Novant Health Thanksgiving Day ParadeCharlotte Center City Partners

2015 IDA Award Submission

Lonely Planet’s 2014

list of America’s

best Thanksgiving

Day Parades.

The Thanksgiving Day Parade has been a holiday tradition in Charlotte, N.C. since 1947. For almost seven decades, hundreds of thousands of participants, volunteers, sponsors, families, and friends from across the region have cherished this event as a part of their Thanksgiving Day traditions. In August 2013, the tradition almost ended when the Carolina’s Carousel Parade could not find a title sponsor. With the help of Charlotte Center City Partners, the parade had a new sponsor and a new name:

Novant Health Thanksgiving Day Parade. More than 2,500 people representing approximately 120

organizations participated in the parade. High school and community marching bands performed along side new larger-than-life floats, snow globes, and our patent pending inflatable “Segwalloons”; a unique balloon design wrapped around a Segway.

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HISTORY

“ We continue to

aspire to be one of

the best parades

in the country. By

continuing to add

new floats, large

balloons and

floats, and live

performances, this

parade will be the

crown of the

southeast” - Robert Krumbine

Chief Creative Officer &

Senior Vice President of Events

EVENT DETAILS

Annual free event in a prominent Uptown location

Front-row seating tickets were available for purchase throughout November, over 400 seat were sold

Adults and children of all ages

Nearly 500 volunteers participated in 2014

Broadcast in more than 1.5 million homes on WBTV on Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day

6 Rating, Highest Rating

ESTIMATED ATTENDANCE

• More than 100,000

• 55% of attendees come from Mecklenburg County

• 34% from surrounding counties and 11% from out of state or other counties

TARGET MARKET

• Residents of Charlotte, NC, Mecklenburg County & surrounding region

ECONOMIC IMPACT

• Generates over $1 million in spending that contributes to the local economy

• Out of town visitor provide the hospitality sector with business during a traditionally slow week for hotels

CHARLOTTE DETAILS

More than 11 million annual visitors from a diverse regional audience

Fastest growing city in the U.S.

FAST FACTS*

2014 PARADE HIGHLIGHTS

https://youtu.be/U2OxEO6AYqo

• A new song was written specially for the Novant Health Thanksgiving Day Parade by composer Rob Pottorf:

“Celebrate the Season”

MARKETING

CCCP MEDIA:

8 Tryon street kiosk posters

6 Tryon street news rack

banners

54 Tryon street light pole

banners

39 Tryon street calendars

2 Overstreet banners

Orange barrel digital media

PAID MEDIA:

CBS Radio (Christmas K): 1,608,960

impressions

Charlotte Magazine: 116,000 impressions

Observer Insert: 216,000 impressions

CharlotteObserver.com: 255,718 impressions

Observer Bonus Ads: 446,000 impressions

Coffee News: 45,600 impressions

Radio Disney

WBT Link: 763,000 impressions

WFAE Radio

Where Magazine: 280,000 impressions

Total paid media impressions:

3,731,278

Charlotte Center City Partners conducted and extensive marketing campaign featuring print, radio, television, web, social media, billboards, co-op advertising and earned media.

FYC MEDIA:

FYC Newsletter: 72,000 impressions

FYC Calendars: 11,700,000 impressions

Tryon Street Kiosk Posters

Tryon Street Pole Banners

PRINT MEDIA:

Charlotte Magazine

Holiday Home Tour Ad

My School Rocks

Observer Insert

Where MagazineSOCIAL MEDIA:

Facebook page

Twitter page

Total paid media impressions:

3,731,278

MARKETING

EARNED MEDIA:AOL Travel

Associated Press

Charlotte Observer

Charlotte Parent

CBS Radio (Christmas K)

Disney 411 blog

FOX46 Carolinas

Gaston Gazette

Lincoln Times–News

Lake Wylie Pilot

Lonely Planet

MSN Travel

News & Observer

News 14 Carolina

Q-City Metro

The Queen City Buzz

The State

Time Warner Cable

WBT Radio

WBTV

WCCB, Wilson’s World

WCNC

WFAE

WSOC

Total Impressions:

142,706,578

MEDIA

Over 100,000 Charlotteans attended the parade on Thanksgiving Day

Broadcast in over 1.5 million homes on WBTV This does not include the viewers who watched the

parade as it re-aired on Christmas Day as well as those who watched the program on Time Warner Cable on Demand during the month of December.

6 rating—the highest rating

TELEVISION COVERAGE

Novant Health branding extended into schools’ legacy:

NOVANT BRANDING

MARCHING BAND COMPETITION:

1st Place: North Lincoln High School

2nd Place: East Burke High School

3rd Place: Fort Mill High School

Over $10,000 in prizes

2014 Band Trophy:

Investment in a full-scale float or snow globe allows brands to come alive in creative ways that can only be experienced within the magic of the Novant Health Thanksgiving Day parade. The theme, characters, audience contact and the story that each unique float represents create a lasting impact for audiences, boosting brand affinity and differentiation.

PNG Float

Custom Inflatables

CONCEPTS COME TO LIFE

NEW FEATURES

Patent pending “one of a kind.”

The 2014 Parade introduced

three new Segwalloons to the

military portion of the parade.

Segwalloons are unique to

Charlotte and were created

specifically for the Novant

Health Thanksgiving Day

Parade

Segwalloons provide a

distinctive

opportunity for sponsors whose

goals include brand interaction among a wide variety of

audiences.

Along with the three new

Segwalloons, some new

features include the tricycle

and new flooring for the

performance stages. We also introduced our new Queen Charlotte Mascot.

SPONSORS

Supporting Sponsors: Arts & Science Council, Charlotte Knights