For the second consecutive year, the North Dakota Department of Commerce Tourism Division (Tourism) and Find the Good Life workforce recruitment initiative (FTGL) leveraged strategic partnerships, engaging events and Teddy Roosevelt himself to create meaningful connections with potential visitors at one of golf’s premier events.
The Waste Management Phoenix Open at TPC Scottsdale hosts the largest and most enthusiastic crowds on the PGA TOUR. It welcomes more than a million fans over the tournament’s seven days, bringing some of Tourism’s and FTGL’s key audiences together in one spectacular location and giving us a unique opportunity to show off all North Dakota has to offer as a vacation destination and a home.
We combined creative in-person and digital tactics to make North Dakota really stand out. We greeted WM Phoenix Open attendees with fun swag and decorated the Member Club with enticing marketing decals. World-premiere Teddy Roosevelt reprisor Joe Weigand gave fans a bully welcome on the 17th and 18th holes. And our team hosted a packed performance and meet-and-greet with North Dakota’s own 2024 AMC Duo of the Year Award winners, Tigirlily Gold.
Behind the scenes, our media team used targeted social and video ads to reach and connect with attendees before and after the event. Our PR efforts earned two, 2-minute news segments on Fox10 Phoenix News and one NBC news segment that reached a combined 128 million viewers online.