Goals: Clearly state your marketing goals. What did you strive to achieve using this piece or program?Each year on June 23, Olympic Day is commemorated all over the globe. This celebration of the Olympic movement creates opportunities for people to participate in sports regardless of age, gender or athletic ability, and the Olympic Day pillars — Move, Learn and Discover — are promoted worldwide. In 2021, Irving invited North Texas to participate in a myriad of sports, educational and cultural activities at the first ever Olympic Day Irving-Las Colinas, the only event in North Texas sanctioned by the International Olympic Committee. Olympic Day Irving-Las Colinas was open and accessible to the public at large; and the participative sporting events were youth- and family-friendly and designed for persons of all age groups and abilities. Visit Irving joined more than a dozen local and regional partners to serve on the Irving-Las Colinas Olympic Day Committee, charged with planning and executing the inaugural event. Under the leadership of the U.S.-Mexico Cultural & Education Foundation, each member leveraged their unique talents and abilities to bring Olympic day to North Texas. Visit Irving was tasked with the marketing and PR initiatives. Our overarching objective was to create awareness of the upcoming celebration, its offerings, mission of inclusion and the Olympic Day pillars, both locally and regionally, by executing a multi-platform marketing and PR plan to build excitement and ultimately drive attendance. Secondary objectives included putting heads in beds with featured hotel deals for the event and showcasing the many sports venues in Irving.

Results: Which of your original goals did you achieve and how? How did you measure the effectiveness of the piece or campaign? Entrants should provide quantifiable results of their tactics or campaigns. (for example, click through rates or ad equivalency)The marketing plan incorporated basic, but effective methods including the development and promotion of an Olympic Day Irving-Las Colinas website ( 10,374 pageviews from 5,245 site visitors), app for IOS/Android users and an event Facebook and Instagram which had 581 total followers; earned media/PR (600K impressions, $35,000 PR Value); organic and paid social; email marketing (11,000+ CTR); content marketing including blog posts; and partner promotion via integrated communication campaigns on their websites and social media platforms. Marketing partners included: the Irving Marathon, City of Irving, Las Colinas Association, Japan-America Society of Dallas/Fort Worth, Dallas City Utility and Reclamation District, the Greater Irving-Las Colinas Chamber of Commerce, Dallas College North Lake Campus, the Irving Police Department, the Irving Police Athletic League, the Irving Fire Department, the Irving Rotary, Irving Arts Center, Greater Dallas Veteran’s Foundation, and the Toyota Music Factory. A torch lighting/opening ceremony kicked off the series of events that included sports demos and exhibitions (skateboarding, water polo, cricket and boxing) and participatory events (archery, basketball and table tennis) at more than ten different locations over two days. The celebration also included Olympic Culture Day at the Irving Arts Center in recognition of Japan, the host country of the 2020 Olympic Games. The series of events culminated with the Olympic Day Run which exceeded its participation goal of 300 for a first-time event with 500+ registered runners. Of those participants, 60% were visitors to Irving. In addition, there were 100 volunteers and 900+ spectators. By placing emphasis on all three pillars of Olympic Day - Move, Learn, and Discover – at multiple events, our key messaging reached a broad audience, and we were able to engage thousands of people of all ages and abilities across the community to join the Olympic-themed celebrations.

Budget: Please include total budget vs. total actual cost. How much revenue has the piece or campaign generated and how does this compare to your goal? What was the return on investment?There was no budget expenditure for Visit Irving’s participation on the Olympic Day committee or collaboration as a promotional partner with exception of the staff time spent on the marketing initiatives. The Olympic Day event was not established as a revenue generator, but as the launch of a “movement” and the first of many Olympic Day events to come. This year’s series of events, despite the pandemic, was well received, attended by thousands from all over North Texas and the Olympic Day Irving-Las Colinas brand was established for future years.

Project Analysis: Please provide a brief background on the project and your company efforts to demonstrate good corporate citizenship in the areas of community involvement, environmental, or socially responsible practices.

Objectives and Goals: What did organization set out to achieve in undertaking this project in CSR? What were the goals you set to measure your success?

Results: How did you measure the effectiveness of your efforts and what direct and tangible results did you achieve? Please be as specific as possible and share the full impact of your efforts in CSR.

Leadership: Please list the individual in a leadership role responsible for the project and how would you characterize their commitment to promoting corporate social responsibility in the travel and tourism industry?

Goals: Clearly state your marketing goals and audience. What did you strive to achieve using this piece or program?

Results: Which of your original goals did you achieve and how? How did you measure the effectiveness of the piece or campaign? Entrants should provide quantifiable results of their tactics or campaigns. (for example, click through rates or ad equivalency)

Budget: Please include total budget vs. total actual cost. How much revenue has the piece or campaign generated and how does this compare to your goal? What was the return on investment?

Situational Analysis: Please provide a brief background on the original initiative and how it evolved as conditions changed from pandemic to recovery.

Goals: Clearly state your goals. What did you strive to achieve with this initiative and how did your goals change over time?

Results: Which of your goals did you achieve and how? How did you measure the effectiveness of the initiative?

Objective(s): What problems did the sales, marketing & guest satisfaction, or revenue optimization technology aim to solve?

Innovative use of technology: The extent to which new directions are charted or old challenges are resolved by using the technology in a new way.

Implementation & creativity: How was the technology implemented so that it was easy to use, solved a manpower problem, streamlined a function, or fueled recovery?

Results & Evaluation: How did the technologiy move the department or business foward to achieve goals, revenue or otherwise?

Goal: How did you demonstrate that you are committed to advancing diversity in your organization through your marketing?

Initiatives: Describe the promotion. What was your organization's message and how does it foster diversity? How was the target audience channel developed/pursued?

Results: Please describe how your organization was purposeful in advancing diversity through this initiative. Please describe the metrics you used to judge success. What were the forecasted and actual outcomes described in your Key Performance Indicators (KPI)? What impact did the initiative have on your organization and for your customers?

Goal: How did you demonstrate that you are committed to advancing diversity in your organization through your campaigns?

Initiatives: What was your approach to this campaign and how was the organization purposeful in advancing diversity through it? What types of data did you use to support your plan? How many locations were involved in the campaign? How did you effectively reach diverse audiences? What was the message?

Results: What metrics are you using to evaluate diversity (soft and/or hard metrics)? Were you successful at meeting forecasted goals? Was it limited to a specific promotion or across multiple creatives? What impact did the campaign have on your organization? How did this campaign change your brand’s perception amongst travelers?

Entry TitleSpirit of the Olympics Sweeps Through Irving

DivisionPublic Relations - SPECIAL EVENT

CategoryPublic Relations