Transforming the Northern Trust Open into a Premium VIP Experience
Experiential Marketing, Hospitality Sales Strategy, and Full-Scale Event OperationsTo breathe new life into the historic Northern Trust Open, our agency partnered with the PGA Tour to completely overhaul the event’s corporate hospitality and promotional strategy. By designing high-value VIP experiences and executing an integrated marketing campaign, we successfully drove premium suite sales, launched a groundbreaking collegiate golf showcase, and amplified the tournament's global prestige.
CHALLENGE
While the Northern Trust Open boasted a rich history at the iconic Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles, tournament organizers recognized a pressing need to elevate the event's corporate appeal. The 'before' scenario lacked the necessary high-end sales collateral to attract new corporate suites and premium partnerships. The core challenge was to revamp their marketing materials and event spaces to transform a classic tournament into a modern, first-class event that would compel corporate clients to invest in high-value, targeted hospitality packages.
RESULTS
The revamped strategy yielded a tremendously positive response from fans, players, and corporate partners alike, with the event deemed a massive success. The enhanced hospitality packages successfully secured high-value investments, ranging from $15,000 Oakley "Green Room" sponsorships to $130,000 suite takeovers. The inaugural Collegiate Showcase was a triumph, culminating in Wake Forest's Will Zalatoris earning a sponsor's exemption and Oregon securing a $50,000 donation.
The Northern Trust Open is a premier organization that operates professional golf tournaments across the United States, showcasing the world's best golfers. Beyond delivering world-class athletic competition, the organization is dedicated to giving back, with its tournaments raising millions of dollars annually for local charities in their host communities.
APPROACH
CREATIVE
Our creative team developed high-end print and digital design assets to completely overhaul the tournament's branding. We produced fully customized promotional materials, including brochures, flyers, and sales sheets, and established a dedicated in-house design workflow to ensure a polished, premium look across all tournament presentations, PowerPoints, and communications. We rewrote the tournament's communication strategy to better target potential sponsors and high-net-worth attendees. By drafting highly personalized sales pitches and developing new delivery methods for the sales team, we successfully attracted a wider range of high-level partners and streamlined messaging to clearly convey the event's first-class value proposition.
APPROACH
OPERATIONS
We spent nine months hammering out every logistical detail of the event prior to tee-off. Our on-grounds event management team handled comprehensive operations, including managing T-sheets and programs, placing on-course logos, and coordinating the physical setup of posters, pull-up banners, and hospitality infrastructure to ensure flawless execution during tournament week.
To attract top-tier corporate partners, we conceptualized and modeled entirely new VIP event spaces using CAD renderings, including the back lot, the island green, and clubhouse seating. We meticulously curated these packages, enabling the sales team to market premium, all-inclusive California coastal experiences like the $130,000 Can-Am Terrace Suite, $33,000 Pro-Am teams, and $11,000 Executive Box Seats.
APPROACH
EXPERIENCE
We spent nine months hammering out every logistical detail of the event prior to tee-off. Our on-grounds event management team handled comprehensive operations, including managing T-sheets and programs, placing on-course logos, and coordinating the physical setup of posters, pull-up banners, and hospitality infrastructure to ensure flawless execution during tournament week.
To attract top-tier corporate partners, we conceptualized and modeled entirely new VIP event spaces using CAD renderings, including the back lot, the island green, and clubhouse seating. We meticulously curated these packages, enabling the sales team to market premium, all-inclusive California coastal experiences like the $130,000 Can-Am Terrace Suite, $33,000 Pro-Am teams, and $11,000 Executive Box Seats.
We spearheaded the operations, marketing, and hospitality details for the first-ever Northern Trust Open Collegiate Showcase, a unique one-day rivalry pairing 14 top college players with PGA Tour alumni. We managed all website updates and hype videos for this groundbreaking addition, putting college golf on the map and giving amateur players a chance to compete on the highest stage.
APPROACH
CONTENT
We deployed onsite videographers and photographers to capture thousands of high-quality images and dynamic on-course footage. We cataloged and leveraged this rich media to direct, edit, and produce compelling sales marketing materials, teasers, and promotional hype videos that effectively sold the event's atmosphere.