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Case Histories

Pepsi Tall Ships Chicago Returns

Situation

Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority looked to PCI to raise awareness about the return of Pepsi® Tall Ships® to Chicago. Tall Ships®, an event which happens once every several years, was destined to get a lot of local coverage. PCI was in charge of garnering regional and national placements. To achieve this, PCI had several goals to meet to determine successful promotion of the event:

  • To drive attendance to Navy Pier by promoting this rare, limited-time event;
  • To capitalize on media and community relationships with Chicago-area Canadian, German, and Dutch consulates;
  • To strengthen ties with tall ships organizations by supporting their Great Lakes tour and berth sales options;
  • To affirm Navy Pier’s position as the Midwest’s number one tourist destination.

Action

PCI assisted with developing messages, organizing media interviews and coordinating media materials.

In the months leading up to the event, PCI focused on story angles to appeal to a wide variety of reporters:

  • Highlighted unique vacation experience of berths on ships that are available for purchase through the Tall Ships® event.
  • Targeted regional drive markets, such as South Bend, Ind., Racine, Wis., Kenosha, Wis., and others, to encourage attendance to Tall Ships® Chicago at Navy Pier.
  • Worked with Chicago consulates to tailor messaging to specific community groups.
  • Utilized Navy Pier’s existing social media to promote the event and boost attendance and ticket sales.

Results

  • Increased the number of attendees to a grand total of 1 million visitors – more guests than had ever attended any Navy Pier event.
  • Reinforced Navy Pier as the number one tourist attraction in Illinois.
  • Garnered placements in the following outlets which are a highlight of the over 240 news stories that PCI helped place: National Geographic Traveler, USA Today, Latitudes & Attitudes, Grand Rapids Press, StLToday.com (St. Louis Dispatch) HuffingtonPost.com and MLive.com. The PR strategy resulted in the most media coverage ever for a Navy Pier event.

In addition to bringing record-setting attendance and media coverage to Navy Pier, visitors from across North America generated $200 million of economic activity for Chicago.