Case Study

The DuPage County Fair is the only county fair in Illinois located in a completely urban setting. Historical research showed that when the first DuPage County Fair was held in 1955, the county was 85% farmland. By 2000, the last farm vanished as DuPage County was absorbed into Chicago’s urban sprawl.

Objectives:

• Generate awareness for the DuPage County Fair and reach new publics to drive higher attendance.
• Celebrate the history and heritage of the half century milestone,
• Garner local and national media attention.

Strategies/Tactics:

• GR-PR built relationships with local government officials and their constituents through the first ever Mayor’s Hog Calling Contest.
• Provided free admission tickets to students through DuPage library reading programs and student achievement program at DuPage schools.
• Press materials were distributed at planned intervals before, during and after the fair to publicize all aspects of the fair.

Results:

• Attendance (190,926) increased 11% from 2003.
• Print impressions reached more than 46 million.
• National media attention included ESPN’s Sportscenter, Fox News Channel and 226 U.S. markets representing 32 states.
• TV clips of the local fair also went international into Canada on national Canadian network – CTV.
• TV impressions reached more than 13 million.
• From GR-PR’s tracking of print and TV, 59,265,951 impressions were generated.