From January to May, we had the opportunity to assist nonprofit agency Bridges with a multifaceted PR campaign for its fourth annual Music City Derby Day fundraiser. The event is held each year on the day of the Kentucky Derby, and is becoming a signature Nashville celebration of the world renowned sporting event.
While the event is a great time and supports a wonderful cause (Bridges serves the Deaf and hard of hearing communities in Middle Tennessee), Music City Derby Day is still young and has remained fairly low-profile. To raise awareness for the festive fundraiser, we worked with Bridges to target print and digital media as well as television and radio broadcast. These efforts were supplemented with strategically timed social media and email marketing outreach to build exposure and highlight ongoing coverage. Executed over a four-month period, the multi-pronged campaign was designed to reach a wide audience through a series of staggered media hits.
Over the course of the campaign, Music City Derby Day earned more than one million media impressions through an ongoing stream of coverage, including:
A segment on Channel 4's "Today in Nashville" show
A two-page spread in Nashville Lifestyles Magazine
Radio coverage by Celebrity Jockeys on NashFM 103.3
Fox 17 news coverage on event day
Other print and online coverage in Nashville Lifestyles, Nashville Pride, nFocus, Wannado, WKRN.com, Your Williamson, and more
The social media component of the campaign had a reach of more than 10,000 and multiple email marketing campaigns reached another 20,000 people.
The event was a hit, with radio hosts Ty Bentli and Elaina Smith from NashFM and Hayley Orrantia from ABC's "The Goldbergs" competing as Celebrity Jockeys. Bridges raised nearly $50,000, and is able to highlight this media coverage with 2017 sponsors as well as to secure support for future events.
We were thrilled to be a part of such meaningful work, and to support the wonderful team at Bridges! If you're interested in learning more about PR assistance for your own event, we'd love to talk!
