A Christmas Market for an Iconic Location

The Washington National Cathedral sits atop the highest point in the District of Columbia, amongst 59 acres of grounds designed by Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. Stonemasons and builders started construction in 1907, finishing 83 years later in 1990. The cathedral is the venue for state funerals, including most recently the funerals of George HW Bush and Senator John McCain, and outside of these nationally important events over 270,000 people visit the site each year.

Like many historic cultural buildings, the Cathedral relies heavily on donations and small admission fees to fund upkeep and day to day operations. In recent years it has also become a popular venue for corporate events and dinners, which has made a welcome contribution to annual revenue.

Looking to continue the drive to close the gap in funding, the Cathedral Team and Hammerton Barca worked closely together to identify an opportunity for a winter holiday market. This format is already popular around the US having originated in Northern Europe, where large winter holiday markets attract millions of visitors to this day.

Having validated the opportunity, Hammerton Barca produced Go to Market plans for the Holiday Market at the National Cathedral. These detailed plans encompass, brand and creative assets, site layouts, 3D visual renderings, exhibitor pricing models, full P&L projections, outline sponsorship packages and a project critical path. Crucially, Hammerton Barca also provided a go/no-go analysis based on financial and operational parameters, to ensure the Cathedral had a clear set of financial and operational targets to meet to green light the project.

This case study is a good example of how Hammerton Barca provides specific services for rights holders such as the Washington National Cathedral, in this instance to provide go to market strategy and plans for projects that contribute to top and bottom-line growth.