The Challenge

For more than 50 years, NetJets has been the leader in the private aviation space. Through an innovative event strategy, NetJets wanted to keep its loyal owners engaged and excited about flying. Elevating brand engagement among this influential audience would be the ultimate measure of success.

The Idea

Knowing the elite field of NetJets owners cherishes exclusivity and buzz, we conceptualized an event that has become the most sought-after NetJets owner event of the year: the NetJets Poker Invitational. For an audience like this, the venue has to be both extravagant and understated at once, which led us to one of the most luxurious hotels in the world, Wynn Las Vegas.

Produced in conjunction with the Wynn senior management team—including Steve Wynn himself—we developed a once-in-a-lifetime, invite-only event that continues to draw participants such as Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Tom Brady, Matt Damon and George Lucas. NetJets owners play alongside celebrities with chips that have no monetary value but are redeemable for $2.5 million in prizes for the winners.

We secured $2.5 million in prizes that included more than two-dozen of the world’s finest luxury brands, encouraging NetJets owners to identify further with the private aviation company. Tournament participants play for unrivaled prizes ranging from a new BMW 7 Series to a $150,000 Audemars Piguet gift certificate to a three-night stay in a two-bedroom club residence at a Ritz-Carlton Destination Club.

Though poker is the main focus of the weekend, we developed ancillary events, as we know poker may not be for everyone, but no one likes to miss the most talked about event of the year.

The Results

In what continues to be the most coveted and well-attended NetJets owner event of the year, the Poker Invitational attracts 275-300 NetJets flights each year. Approximately 600 individuals attend the tournament—both NetJets owners and their guests—while 220 players participate in the poker aspect.

Throughout the weekend, brand partners saw millions of dollars in sales through pop-up boutiques, while C-Suite executives from top brands mingled with the UHNW guests.

The buzz created around the Poker Invitational has led to incremental brand awareness and loyalty among existing owners, despite more and more competition arising in the private aviation space.