Digital Ad Campaign
When the 2023 NCAA Men's Final Four came to Houston, Discovery Green became its stage. The 12-acre downtown park, home to more than 600 free events a year, hosted the NCAA March Madness Music Festival, 3 days of free performances from Megan Thee Stallion, Lil Nas X, Tim McGraw, Keith Urban, Maggie Rogers, Little Big Town, Mickey Guyton, Omar Apollo, and J.I.D. WWC built the digital advertising campaign that connected that crowd to the park. Geofenced ads on Facebook, Instagram, and Google reached festivalgoers on site, inviting them to download the festival guide and opt in to updates on future Discovery Green events. For 6 months after the final encore, retargeting delivered customized ads promoting the park's programming to those same audiences. The campaign amplified the festival and turned a national moment into a lasting local one, cementing Discovery Green's place as a top entertainment destination in Houston.
A national spotlight lasts 3 days. Its value can last much longer. When the NCAA brought the March Madness Music Festival to Discovery Green for the 2023 Men's Final Four, the downtown Houston park had a rare opportunity, thousands of music fans gathered on its lawns, exactly the audience its year-round slate of free events is built for. Discovery Green asked WWC to promote the festival across digital channels, put the official festival guide in attendees' hands, and convert a 3-day crowd into a lasting audience for the park's programming.
WWC built a geofenced digital advertising campaign around the festival footprint in downtown Houston. Ads on Facebook, Instagram, and Google reached attendees while they were on site, surfacing in their social feeds with an invitation to download the festival guide, a practical tool for navigating 3 days of performances from Megan Thee Stallion, Lil Nas X, Tim McGraw, and more. Each download carried an opt-in for updates on future Discovery Green events, turning a moment of utility into a durable marketing channel. After the festival, WWC ran a 6-month retargeting campaign, serving customized ads for Discovery Green programming to the audiences who had engaged, keeping the park in their feeds long after the stages came down.
The campaign carried Discovery Green well beyond festival weekend. Geofenced ads met attendees in the moment, the festival guide gave them a reason to engage, and opt-ins built an audience the park could reach directly. The follow-through showed in the numbers, with venue traffic increasing after the campaign and event registrations rising as 6 months of retargeting kept Discovery Green's events in front of festivalgoers. More importantly, it reinforced Discovery Green's standing as a cultural hub and a top destination for entertainment in Houston.
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