This document provides details for a marketing campaign called "Celebrating a Sizzlin' Summer" to promote events at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots during the summer of 2017. It includes an industry review of Fair Grounds, current measures of success, competitors, segmentation and targeting, communication objectives, creative strategy and execution plans, traditional and social media strategies, an evaluation plan, budget allocation, promotional items, and a media kit. The goal is to increase summer attendance by 50% through a series of monthly themed events focusing on food, drinks and music. Effectiveness will be measured through event attendance, social media engagement, website analytics and post-event surveys.

1. Celebrating a Sizzlin’ Summer
Ernesto A. Caro, Fabian del Hierro, Devin Bogle &
Blake Toscano
May 13, 2016

2. 2
Table of Contents
Industry Review p. 3
Service Partners p. 4
Current Measures p. 5
Competitive Review p. 6
Racing & Casino Comparison p. 7
Segmentation, Targeting, Positioning p. 8
Communication Objectives p. 9
Creative Strategy & Execution p. 10
Traditional Media Strategy p. 12
Social Media Strategy p. 14
Evaluation p. 16
Media Flow Chart p. 17
Budget Allocation p. 18
Promotional Items p. 19
Media Kit p. 20
Social Media Content Calendar p. 21
Press Release p. 23

3. 3
Industry Review
A Basic Company Overview
Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots was established in 1852 as a racetrack in
New Orleans, Louisiana. The company has been through many different phases,
leaders, and time periods such as the Great Depression and multiple historic
wars. Fair Grounds has been through their own turmoil shutting down at one
point, but they have always been resilient and flexible enough to continue to
prosper. They have around for over 150 years and started off by hosting small
scale races which transitioned to continuously hosting big time derby races,
incorporating slot machines, and organizing extraordinary events. Fair Grounds
Race Course & Slots has been owned by Churchill Downs Incorporated, a
premier racing, gaming, and entertainment company since 2004. Churchill
Downs Incorporated purchased the company less than a year before Hurricane
Katrina hit New Orleans, which damaged the track and forced a shortened racing
season. Fair Grounds stayed in the same location and rebuilt to where it now
consists of approximately 145 acres of land, a one-mile dirt track, a seven-
eighths mile turf track, stabling area, slot machine facility, and a grandstand and
clubhouse which provides seating for approximately 5,000 persons. Fair Grounds
Race Course is currently ranked the 6th best racetrack in North America. Fair
Grounds sets itself apart from a typical racetrack course by also offering special
events such as the Jazz Fest and providing a thriving slot machine area.

4. 4
Service Partners
A large portion of how Fair Grounds has maintained such a well known status in
the racing industry is through establishing key associations and partners. Fair
Grounds does a great job in incorporating outside entities to fit their brand and
execute them into their business strategy in a way so that both companies
mutually benefit. Fair Grounds has developed relationships with organizations
that differ in terms of their business model and approach, but they all bring their
own unique element to the table that creates a better consumer experience and
gives off a positive energy. The key associations that help make the Fair
Grounds such a memorable and special place include:

5. 5
Current Measures
Fair Grounds is constantly attempting to create a unique experience and design
events that will leave the consumer satisfied. The company has developed a plan
that will draw out their target market while also capturing a separate market with
their occasional diverse events. They are able to achieve long-lasting
relationships throughout the use of social media. Their Facebook, Twitter, and
Instagram page is developed to increase awareness and sales by allowing
consumers to find out about upcoming events, purchase tickets, offer discounts
or specials, and to visually interact and stay up-to-date with the brand. They track
the number of posts and social trends to stay in line with main message.
Some of the recent events include:
Starlight Racing 1 Louisiana Derby Day 1
Weiner Dog Racing 1

6. 6
Competitive Review
Main direct competitors for Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots are:
• Harrah's Louisiana Downs Casino and Racetrack
• Boomtown New Orleans
• Treasure Chest Casino
• Evangeline Downs Racetrack
• Delta Downs.
Indirect competitors include:
• New Orleans Saints
• New Orleans Pelicans
• Local bars & entertainment

7. 7
Racing & Casino Comparison
Racing Comparison
Harrah's
Louisiana Downs
Casino and
Racetrack
Delta Downs Evangeline Downs
Racetrack
Location Bossier City, LA Vinton, LA Lafayette, LA
Parent Company Caesars
Entertainment
Corporation
Boyd Gaming Boyd Gaming
Adjusted Gross
Revenue
$61,450,466 $188,230,312 $91,164,471
Taxable Net Slot
Machine Proceeds
$50,389,382 $154,848,856 $74,754,866
State Tax (18.5%) $9,322,036 $28,554,538 $13,829,650
Casino Comparison
Boomtown New Orleans Treasure Chest Casino
Location Harvey, LA Kenner, LA
Parent Company Pinnacle Entertainment Boyd Gaming
Admission 1,194,172 818,980
Percentage of
visitors from out
of area
4.0% 17.5%
Visitor Spending $2,388,344 $7,166,075
Promo Budget $3,600,000 $6,907,000

8. 8
Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning
Fair Grounds Race Course current target audience is men between the ages of
30-55, with an income of over $65,000 and some type of passion towards horse
racing and betting. The vast majority of these individuals reside in New Orleans
and its surrounding areas.
While targeting this segment, Fairgrounds also seeks to attract other target
markets such as local families, horse aficionados, and tourists. The company
currently advertises throughout their website, local newspapers and magazines,
and social media. (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube, Yelp, and Tripadvisor)
For the purpose of this positioning strategy we are recommending Fairgrounds to
focus on psychographic and geographic segmentation. The specific target
market are to be analyzed based on the traits, values, attitudes, interests,
lifestyles, and location of the consumers.
It is very important to note that during the summer, Fairgrounds should seek to
implement a concentrated segmentation strategy. This strategy refers to the
moment when a firm focuses on one specific segment of the market. Therefore, it
will be recommendable for Fairgrounds to target individuals who share specific
needs. For this specific campaign, we are talking about individuals that have
allocated funds to spend on extracurricular activities such as gambling, dining
out, going out for drinks, attending concerts, etc.
We recommend Fairgrounds to de-emphasize the horses and the betting and re-
brand the location as a social scene — a place to go and have fun, hang out with
friends, bring a date. During peak-season, Fairgrounds has a very condensed
racing schedule. Therefore, it is not a great idea to de-emphasize the horses
during that period of time. However, we a firm believers that by focusing on
Fairgrounds as a social scene during the summer; they can increase the amount
of customers.

9. 9
Communications Objectives
The goal of the campaign is to introduce an entertainment series during the
Summer of 2017. The Summer is considered the off season for both racing and
tourism in New Orleans. This initiative seeks to bring consumers to the
Fairgrounds during this period of time.
The overall goals include:
• Increasing brand awareness during the off season
• Increasing Summer attendance by 50%
• Increase the amount of followers of all social media platforms by 50%
• Have a total of 10 local business participate in the Summer series
• Generate 15% more profit than the previous off season
• Create a positive environment to increase attendance of young and
mature consumers

10. 10
Creative Strategy and Execution
The purpose of the “Celebrating a Sizzlin’ Summer” campaign is to increase the
amount of visitors during the slow-season. After conducting extensive research,
we realized that during summer, the location does not receive a huge amount of
customers. During the peak-season, September-March, they are constantly
hosting activities and races that positively interact with the customers. However,
during the remaining months they are lacking an engaging campaign that draws
the attention of potential customers.
We have developed a Creative Strategy that includes several elements such as:
social media communications, billboards, radio advertising, news releases, and
guerilla marketing. The campaign will be composed of a series of summer-long
events that will interlace all aspects of the company. Every month of the summer
2017 will have a theme and Fairgrounds would be hosting different types of
events for each theme. June’s theme will be “Savor your Summer” and it’s main
focus will be on the culinary aspect of New Orleans. July’s theme will be “Shakin’
Summer” and will consist of a series of mixology events. Lastly, August’s theme
will be “Bands That’ll Make You Dance” and will be focused on music.
Fairgrounds will host different types of events such as: culinary competitions,
challenges, battle of the bands, bartending competitions, mixology classes, food
truck fests, etc.
In order for this campaign to be successful, we must market the idea correctly.
The primary method of advertising is going to be social media. Fair Grounds has
presence in Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Youtube, plus they have their
unique website that is used for informational and selling purposes. Therefore, we
ought to engage in Internet marketing by allowing a two-way flow of information
between Fairgrounds and the potential consumer. One month prior to the
beginning of the summer, Fairgrounds should begin to promote the campaign
using their social media platforms. This is the easiest and most effective ways of
generating ‘word-of-mouth’, which will eventually help generating sales.
We also recommend for Fairgrounds to advertise on Pandora Radio. We are firm
believers that Pandora will be an effective platform because their target market
and Fairground’s target market are parallel.
Regarding support activities, we recommend Fairgrounds to put a billboard in the
highway (I-10) in direction to Metairie. We expect this investment to be running
for several weeks. The purpose of this initiative is to work as a reminder medium.
Fairgrounds ought to utilize other platforms to convey the original message but
will use this billboard to remind potential customers about the summer events.

11. 11
In order to stimulate immediate sales and brand recognition, Fairgrounds should
hire promoters and sales representatives to be present in the French Quarter
Fest (April 6-9, 2017). The sales team will be identified with matching shirts and
will be handing out promotional events, such as hats, reusable tumblers, and
discounts to those who purchase tickets for the summer events.
Last but not least, Fairgrounds must maintain a positive public relations image by
looking to run a press release about the summer series in local newspapers and
magazines, specifically Where Y’At magazine. The release should include all the
information about the events, contact information, where to buy tickets, and some
reviews and recommendations.

12. 12
Traditional Media Strategy
Billboard
Location: .2 Mile on Pontchartrain Expressway
Time: 6 Weeks
Reach: 56,8766 impressions per week
3.4 million impressions in total
Price: $12,128
Reasoning:
● Digital billboards are eye-catching to drivers due to the
change of advertisements
● Location is prime for individuals on their way to Mid City from
the following busy locations:
○ Mercedes-Benz Superdome
○ Smoothie King Center
○ Central Business District
○ French Quarter
○ Warehouse District
○ New Orleans Convention Center Corridor
○ Westbank of the City
Print Advertising
Location: Where Y’At Magazine
Greater New Orleans area
Time: March 27th, 2017 (April 2017 issue)
Reach: 175,000 for issue
Price: $5,000
Reasoning:
● Where Y’At Magazine distributes more copies on college
campuses than any other local publication
● Where Y’At is distributed to high traffic locations including:
○ Restaurants
○ Bars
○ Coffee shops
○ Retail outlets
● 72% of readers are between 21-34 years old
● 89% of readers see live music and/or moves 4 times a
month

13. 13
Promotional Booths
Reach:
• French Quarter Fest: 760,000 attendees
• Jazz Fest: 650,000 attendees
Duration:
• French Quarter Fest: April 6-9th, 2017
• Jazz Fest: April 28-30th & May 4-7 2017
Price:
• Tumblers:1000 priced at $4,410
• Koozies: 2000 priced at $1,780
• Flyers: 5000 priced at $2,450
• Brim Hats: 500 priced at $7,500
Reasoning:
• The target market is likely to attend events such as French Quarter Fest
and Jazz Fest
• Handing out promotional items will increase awareness to those with the
items and those who see others with the items
• Promotional booths will also be included throughout the Celebrating A
Sizzlin’ Summer events with discounted tickets for upcoming events

14. 14
Social Media Strategy
Facebook
Reach: 22,000 followers
Reasoning:
● The target audience uses Facebook heavily
● Formatting with pictures and comments can be posted
● Easy communication with the target market
● Turns posts into conversation
Instagram
Reach: 1,416 followers
Reasoning:
● The target audience uses Instagram heavily
● Easy formatting to create a fun aesthetic
● Consumers use this platform many times a day
● Can be linked to Facebook and Twitter to create consistency
Youtube
Reach: 52 followers
Reasoning:
● Provides a creative format to advertise for free
● Videos are an easy way to break through communication barriers
● Can be linked to Facebook and Twitter to create consistency and a higher
reach
Twitter
Reach: 7,956 followers
Reasoning:
● Creates constant conversation
● Easy way to communicate event information
● Using hashtags and trends result in a higher reach

15. 15
Pandora
Reach: 80,000 listeners/month
Duration: 4 months
Price: $12 per 1000 impressions
$3840 total
Reasoning:
● Target market relies on this application as opposed to traditional radio
● Ads will increase brand and event awareness
● Pandora will give the public a consistent voice from Fairgrounds
● Pandora offers intensive data points to find the best way to advertise to
the target market

16. 16
Evaluation
Evaluation Measurement of Success
The effectiveness of the IMC campaign will take into consideration: social media
rates, attendance, revenue, and a post-event survey. Reports should be run
weekly, monthly, and quarterly in order to fully understand the success of the
initiatives.
Event Attendance
Each report will be compared in order to find the most effective summer events.
The way to effectively compare this factor is by creating three metrics:
attendance to the Fairgrounds after the summer events, attendance to the
Fairgrounds prior to the events and attendance to the summer series. Because
the goal of the IMC Summer Campaign is to have more young adults attend
events at the Fairgrounds, attendees will need to provide their state identification
so age data can be tracked.
Social Media
Specific social media rates include changes in followers, likes and shares of
posts, and bounce rates for their website. First, we ought to analyze the
increment in followers/likes in their social media pages. We are expecting an
increase of 50% in Facebook and Instagram. Second, Fairgrounds should utilize
Google Analytics to better understand the user behavior in their website. They
should measure the bounce rate, traffic sources, site search, and ecommerce
drivers. This tool will help them understand why their website and Facebook are
not being huge sales drivers
Post-Event Survey
Attendees should fill out a quick post-event survey. This survey will help
Fairgrounds in determining the effectiveness and success rate of the campaign.
The main goal of this survey would be to determine: What were the customer’s
expectations? Did Fairgrounds meet the expectations? And will the customer
return to a different event? The surveys will be reported every month in order to
categorize the effectiveness of each monthly activity. It is important for
Fairgrounds to do an analysis of all three post-event surveys since the results
obtained in these surveys would provide much-needed data for future
investments.

17. 17

18. 18
13%
44%
33%
10%
Budget
Allocation
Where
Y'At
Promo
Items
Billboard
Pandora

19. 19
Promotional Items

20. 20
Media Kit
SOCIALMEDIA
22,240friends
52subscribers
8,022followers
1,400followers
WHOWEARE?
Wearethe12thbestracetrackand“racino”intheUnitedStates.Locatedin
NewOrleans,Louisiana.
WHATDOWEOFFER?
1.CompetitiveRacing
2.Casino
3.Amazingculinaryexperience
4.Greatenvironment
5.Sponsorshipopportunities
OURSPONSORS:
CONTACTINFORMATION:
Phone:(504)944-5515
Email:info@fgno.com
Address:1751GentillyBlvd.NewOrleans,
LA70118
SummerSeriesEvents
startingJune2017:
Overarchingtheme:Celebratinga
Sizzlin’Summer
●June-SavoryourSummer
●July-Shakin’Summer
●August-BandsThat’llMakeYou
Dance

21. 21
Social Media Content Calendar

22. 22

23. 23
Address: 1751 Gentilly Blvd. New Orleans, LA 70118
For immediate release: May 9th, 2016
For more information please contact:
Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots
Phone: (504) 944-5515
Email: info@fgno.com
Celebrating a Sizzlin’ Summer
Fair Grounds announces their summer-long interactive campaign.
New Orleans, LA (May 9th, 2016) --- Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots has
announced a new interactive campaign to be implemented during June, July, and
August of the 2017 year.
The new campaign, called “Celebrating a Sizzlin’ Summer”, seeks to grasp the
attention of a younger audience by bringing a more vivid environment to the
home of the Jazz Fest. The initiative consists of three months with three different
themes-- June will be “Savory Summer” complete with food competitions, July
will be a month of mixology competitions “Mixing Madness”, and the “Sizzlin’
Summer” will end with a Battle of the Bands in August.
Local restaurants, bars, and bands will be partnering with Fair Grounds to bring
the Sizzlin’ Summer Campaign to life. The official list of partners will be released
at a later date. Tickets ought to be purchased in advance throughout Fair
Grounds website.
For more information please visit https://www.fairgroundsracecourse.com/