KENNESAW, GA GETS ON BOARD

CATEGORY

Destination Marketing (Tourism)

ABOUT THIS PROJECT

Research, Brand Development, Planning, Full Service Marketing, Event Marketing, Social Media, Digital Marketing

SITUATION

Kennesaw, GA is a progressive and growing City located 25 minutes NW of Atlanta. The Kennesaw Parks and Recreation Department has been a big part of that growth. In an effort to best serve it’s constituents, The Parks and Rec group focuses on providing modern, state of the art facilities that keep pace with larger neighbor cities. Kennesaw recently attracted major international sponsors to construct a world-class skate park in its Swift Cantrell Park. Given that this would not only be a park amenity but also a national event venue for competitive skating, Kennesaw seeked a partner to build a brand and a marketing strategy.

APPROACH

Fenning Marketing Group (FMG) conducted a qualitative research study with officials, constituents, and participants, businesses and corporate sponsors in the skateboarding community. It became clear that the most effective way to promote the park was through authenticity: if the skating community viewed the park as authentic and part of the skate culture than it would be sought after by corporate sponsors and competitive leagues looking to host events.

FMG developed a positioning strategy and a full brand program based on the research. This program was used to launch the park at a grand opening ceremony. FMG collaborated with Kennesaw officials to attract world class skaters and sponsors like Red Bull to the event.

FMG also delivered a full one year marketing plan to promote the park to both the skating community and the event promoters and sponsors. The plan relies heavily on digital and social media marketing techniques.

RESULTS

At the grand opening ceremony, the park attracted several thousand participants and a healthy social media audience to more than jump start the communications efforts. The park is now a well-known regional attraction and skating event venue.

Target Market Research

Brand Development

Event Coordination and Promotion

Video and Photography

Collateral

Social Media Marketing

Website