CASE STUDY
Bullseye Event Group Sees Super
Bowl Sales Skyrocket
CASE STUDY / BULLSEYE EVENT GROUP
Bullseye Events Group Sees Super
Bowl Sales Skyrocket
Marketers talk a lot about cutting through the clutter;
rising above the noise; going against the grain. The
battle cry is for brands to have a truly remarkable
message capable of seizing their audience’s attention, lest they be trampled underfoot by a stampede
of ads that rushes over consumers on a daily basis.
In a broad sense, this is sound logic. But when your
brand is tasked with standing out during THE marketing and advertising event of the year, the Super Bowl,
advice like “cut through the clutter” rings almost
insultingly hollow. Ad spending for commercials
during Super Bowl 50 totaled a record $377 million.
The average cost brands paid for just 30 seconds of
ad time? $4.8 million. Brands, in other words, don’t so
much try to cut through Super Bowl clutter as much
as they line up and throw money at it.
This was the challenge faced by Bullseye Event
Group. The group, which hosts one of the biggest Super Bowl tailgate events in the country, is part of the
fierce annual competition to reach fans and convert
them into customers amid the Super Bowl frenzy.
Leveraging Torchlite’s platform and marketplace of
digital marketing specialists, Bullseye executed a
multi-channel campaign designed to generate true,
meaningful engagement with fans—rather than briefly
renting their eyeballs with multi-million dollar ads.
The result?
Bullseye’s 2016 Super Bowl
tailgate party recorded a 180
percent increase in ticket sales
over the previous year’s event.
www.torchlite.com | 342 Massachusetts Avenue | Indianapolis, Indiana 46204 | 317.643.4200
CASE STUDY / BULLSEYE EVENT GROUP
Finding the Right Teammate
Methodically building on the experience they accrued in the sports and event planning industries, husband and
wife team Kyle and Lisa Kinnett have grown Bullseye into a premier sports and entertainment brand. In addition
to being the official events and travel partner for the Indianapolis Colts, Bullseye has cultivated a reputation for
hosting extravagant, flawlessly executed parties for major national and international sporting events, including
the Super Bowl, The Masters golf tournament and more.
Pairing ticket packages with luxury hotel stays and access to high-end events, however, is competitive business. Even though the Kinnett’s have found ways to separate Bullseye’s pre-game events from those hosted by
competitors, the pair was also keenly aware that their event package, although superior, would not generate
ticket sales by itself. They needed a marketing strategy.
“Most people dread planning events—even small-scale ones,” said Kyle Kinnett. “There’s so much to juggle that
people quickly get overloaded with stress. Lisa and I thrive in those situations, but even we have a limit to how
much we can effectively manage at a time.”
Communicating with their existing fans and reaching new customers online was one of the things the Kinnett’s
struggled to make time for. Torchlite’s model of a dedicated account manager who’s backed by an expansive
roster of digital marketing talent proved to be the perfect fit for Bullseye’s team.
The Playbook
Bring the excitement of a delightfully over-the-top,
star-studded tailgate party to fans online. This was the
concept that formed the nucleus of Torchlite’s digital
marketing strategy to engage fans, drive website traffic
and influence sales leading up to Bullseye’s marquee event,
“The Players Super Bowl Tailgate.”
To that end, Torchlite’s team used influencers, including celebrity chef Guy Fieri, Fox Sports personality Erin
Andrews, Victoria’s Secret model Adriana Lima, and
a roster of active NFL stars (all of whom would be in
attendance at the event) to interact with fans and share
original Bullseye content.
To reach and engage fans where they are most active,
Torchlite leveraged a varied mix of social media channels, including Facebook, Instagram, Periscope, Twitter
and LinkedIn, as well as the Bullseye website and blog.
www.torchlite.com | 342 Massachusetts Avenue | Indianapolis, Indiana 46204 | 317.643.4200
CASE STUDY / BULLSEYE EVENT GROUP
First Down
Torchlite began its Bullseye campaign by generating
a groundswell of excitement for the brand during the
months leading up to and through the 2015-16 NFL
season. Taking advantage of Bullseye’s unique position as the official hosts of the Indianapolis Colts’ VIP
Pre-Game Tailgate parties, Torchlite engaged fans
with Colts-specific content while building excitement
for the Players Super Bowl Tailgate that would cap
the end of the season.
Interacting with fans early and often through Bullseye’s website and social channels helped set the
stage for the promotional push that would make the
Players Super Bowl Tailgate the most successful
event the Kinnett’s ever hosted.
In the months leading up to
Super Bowl 50, Torchlite grew
Bullseye’s Facebook and Twitter audience 99 percent and
330 percent, respectively, while
increasing Bullseye’s website
traffic more than 450 percent
over the previous year.
www.torchlite.com | 342 Massachusetts Avenue | Indianapolis, Indiana 46204 | 317.643.4200
CASE STUDY / BULLSEYE EVENT GROUP
The Scoring Drive
Instagrams, Tweets, Facebook posts and Periscopes
from the likes of Guy Fieri, Erin Andrews, Adriana
Lima and other celebrities set to attend Players Super
Bowl Tailgate sparked serious engagement with fans.
Together, these influencers helped Bulls-eye reach an
international audience of more than 7.5 million
people with pre-event promotion, and another 10.6
million fans during Super Bowl week—engaging
exponentially more people than would have been possible through traditional advertising.
“Our engagement was through
the roof this season,” said Kyle
Kinnett.
Torchlite’s focus on fan engagement paid dividends
for Bullseye. In addition to increasing the event
group’s website traffic by more than 2,000 percent
over the previous year, Bullseye’s Players Super Bowl
Tailgate party recorded a staggering 180 percent
increase in ticket sales over last year’s event.
“Everywhere I go, people are
talking about our events, and
we continue to see a direct impact on sales because of it.”
www.torchlite.com | 342 Massachusetts Avenue | Indianapolis, Indiana 46204 | 317.643.4200
CASE STUDY / BULLSEYE EVENT GROUP
The Extra Point
Having a dedicated account manager working
alongside a team of Torchliters with experience
growing audiences in the sports and entertainment
industries played an essential role in the success of
Bullseye’s digital campaign.
Making note of his proclivity for sports analogies,
Kyle Kinnett describes Bullseye’s relationship with
Torchlite this way:
“In football, the best players don’t play every snap.
When they get in the game, they’re fresh and alert.
Torchliters work on all types of businesses and see
opportunities we would never find if they were an
in-house member of our team.
They stay up on the latest
technology, best practices and processes, and that
has benefited my business
through direct sales and
revenue.”
About Torchlite
Torchlite’s patent pending marketplace connects
you to digital marketing experts, provides full visibility into campaigns, and collaboration in real time.
We build data-driven custom plans and seamlessly
connect you to the digital marketing experts who
can make your business successful. Torchlite evaluates digital marketing experts through an extensive vetting process to ensure they meet the standard of becoming part of the Torchliter™ network.
Manage all of your content, data, and digital experts
in one place.
www.torchlite.com | 342 Massachusetts Avenue | Indianapolis, Indiana 46204 | 317.643.4200