foodie
  • The Concert-goer
  • Families
  • Hispanic Population

Scarborough Research

  • Colorado Springs/Pueblo DMA used as the base for the target audience
  • Visited the Colorado State Fair in the past 12 months
  • 300 Respondents – Projected to 104,416 audience
  • Demographics and Media Usage
CASE STUDY

Colorado State Fair

We began working with the Colorado State Fair in December 2020 and have renewed the contract in one-year terms. They remain a current AdPro client. Each year, we have created a strategic marketing plan that identified what makes the Fair different and how its services benefit its target audience. The strategic marketing plan guided all of our efforts.

In every strategic marketing plan, we review the competition, current positioning, and priorities, past marketing analysis, and create clear objectives and goals for the upcoming year. Then we compile our research in order to identify target audiences, strategies, and tactics. From this, we are able to put together an entire year’s marketing flowchart that identifies the timeline and budget of all media.

Our objectives were to communicate a consistent message about the Colorado State Fair across all platforms, grow awareness by targeting metropolitan and rural areas, build lasting awareness of the event, and increase attendance and ticket sales for general admission, concerts, the carnival, and rodeos, while building lasting event awareness.

Key Demographics

Adults 25-64

70.5% of our target with a 107 index

Household Income

60% have HHI of $75k or less

Household Size

15% more likely to have a household of 3 or more (57.4%)

Relationship Status

54% are not married (index of 118) so they are single, separated, widowed or divorced

Marriage

46% are married – 44% more likely to have two or more teens in the household

Education

39% of our target audience has a high school degree or less (index of 121)

Media Quintiles

Newspaper/Print

75.2% are moderate to very heavy users of newspaper

Low reach of our target however except for Pueblo Chieftain 

8.5% read The Gazette (Sunday average print reader)

2.5% read the CSBJ

5.7% read the Indy 

17.4% read the Pueblo Chieftain (Avg. Daily)

We can reach these people more cost effectively with other media

Radio

73.4% are moderate to very heavy users of radio

70.5% streamed audio in the past month (104 index)

20.3% are podcast listeners (81 index)

Top stations based on “#1 preferred station”

KKMG, KCCY, KPHT, KIBT, KKPK, and KILO

Television

66.6% are moderate to very heavy users of broadcast television

Highest reach of our target

47.2% watch KKTV

32.3% watch KOAA

34.7% watch KRDO

37.9% watch KXRM/KXTU

58.1% do not subscribe to cable television

81.7% streamed video in the last 30 days

Internet

63.9% are moderate to very light users of internet

Indices are high for heavy, moderate and very light users (110/109/130) so it is spread across most of the quintiles – but very heavy usage category is only 14.3% with 71 index

19.4% are heavy social media users
(124 index)

Hispanic Media

3.8% watched Univision in the last week
(index 100)

2.5% watched UniMas’ in the last week
(index 110)

1.5% watched Telemundo in the last week
(index 52)

Miles Traveled (Outdoor Media Exposure)

59.1% are moderate to very heavy travelers

Broad exposure with impactful messaging

Highest index and percentage is for the “very heavy” category with 24.2% and 120 index

Public Media

95% did not contribute to public radio
(KRCC has a 59 index)

90% did not contribute to public television
(PBS has a 109 index)

Marketing Approach

We strategically placed the timing of media to start in March with the announcements of the artists playing at the venue but with the majority of the emphasis in July and August leading up to the Fair. The media mix focused on video (OTT/TV/Hispanic TV), radio, digital, outdoor and minimal print. The deep media mix allowed us to maintain reach and we used trade agreements to add impact and frequency to our buys.

Geographically we focused on Colorado Springs and Pueblo with a secondary audience in Denver. We achieved exposure to rural Colorado markets via non-rate radio stations and utilized county coverage data to recommend key stations.

Since the audience was varied, we spread marketing efforts over different digital channels, including digital display ads, video or pre-roll YouTube ads, and social media ads targeting each of our audiences in order to promote the Fair as well as concerts.

Results

We monitored our media strategy throughout the campaign, refining messaging and targeting to ensure maximum impressions and conversions, while keeping the cost per acquisition low. From our strategic efforts, we saw an increase in total attendance in 2022 compared to 2021, a 58% increase in opening weekend attendance and Fiesta Day (Sunday, September 4th 2022) had record breaking attendance in the Fair’s 150-year history with 68,562 attendees.

Our digital buys were effective and efficient with the following digital channels resulting in ticket sales and revenue for the Fair:
Organic Search

27,589

tickets purchased

Paid Search

17,487

tickets purchased

Social Media

5,745

tickets purchased

Email Blasts

4,636

tickets purchased

      Strategy drives everything we do at AdPro. Our team members are closely aligned, working diligently together to help our clients exceed their objectives. Their wins are our wins.      

- Camille Blakely, President – AdPro