REMINGTON BARK

Remington Park is a horse racing track and casino located in Oklahoma City’s Adventure District. Seeking to boost attendance during its summer/fall thoroughbred racing meet, to help local charities gain exposure and to attract new fans to the racetrack, Remington Park went to the dogs in 2015.

Or, more appropriately, track officials brought the dogs to Remington Park, by hosting the inaugural Remington Bark dog celebration and charity event on Saturday, Aug. 29, 2015.

 

CHALLENGE

The purpose of the event was to give dog owners a chance to bring their pets to the track to not only enjoy an evening of thoroughbred horse racing, but also to let the dogs socialize with one another and partake in a number of canine-centric promotions and events, with proceeds going to support local pet adoption and animal rescue charities.

Several corporate and community donors participated in Remington Bark, including eight local vendors who donated items for the wag bags, and a total of 25 vendors who attended the event.

 

STRATEGY

Promotion of the event required a ground-floor approach. Remington Bark was supported by an organic media relations campaign (news release, media kit, media advisory) that involved outreach to local print and television outlets. The media kit included a dog bowl, Milkbone treats, a tennis ball, a bone-shaped cookie inscribed with “Remington Bark” and a news release. Through a strategic distribution approach, the media kits were delivered to metro-area print and television outlets on the same morning the release was distributed statewide, while targeted television stations were called individually to pitch/set-up live TV hits in the days leading up to the event. A media advisory was distributed to local media the day before the event to encourage live, day-of coverage. Those efforts led to television air time secured on all major networks in the OKC market, which included an in-studio appearance on FOX 25; multiple live, on-location interviews with KAUT Freedom 43; and pre- and post-event coverage on KFOR-NBC, KOCO-ABC and KWTV-CBS. The media relations campaign also led to print coverage in The Oklahoman and online coverage through several outlets, including NewsOK.com and The Journal Record.

 

RESULTS

The public response to the event was overwhelming:

• Attendance for Remington Bark totaled 12,576 people
• Highest-attended day of the thoroughbred season
• Remington Bark attendees brought approximately 800 dogs to the track
• Coverage was generated on at least eight local outlets across print, web and television
• Hosted again in 2016, and will continue to be hosted for the foreseeable future

2015
• Total mentions: 17 (2 print, 7 TV and 8 online
• Total earned media value: $35,025.48 ($13,323.48 print, $5,895.00 TV and $15,807.00 online)

2016
• Total mentions: 19 (2 print, 12 TV and 5 online)
• Total earned media value: $31,707.84 ($13,827.84 print, $8,115.00 TV and $9,765.00 online)