Making a World-Renowned Park Possible
Challenge
Voted USA Today's Best New Attraction of 2019, Gathering Place is a world-renowned park in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Bordering the Arkansas river, the park offers the Tulsa community over 66 acres to play, eat, and relax. Challenge Gathering Place is an innovative and inclusive riverfront park in Tulsa, OK that took nearly a decade to bring to life. The challenge was to build a strong and lasting brand identity, engage a diverse group of community stakeholders throughout development, and drum up excitement for the park’s opening in the community. Activating the Gathering Place brand in creative and inclusive ways were crucial to engaging all members of the Tulsa community. Insights It was essential to engage all neighborhoods, ethnicities, and backgrounds in the collaborative design of what would become Tulsa’s riverfront park. We identified children, families, young adults, surrounding neighbors, diverse communities, and outdoor enthusiasts as our key stakeholders throughout the development and opening of the park.
Solution
We adopted a children-first approach, while engaging diverse key stakeholders in all efforts. We assisted Gathering Place in naming and branding the park, earning media placements, activating the brand across digital channels, and driving attendance for the grand opening. We used creative campaigns to engage the community, including a virtual park experience, reading challenge, influencer sneak peek event, and more.
Results
Gathering Place welcomed 18k visitors on grand-opening day and 50k visitors throughout opening weekend. Saxum assisted Gathering Place in earning 386 media placements with an approximate reach of more than 113 million. The park received national accolades from USA Today, Time Magazine, and National Geographic. 436,914 website sessions 3.5 million social media engagements 55,000 new social media followers
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