Travel baseball can brighten kids’ futures. But rising costs in this multi-billion dollar industry has created a widening gap between those who can and can’t afford to join teams. Families are required to pay on average $2,000+ to cover tournament fees, uniforms, equipment, coach’s fees and travel expenses. This alone makes it very difficult for the average family to afford a travel club experience for their aspiring young ball player.
Days Inn wanted to help “level the playing field,” and with 1,400+ properties and a large travel-ball family customer base, the hotel was poised to make a play.
Days Inn started and sponsored a youth travel baseball team for families for whom travel-ball was out of reach. We held tryouts, ran weekly practices and entered 6 tournaments. We followed the team all season long, shooting and sharing their unforgettable journey on social and digital channels through video, interviews, photos and up-to-date scoring. This unique approach drove awareness, consideration and conversion for the brand within the youth sports segment.
We worked closely with Days Inn marketing to found a new youth travel-ball team in Northern California. Our team created everything from custom logos and branded uniforms, to the Days-Inn-inspired name: the “Golden Rays.” The hotel chain covered all costs for the players and families, including uniforms, equipment, elite coaching, tournament fees, airfare, and hotel stays.
We documented the Golden Rays’ journey, capturing every moment in real time. As 12 deserving kids and their families made lifelong memories on and off the field, we were there for it all: weekend tournaments, weekday practices, a player’s first time on a plane, a game-winning home run, a pool party back at Days Inn. We held tryouts, ran weekly practices, and entered 6 tournaments. We followed the team all season long, shooting and sharing their unforgettable journey through video, interviews, photos, and up-to-date scoring.
Episodic video content launched in February 2019 across paid social and owned digital channels, covering the Golden Rays’ exciting season of tryouts, practices, travel tournaments, and player and family testimonials. Watching these kids play their hearts out, all thanks to Days Inn, was a life-changing experience for everyone involved, creating an emotional connection and driving overall awareness and affinity for the hotel brand.
Using episodic video content and a full-funnel approach across social and digital channels, we saw an overall lift in brand favorability, consideration, and intent-to-purchase.
The content garnered 14 million impressions and reached over 4 million people on social alone. Through our targeted strategy, our campaign gained traction with the travel-ball segment, generating over 17,000 attributable hotel bookings and a whopping $67 Return on Ad Spend—a 185% increase YoY for the brand.
