NSSF Hunting Heritage Partnership Grant Pilot test campaign: Break Free Tennessee!... “Go Hunting” message promoting sale of multiple licenses types to lapsed hunters

Tennessee License Sales

Contributing Factors Residents who consider themselves a hunter = 20%* Actual annual resident participation = 7% Residents who are “lapsed” or infrequent hunters = 13% Analysis of state license database proves the same point! Lapsed hunters = approx. 558,000 Only 1 out of 3 Tennesseans who consider themselves hunters buy a license each year! * Source: Public opinion on Fish and Wildlife Management issues, Tennessee, Southeastern Assoc. of Fish & Wildlife Agencies, 2005)

Solutions? 1) Ask general public to pay for fish & wildlife conservation 2) “Recruit and retain” anglers and hunters

Marketing Campaign Talk Radio – Memphis, Jackson & Nashville Country Radio – Paris Cable TV – Memphis & Nashville Network TV – Nashville & Jackson Direct Mail – 6,000 ’05 lapsed license buyers Direct Mail – 230,000 Electric CoOp inserts Grassroots P.R. – staff-placed news stories, fairs, church activities, etc. Earned P.R. – news releases & follow-up Point of Purchase – Checklist

Evaluation Methods employed: 1) Compare & apply average unit volume of sales to 2006 Treatment & Control counties during impact period 2) Survey lapsed license buyers 3) web traffic

Treatment vs. Control ROI Additional Revenue Generated in Treatment vs. Control Counties Gross Change in All Licenses Sold in Treatment Counties vs. Control Counties How Much Better Did Treatment Counties Perform Compared to Control Counties Combination$4, % 49.64% Sportsman$19, % 22.47% Big Game Gun$16, % 32.28% Archery$3, % 49.46% Muzzleloader$4, % 20.67% Total$48, % License Sales: Sept.-Dec compared to five-year trend Sept.-Dec.

Almost half (49%) said they saw one of the campaign strategies reminding them to “go hunting.” Extrapolating these data statewide—and if a statewide license sales campaign were initiated—we would predict that ~273,000 lapsed hunters (or 49% of the estimated 558,000 in the “lapsed hunter pool”) would be reminded to go hunting (over and above the ~7% of the Tennessee population that would go hunting anyway). Results calculated at a 90% confidence interval level, meaning 273,000 lapsed hunters is +/-5%, or 200, ,300 Tennessee Hunter Survey (n=274) (90% C.I.)

Survey cont. Did promotions influence you to go hunting or purchase a license? 24% said commercials, etc., influenced them to buy a license. If a statewide license sales campaign were initiated, we would predict than an additional 65,600 hunters would buy a license. Results calculated at a 90% confidence interval level, meaning 65,600 is +/-7%, or 38,200-84,600

Assuming each of the 65,600 hunters purchased one or more hunting privileges at a total cost of approximately $40, additional annual revenue generated may exceed $2.5 million. Results calculated at a 90% confidence interval level, meaning 65,600 is +/-7%, or 38,200-84,600

HuntTN.org web traffic

Customer Survey Highlights: 33.3% recall TWRA staff discussing hunting on radio or TV 55.3% recall newspaper article about hunting 57.9% recall magazine article about hunting 3.1% recall hunting flyer in electric bill 36.5% recall hunting info at point of purchase

37.7% Recall hunting postcard Remember hunting commercial Radio = 25.8% TV = 45.9% 21.4% remember hunting web site 8.2% Recall info from a TWRA staff member at community event such as a fair 11.3% recall info from church event, such as a wild game dinner or other wildlife-related activity

Funded by: NSSF Hunting Heritage Grant & TWRA Campaign design and coordination: D.J. Case and Associates, Inc. License data analysis and project evaluation: Southwick Associates, Inc. QUESTIONS??