Introduction

For twenty-three years, The Omni Grove Park Inn, located in Asheville, North Carolina, has hosted one of the nations most celebrated and competitive holiday events – The National Gingerbread House Competition. The event, dubbed the Olympic of Gingerbread see’s some of the nations most complex and intricate gingerbread houses ever built.

The Problem

The event has had a steady promotional strategy throughout the past, but traditional means of publicity can be costly and only reach a limited audience for a short period of time. This year the creators wanted to seek out a new approach; a way to maximize audience outreach, showcase the event, and get more ‘bang for their buck’. The event favours a visual promotional medium – the aesthetic of the event is warm and inviting, the atmosphere is competitive and serious, and the entries are incredible. Therefore, video coverage seemed like the best option. However creating cinematic, story-driven videos, and getting it out to the public, can be costly and daunting.

What We Did: 

The Video

LuxStory Media came on board and filmed the live event. Through our expertise in video production and the tools we have available, i.e. using drones and steadicam rigs, we were able to create a video with a true cinematic feel. After covering the live event and getting to know what it’s all about, we wanted to show why this competition is unique, why it separates itself from the others – so, we produced the videos as story-
driven editorial pieces. For example, the houses entered must follow a strict set of rules; they must be entirely edible and made out of at least 75% gingerbread. The rules are taken very seriously and the judges examine each house thoroughly to make sure there’s no foul play. By capturing moments like this, we were able to create a narrative within the video where the audience can feel like they really know the competition – and if they were to attend, they know what the stakes are.

Distribution

The video was first featured on Good Morning America, during their themed segment “National Gingerbread House Day”. We distributed the
videos online to a variety of media outlets and publications. The various publications to pick up the videos were: USA Today, The Huffington Post, Citizen-Times, MSN, Yahoo News, Town and Country Magazine, among others. The videos are “editorial-sharable content” and available to be picked up to live on different platforms easily.