The Gathering Place
Gathering Place is a 100-acre, multi-million-dollar public park in Tulsa, OK that took nearly a decade to bring to life. The challenge was to build a strong and lasting brand identity, engage a diverse group of community stakeholders throughout development, and drum up excitement for the park’s opening in the community. With all eyes on the development of this new Tulsa attraction, activating the Gathering Place brand in creative ways would be key to a successful grand opening of the park.
Kids and families were key stakeholders throughout the development of Gathering Place. Generating excitement among children would quickly spread the word to other key audiences and build anticipation for the park’s opening. It was important to engage kids and their families early and often with a positive and beneficial campaign that could build a lasting reputation for Gathering Place.
To build excitement for the grand opening among children and families, Saxum developed “The Reading Tree” campaign, which challenged children in Tulsa to read 2 million books before the park’s opening. The program provided educators and families with enriching multimedia activities, resources, and an online book log. The campaign culminated in a celebration with Gathering Places’ kid ambassador, Ariana, at the park’s real Reading Tree during opening weekend.
The children of Tulsa exceeded our goal and read over 2 million books before the park’s opening in September 2018.
