Plan

The Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, whose reservation comprises portions of the cities of Palm Springs, Cathedral City and Rancho Mirage as well as unincorporated sections of Riverside County, owns and operates a variety of economic enterprises including casinos, restaurants, financial institutions, golf courses, as well as a spa and fitness center.

On April 17, 2006, the tribe officially broke ground on a $185 million expansion of the Agua Caliente Casino in Rancho Mirage, Calif. The expansion, projected to be complete by December 2007, would include a new 350-guest room resort hotel, as well as added square footage to the existing casino facility.

The announcement of the expansion brought much concern from local neighbors and environmental groups surrounding the expansion’s impact on traffic and esthetics of the community. Recognizing these challenges, the tribe called upon Off Madison Ave to develop a communication strategy and related tools to assist with the announcement of the ground breaking event and thus bolster the tribe’s positive image and reputation amongst key influencers. The agency also was tasked with providing recommendations to help mitigate any opposition from neighboring communities, local government, union workers and environmental groups.

Create

As part of a media relations strategy, Off Madison Ave developed a number tools to garner media attention and entice them to attend the ground breaking ceremony. These tools included a media alert announcing the event, an electronic press kit with background information about the tribe, and a question and answer document to prepare designated spokespeople with responses to potential inquiries from media and the public. Also, key messages were created to ensure that all communication regarding the expansion was accurate and consistent and noted the tribe’s commitment to economic diversity for themselves and for enhanced tourism opportunities for the broader community as a whole.

Once all of the tools were developed, the agency leveraged its relationships with Southern Calif. media to pitch print and TV media from Palm Springs, Riverside and San Diego markets to cover the expansion in a balanced and fair manner. The team also issued a photo alert immediately following the event so that any media unable to attend the event had an opportunity to cover the ceremony.

Achieve

Several hours before the ground breaking, the client determined the event would have to be moved indoors due to record high winds. The agency quickly outreached to all confirmed media to ensure they not only had the details of the event but that they would cover an indoor ground breaking. Even with the last minute venue change, all local TV stations and nearly every print outlet were represented at the event.

Moreover, as a result of the agency’s extensive pitching efforts, the tribe secured 21 unique clips at an estimated ad value of $35,000 and reach of 1,879,401 audience members. The team garnered coverage regarding the ground breaking in target print and TV outlets including The Desert Sun, The Press-Enterprise, Casino City Times and Gambling Magazine KESQ, KMIR and KPSP.

The tribe’s main communication message of “economic diversity while building tourism for the area” was woven throughout each article and truly represented the tribe’s vision to the media audiences. What is perhaps the greatest achievement is the fact that all coverage was neutral to positive – quite an accomplishment given that this was a high-rise hotel project in the heart of a three-story community and the fact that the community had expressed opposition to the project in the past.

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