Case Study
The Inaugural Beverly Hills Tour d’Elegance
The annual Rodeo Drive Concours d’Elegance is a decades-old Father’s Day tradition in Beverly Hills. After the pandemic forced a cancellation in 2020, the community desperately needed a reason to come together and heal in ’21, yet pandemic restrictions were still in effect. Kahn Media helped provide a solution – if we couldn’t bring the people to the cars, we would bring the cars to the people with a moving car show rolling through the iconic boulevards of America’s most famous city – the Beverly Hills Tour d’Elegance.
Client
Beverly Hills Tour d’Elegance
Type of Work
PR/Communications
Graphic Design
Videography
Photography
Event Marketing
Dates
June 20, 2021
01 / The Challenge
Mid-Pandemic
Event
A global pandemic, hesitation about public events and an all-new event format made for one of the most challenging environments to create an experience such as the Beverly Hills Tour d’Elegance. Set to be the first major public gathering in Southern California after the statewide stay-at-home orders were lifted, and with the need to abide by ever-changing health and safety guidelines set by local government – all on a very tight budget and timeline – we also had to keep a keen eye on public sentiment to ensure the event was well received by the public, the press and elected officials.
02 / The Tactic
The global pandemic immediately ended the hopes of holding the Rodeo Drive Concours d’Elegance in its traditional format, but Kahn Media had quickly strategized a creative pivot that could make the event a success.
By May 2020, we were deep into planning a twist to the decades old – and much beloved – Rodeo Drive Concours, a new “moving car show” for Father’s Day, when increasing Covid numbers and outdoor gathering restrictions caused us to pause event planning until the following year. But as Father’s Day 2021 drew closer, the pandemic was still present and many events were once again facing delays or worse.
The possibility of cancellation was still on the table, but Kahn Media pushed ahead with the help of event organizers, city officials and sponsors to plan a new Father’s Day car event in Beverly Hills. The concept: curate a group of high profile vehicles, from famous movie cars like the Back to the Future DeLorean and the rover from Lost in Space to incredibly rare collector cars like the Ferrari 250 GTO, to famous drivers including comedians Jay Leno and Jeff Dunham, celebrities including Tori Spelling and Caitlin Jenner and the car hobby’s biggest names (including event founder and leader Bruce Meyer) and have them drive a pre-promoted “drive route” on the city’s most famous streets with a police escort.
As planning moved along, excitement grew and it became clear that the new format would not only provide the public with a much-needed opportunity to reconnect with neighbors and their community, but also “spread the love” with the parade winding through the famous streets and iconic properties of Beverly Hills to become more than a car show on a single street, but an opportunity for the city’s residents to reconnect and smile after a long, tough year.
Kahn Media spent months reaching out to its network of collectors to curate some of the greatest cars ever produced while also pitching local, automotive and luxury media to build hype for this first-of-its-kind event in Beverly Hills.
Strategize A
Creative Pivot
Pivot
Adjusted the format of the event
to comply with pandemic rules
Capture
Grassroots promotion through our network and PR promotion using media contacts and local news
Stage
Executed a combination of virtual
and in-person experiences
03 / The Results
Moving Display of
Automotive Art
The Beverly Hills Tour d’Elegance was a resounding success that matched the turnout of the traditional Rodeo Drive Concours d’Elegance with an estimated attendance of 50,000 spectators along the tour route and generated $5,000 benefiting both the Beverly Hills Police Officers Association and the Beverly Hills Firefighters’ Association, non-profit charities that provide assistance to first responders injured in the line of duty. The public loved the opportunity to see the cars in motion, and many, including city officials and sponsors, have asked for the format to continue in 2022 and beyond.
The event proved to the community and the client that Kahn Media could successfully pivot and create an event as good or better than it would have been, even in the face of unprecedented challenges. Using a mix of advance pitching with Kahn Media produced B-Roll and imagery, onsite live segments and KM produced video news release (VNR) content, Kahn Media was also able to line up coverage on every major local TV news station, including KABC, KNBC, KCBS, KTTV and KTLA along with over a dozen major vertical outlets.
About the client:
The Beverly Hills Tour d’Elegance is a moving car show rolling through the famous streets of Beverly Hills on Father’s Day. The tour carried on the decades-old tradition set by the Rodeo Drive Concours d’Elegance. Both events include world-class cars on display for a free Father’s Day event in support of local charity organizations.
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