JCPenney
Rascal Flatts Tour
Integrated Tour Sponsorships
Rascal Flatts American Living Unstoppable Tour, presented by JCPenney.
EVI team architects integrated marketing campaign with JCPenney, Polo Ralph Lauren and country/pop supergroup Rascal Flatts.
The strategic design and implementation of integrated marketing programs is where EVI’s talents shine the brightest. The team is motivated by a strong desire to think out of the ordinary…to immerse itself into a company’s brand vision and create innovative ways to engage with the heart and soul of their consumer base.
As evidenced in our project portfolio, we believe in the power of music as one of the best ways of plugging-in to consumer emotions and directly linking corporate brands with everyday lifestyle.
EVI originally created the relationship between JCPenney and Rascal Flatts in 2008 to help launch American Living, the retailer’s all-American lifestyle brand developed exclusively for them by Polo Ralph Lauren’s Global Brand Concepts. The band’s audience demographic and value system proved to be a perfect fit with JCPenney from the start, and based on the initial success, EVI went to work on developing a more extensive plan that has resulted in a multi-faceted marketing initiative.
After crafting the strategic vision, EVI architected and negotiated every aspect of the intricate deal that would make the platform workable for the key participants: JCPenney, Polo Ralph Lauren, Rascal Flatts principals, Rascal Flatts Management and Lyric Street Records. The complexities of bringing an integrated sponsorship deal together are astounding, but it’s an arena in which EVI is uniquely qualified to play. With deep experience in the business and legalities of deal structuring, including music rights, intellectual property rights, merchandise licensing and sponsorship activation, EVI successfully created a win-win partnership between one of the nation’s largest retailers and hottest touring acts.
With the deal completed, EVI moved forward with complete strategic and tactical responsibility for orchestrating and implementing the entire initiative. To accomplish the huge campaign, EVI’s project management and creative team worked with a myriad of partners including the marketing, PR, merchandising and creative teams of JCPenney, Polo Ralph Lauren, Rascal Flatts and Lyric Street records, Rascal Flatts tour management, Razor Fish, M Booth, Live Nation, Radio Stations, Britten Design and technical fabricators and venue management.
Much more than a mere endorsement, the broad campaign integrated a multitude of activation components that created a true connection between Rascal Flatts fans, JCPenney stores and American Living clothing. The platform served as the new benchmark in tour sponsorship activation.
Importantly, Gary, Jay and Joe Don were exemplary models of the persona desired to represent the JCPenney and American Living brands. Time after time, the band presented itself with a confident, positive, yet humble and giving attitude. A better “Everyday Americana Family Fit” couldn’t have been hoped for. The band has endeared themselves to the American public by being real… by being themselves. That “everyday guy” persona represented the JCPenney brand values extremely well.