Does Boston Have An Experiential Marketing Problem?
The 2016 IndyCar Grand Prix Event – scheduled to be held in Boston over Labor Day weekend was cancelled four days ago, after City officials and event sponsors couldn’t reach an agreement.
And if you were as excited as I was for this high octane race to come to our city streets, then you are clearly disappointed. The race, a 2.25 mile, 11 hairpin turn course throughout Boston’s iconic Seaport (and around the Convention Center) was scheduled to be held on September 4th, as part of Verizon’s world tour Grand Prix that spans a plethora of other US cities. But IndyCar itself cites “Bad relations” with the city as the reason for calling off the race. But don’t worry, IndyCar will be visiting just about every other major city…
Sound familiar? Boston 2024 anyone? It was just last summer when the full wave of opposition crawled out of the woodwork to sink the Summer Olympic ship set to sail for an international bid for the 2024 games. A region-wide social media firestorm erupted from both sides for months, until Mayor Marty Walsh was forced to call off the bid, just after the U.S. Olympic Committee chose Boston over other potential host cities like: San Francisco, Los Angeles and Washington D.C.
Which leads me to my next question; Does Boston Have An Experiential Marketing Problem?
How does something so awesome, such as the IndyCar race, get totally scrapped in The City of Boston 127 days before it’s launch? This event, clearly a huge undertaking, must have taken AT LEAST a few years of planning. Not to mention, crazy big sponsors such as: LogMeIn, Zipcar, Exxon Mobile, Coors Light, WEEI, New Balance, Polar, Yankee Bus Lines, On Peak and Boston Harbor Cruises had all relegated buckets of money to be sponsors for this thing.
Granted, The IndyCar Grand Prix is seeking a second venue in the Northeast, and plans to take majority of their sponsors along with them. Rumor has it they are looking at Burlington, VT, Providence, RI, Manchester, NH and Portland, ME all for potential host sites for their Labor Day 2016 race.
But looking back, why did Boston City officials agree to host it here for 2016, and then annually for up to four more years? Why scrap it just a few months after over two years of logistical planning?
And if you’ve got the feeling of deja vu, you are not mistaken. And if you’re counting, Boston is now 0-2 when it comes to hosting potential headline grabbing mega-sporting events. John Casey, President of what had been called, “The Grand Prix of Boston” said, “The relationship between us and the city is not working,”, in a Globe interview Friday. “The relationship is untenable,” in this Boston Globe article.
And if you’re wondering what ‘Untenable’ means, it is “not able to be maintained or defended against attack or objection,” which leads me to believe the City’s opposition to this was staunch, from the very beginning.
Did we give ourselves too much time? Is Boston just forever-opposed to anything new and different? In such a city of innovation, education and overall advances in a plethora of industries, marketing and advertising (especially experiential) seem to often be on the chopping block.
In such a historic city, why are we saying ‘No’ to all the potential cool shit? Sure, we had the “Big Air” come to Fenway, and yes we’ve got the Boston Calling event that happens twice a year, but other than our Southie Parades on St. Patrick’s Day, why can’t we have more cool BIG events?
The Grand Prix race would have been AWESOME for the city – and with thousands of tickets having already been sold to fans of IndyCar and other denizens of the Greater Boston Area, why did this event get scrapped just a few months beforehand?
I mean, take a look at how incredible this race would have been in the Seaport.
FYI, the official announcement for the race happened in May 2015, and now, just about a year since, we’re here wondering why the rug has been pulled from under us once again. With LogMeIn’s ‘Lifestyle Expo’ set to take place from Friday through Sunday, potential vendors and sponsors would have flooded hundreds of thousands of dollars into the City, which I can’t understand how it could have been a turn off to City officials…
Which brings me to my last point…
For someone working in experiential marketing, I am sorely disappointed. Many of our projects happen elsewhere in other cities like New York, Chicago or Los Angeles, where they seem much more open to experiential happenings. Is Boston too ‘Old school?’ Do Bostonians just not like being bothered? Are we not welcome to change? Are we staunchly opposed to any major disruptors?
On a weekend where seemingly every Bostonian is either on vacation, at the beach, or at least out of the city, I find it extremely hard to believe that this IndyCar race would have been a major disruption. Could it have been a challenge logistically? Perhaps yes, but my inkling was that our stubborn, hard-nosed city officials just aren’t as open to change and opportunity as the rest of Massachusetts appears to be.
Good thing it’s an election year.
That’s it for now. For any follow-up questions, comments or info pertaining to INPHANTRY please email me at: Cam@inphantry.com
