Case Study
Thank you Chris Hansen
Client
Self-Directed Project
Services
Creative Earned Media Campaign
Situation
The story that caught fire in Seattle on a sunny Tuesday afternoon in September 2012 was about Thursday. The city council had just approved the plan for a new arena and it was a huge step toward bringing back our beloved Sonics and potentially adding an NHL team.
The man behind this initiative, investor Chris Hansen, pushed out a blog post thanking city officials and fans for their tireless effort. At the end of his post he offered to buy every supporter in the city a beer – on Thursday evening.
That’s right. He had just offered us a beer to say thanks.
We at Curator felt it was time to turn that sentiment around. And we knew we had less than 24hrs to provide Seattle with a platform to show their appreciation.
Execution
We needed an idea that was social minus the LOLs and OMGs. We needed a concept that would empower the creativity and passion of Seattle fans. It had to be authentic and personal. But most importantly it needed to be fast.
We knew that the sentiment would peak Thursday evening when the free beers were flowing and the sea of green and yellow had descended upon FX McRory’s.
The idea centered on a site with a simple proposition. Download the Thank You pdf template and share your message with Chris via an instagram hashtag - #thankschrishansen. Or just tag an image or favorite Sonics memory with the same hashtag to contribute.
After a long night of design and code, thankyouchrishansen.com was up and the vessel was ready to be filled. We spent the next morning conditioning the soil for the site with a PR and social media push to make people aware of its existence. After previewing the site with influential media and bloggers we publicly launched by 4 p.m. on Wednesday.
Results
24 hrs
From concept to launch
300k+
Social media impressions in 36 hours
Gary Payton
Sonics Hall of Famer used the site as his cover image
20+
News stories within the first week
