Inspiring Sports Fans Stuck at Home, Looking for an Escape

The COVID-19 pandemic left brands in flux — scrambling to reinvent and pivot to virtual. As people sheltered-in-place, social media exploded with Facebook and Instagram usage increasing 53% and 32% respectively.

Enter: The Perfect Practice Invitational

In mid-March, as golf courses closed and the 2020 Masters Tournament was postponed, golf’s attention was diverted to social media. We knew any activation would need to be sensitive to consumer sentiment amongst a new, evolving global landscape. We also knew audiences weren’t interested in a branded experience. They craved light-hearted, uplifting content with a charitable CTA, and we needed to move fast.

To meet the audience where they were spending the most time, the “Perfect Practice Invitational” activated a number of crowd-favorite celebrities, athletes and musicians on Instagram around their shared passion for golf. During what would have traditionally been Masters weekend, our competition “broadcast” on Instagram Stories the likes of Darius Rucker, Matt Ryan and Ron Perlman putting from their living rooms to raise funds for No Kid Hungry. Live commentary from one of EPSN’s most beloved reporters, Rachel Nichols, helped carry the narrative through the weekend, while extending reach and consumer engagement.

And when we tallied up the round, we scored:

• 40+ Earned Influential Players
• 361 Million Organic Social Impressions
• 27% Increase in Online Store Visits (nearly all attributed to Instagram)
• 15% Increase in Sales During 4-Day Period
• $15K+ in Donations to No Kid Hungry

Key Learnings For Your Next Virtual Event:

1. Platform Matters: Zoom and IG Live aren’t the only locations to activate virtually. IG Stories allowed our content to be visible for a 24-hour period on a medium where the audience seeks entertainment, which drives action to the company’s landing page.
2. Create a Content Ecosystem: Large volumes of gameplay content tagging the brand helped drive traffic to key properties, while asset repurposing on brand channels helped grow @perfectpracticegolf and keep audiences engaged.
3. Keep it Simple: We delivered a simple, clear brief to our talent to capture their putting moments and post to IG, making it scalable across 40 partners.
4. Build Narrative: In our case, ESPN’s Rachel Nichols provided nightly recaps through sizzle reels and daily scripts, creating a central location (with high reach) for consumers to follow the fun. By repackaging the content each day, we were able to develop a core narrative throughout the tournament.
5. Strike the Right Tone: Ensure all messaging is sensitive to the current environment and the brand has a clear understanding of its role.
6. Provide an Escape: Consumers were seeking an escape, especially during this iconic weekend for golf fans, a moment we were able to tap into quickly with meaningful ROI.
7. Testing 123: And of course, lots of testing. We created an internal simulation for troubleshooting ahead of going live, giving us a chance to iron out the kinks for a smooth rollout.

Still reading? Want to build out a program yourself? Visit our website or drop us a line — hello@praytellagency.com.

Written by Greg Scavuzzo

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