What do GOAT yoga, a brand icon and the NBA Finals have in common?
Actually, more than you think! It’s June in Cleveland and the first home game of the NBA Finals are headed to your home town. The city is full of nervous energy, and the fans and your co-workers are feeling the stress. With the Cavs down 2-0, Progressive wanted to offer the city of Cleveland (and everyone visiting for the NBA Finals) a fun way to relax and de-stress before Game 3 on Wednesday, June 6 – but how?
With all the conversations around who is the GOAT (Greatest of All Time) – Michael Jordan or LeBron James – Progressive’s creative team kept circling back to activations around the word “GOAT.” Goat yoga is so hot right now and we thought, what could be a better way to de-stress than to practice yoga while hanging out with cute little furry creatures? We were inspired by our own GOAT (and company icon) – Flo. Of course, the national conversation surrounding basketball's GOAT made this idea tailor-made for us to execute.
The team didn’t even leave the conference room once we decided to run with this idea. We immediately contacted a local farm that was willing to participate, and then I started reaching out to my industry partners. This is the perfect example of how beneficial it is to network and develop strong relationships with your industry partners. I knew that my industry colleagues would want to be part of this event, not just for the revenue and exposure, but because they supported their industry partner. None of the vendors asked what’s in it for them but rather, what could they do for the event. Many of them immediately helped us promote the event via their social media channels, which led to local and national media coverage.
Being active and exercising regularly is an important part of your health and well-being, and goat yoga is all about relaxing and having fun. By teaming up with Progressive’s fitness instructors, we were able to offer 20-minute goat yoga sessions to more than 190 participants at two activations. In addition to our event for external audiences, we also hosted an employee-only event at one of Progressive’s regional locations.
Even the planning team was able to enjoy the benefits of goat yoga. Planning and executing complex events is stressful, especially when you have less than five days to coordinate a successful event. The team pulled together all the logistics, production, marketing, instructors, contracts, signage and even t-shirts in three business days! In addition, we all had a crash course in goat wrangling when they slipped through the fence and decided to join the crowd gathered on the lawn. If you ever decide to plan an event with baby goats, just know that they can wiggle their way out of an opening that is smaller than their body width. Spending the day playing with baby goats and seeing the smiles on everyone’s face made the team feel energized and melted away the stress from planning the event.
Ann Luketic, CMP
Marketing Event Specialist
Progressive Insurance