Secretariat Campaign

challenge

Secretariat’s Triple Crown win was a legendary moment in history and culture, but over half the members of today’s population weren’t alive in 1973 to witness the race firsthand. The Kentucky Derby Museum was looking to evoke that same excitement to drive ticket sales to its exhibit to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Secretariat’s win.

TASK

This campaign aimed to invite consumers into the nostalgic thrill of success and inspire “FOMO” for a historical event. The top priority was to increase museum ticket purchases, so our team crafted a digital-forward media strategy that emphasized generating qualified leads through a full-funnel approach. Our media mix included engaging tactics such as high-impact, live sports CTV, as well as online video to promote the exhibit to a larger bourbon and sports audience. Hyper-targeted digital ads allowed us to retarget any users who visited the site in the previous 180 days as well as users who did not purchase tickets on their first visits.

action

I decided to re-engage fans from the past and bring new ones into the fold by bringing 1973 to 2023. I sifted through hours of archived files to find the most exciting footage of the actual race day in 1973. I then engineered a visual system that revolved around film, grain, and of course the iconic Secretariat checkered silks.

RESULT

This campaign generated record sales for general admission tickets with 34 million impressions, a 50% increase in "Plan Your Visit" clicks and 15% increase in media-attributed sales.