There’s more to Indianapolis Colts’ owner Jim Irsay than meets the eye. By day, he’s a billionaire businessman, but at night he transforms into the embodiment of Rock n’ Roll! Over the years, Irsay and his team have curated a world-renowned collection of iconic guitars and other musical instruments, American history, and pop-culture gems. What's even more astonishing than the artifacts themselves is that Jim showcases his collection to the public, all across the country and for FREE!

Challenge: Now, you might think, what could possibly be the challenge with marketing this one-of-a-kind museum extravaganza? For most of us, the idea of attending a well-executed, professional, and entertaining event for free is a dream come true! But therein lies the issue - everyone thinks it's too good to be true. In today's climate, free events can easily be misconstrued as cheap, a scam, or not worth one's time. Therefore, this extraordinary collection needed a campaign that focused on building education, awareness, and trust. With the tour's next stop at TD Garden in Boston rapidly approaching, the Jim Irsay Collection turned to Bauer Entertainment Marketing to overcome this challenge.

Solution: Our team immediately delved into learning as much as we could about target audiences, past marketing approaches, and historical registration trends. Throughout this process, we carefully analyzed results from previous tour stops to identify what worked well and what opportunities existed to improve. With this valuable insight, BEM provided data-driven recommendations and built a campaign that aligned with the client's quantitative and qualitative goals.

To grab people's attention and establish trust, BEM highlighted the most enticing aspects of the event. Our team crafted compelling copy and eye-catching visual content to showcase the electric atmosphere, special guests, and highly-impressive memorabilia. This ensured that prospective attendees could easily understand the event’s value and know exactly what to expect. Moreover, we featured “social proof” in our advertising to elevate trust in the event. For example, testimonials from The New York Times and Forbes were utilized to ensure prospects knew that this free event was worth the time and effort to attend.

Results:  The Jim Irsay Collection's event in Boston was an unforgettable experience! In total, a whopping 27,427 fans registered to attend. Within just 8 weeks, our advertising campaigns produced over 6 million impressions and garnered over 92,000 clicks to register. We had an absolute blast working with the Jim Irsay Collection team. Don’t tell anyone, but we've secretly become Colts fans. 👀

Learn more information about the Jim Irsay Collection and see when this amazing event is coming to a city near you: bit.ly/TJIC

Need help growing awareness and a following for your event? We got you! Contact the entertainment advertising experts at BEM today to discuss the fit between your marketing needs and our proven skills.