OBJECTIVE
Gone Fishing is an annual nationwide Bass Pro Shops campaign focusing on encouraging people to act as fishing ambassadors and pledge to bring someone fishing—especially children. Through our #gonefishing tag, people are encouraged to share their involvement and post images of their involvement. To increase reach, we work with a group of sports celebrities and top anglers from the world of professional fishing who all share #gonefishing socially as well.
Through Gone Fishing, we also promote donating to "Teach a Child to Fish", a non-profit organization focusing on teaching and mentoring youth through fishing programs.
Our overall objective is to promote fishing and to grow the sport by introducing new participants.
STRATEGY
In addition to posting about the in-store event and broad campaign, we strongly encourage people to participate in Gone Fishing by sharing fishing imagery with the #gonefishing tag, and pledging to introduce fishing to someone new. This sharing activity increases reach and engagement, which exposes the message to even more people.
Our social strategy for Gone Fishing focuses on three channels: Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
We have several components, each of which are designed to drive traffic and engagement in unique ways.
Components:
Tag Your Fishing Photos with #gonefishing
Post a picture of you fishing and tag it with #gonefishing. To prime the tag, we work with a group of over 10 sports celebrities and fishing pros, all who post fishing imagery with the tag and a message encouraging their followers to do the same.
Take the Pledge and enter to Win a Fishing Trip
Social posts can drive people to an online form where they can "Take the Pledge" to take someone fishing. Doing so enters them into a sweepstakes with a high-value fishing excursion as the grand prize.
In-Store Event
For two weekends, we feature an event at our 70+ retail locations. At this event, we promote fishing skills workshops, kids' activities and giveaways, as well as the opportunity to fish (catch & release) in a large on-site pond. All event-related activities include ties to the #gonefishing tag so people can share their experience.
Gone Fishing Social Giveaway
For the duration of the in-store event, we promote our social giveaway with prizes of two Kid Casters Rod & Reel Combos each day to a winner selected from social posts which included our #gonefishing tag.
