Super Bowl Kick-off Gala Publicity to Support the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, San Diego

Overview

The Super Bowl Host Committee and the San Diego Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society teamed up to host the official kick-off party launching Super Bowl Week in San Diego. A list of VIP guests and the irreverent Jay Leno as a featured entertainer were planned to put the glitz and glitter in the elegant event.

Clearpoint Agency was hired to publicize the event, coordinate Jay Leno’s appearance and raise awareness for the San Diego National MS Society.

Research

Research included expanding the typical Super Bowl Host Committee media list beyond the sports writers to include feature writers, lifestyle/entertainment writers, and philanthropic writers. We also researched the previous year’s Super Bowl kick-off parties to see if they had benefited charities and found, although there are other charitable activities going on during the week, it appeared that it was not typical for a charity to be the recipient of the first major kick-off party. Further research was done to determine what other events were going on the same night and during the week that we would have to compete with for coverage.

Planning

Clearpoint Agency met with key marketing and operations staff at both the MS Society and the Super Bowl Host Committee to plan a coordinated PR and communications program. The combined committee decided to hire Jay Leno as the entertainment for the evening so we set about securing his bio and building a relationship with his agent so that we could potentially garner interviews for the local media with Jay. We brought in Red Door Interactive to do the design work for the invitations, program and table cards to give the entire event a cohesive look that included the National MS Society logo in materials.

Goal for event publicity: Capitalize on the notoriety and fame of the Super Bowl, the excitement of the week, Jay Leno, and include MS Society information. We were subtle because we did not want this to be relegated to philanthropy writers, which often happens with charity events. Clearpoint wanted to expand beyond the normal giving community and felt that if we pitched it to the entertainment writers and provide an entre to Jay Leno and others, that we would broaden our exposure for the MS Society and get them mentioned more often.

Execution

By early December we kicked the media program into high gear, ensuring that the charity was listed in all the materials that mentioned the Kick-off Gala and events of the week. Three releases were planned, developed and put out over Business Wire. The first release was dropped in early December announcing that the local chapter of the National MS Society would benefit from the Kick-off party, but focusing on the entertainment. Information about MS was added as a sidebar note to editors. We sent this out over Business Wire, but also made personal calls to many publications to see if we could interest them in coverage. At the same time, we worked to get Jay Leno’s agent to agree to let Jay do some private interviews in advance of the event with local media and publications that might not normally get an interview with entertainers of Jay’s stature. He agreed to do two, one with North County Times and one with the Union Tribune.

The media advisory, directed to entertainment, sports and assignment editors, went out on January 17, with specifics that indicated program times and coverage availability. By this time, Clearpoint Agency had convinced Jay to do a short press conference the evening of the event. This info was included in the advisory and we set about making reservations with all of the local broadcast media and many print reporters to cover the press conference.

Invitations were sent to the National MS Society list and to other lists provided by the Super Bowl Host Committee and local sports organizations. Tickets to the gala were priced at $500 and $1000 a seat. Clearpoint developed materials for the program that featured the local chapter and its efforts, and also told a bit about MS. Clearpoint drafted the welcome letter for the National MS Society president, edited the event remarks, and supported the plan to give awards to the Sports Hall of Champion recipients. A fact sheet was developed and given to all reporters the night of the event.

The final news release went out on January 22, indicating the amount of money that was raised for the MS Society by the event. Clearpoint Agency sent the news release and personal notes to all of the reporters and broadcasters that had covered the event, thanking them for the exposure. We also thanked Legoland for donating a Lego portrait of Jay Leno that helped to raise $2500 for the charity.

Results

More than 600 people, including San Diego’s mayor, attended the event. Press coverage was garnered all over San Diego County and all over the country, giving kudos to the Super Bowl Host Committee and city that cared enough to benefit a charitable organization during the Super Bowl. In fact, Joseph Perkins, a syndicated columnist with The San Diego Union Tribune, made the effort to learn about other charitable events related to Super Bowl and put out an article, “Not Just About Fat Cats” that ran in 28 cities across the nation. And perhaps the best news of all, the event raised over $475,000 for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society and expanded the organization’s relationships in the community.

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