88 Tactical Shows They’re More Than A Gun Range

The Customer: 88 Tactical

88 Tactical started as a state-of-the-art gun range and tactical defense training facility, and has since evolved into the Midwest’s premiere entertainment facility. Over the past 5 years, they’ve added a full-service bar and restaurant, 24-hour access gym, kid’s activity space, and meeting rooms – and in early 2023 they completed an enormous addition that includes an immensely expanded kitchen and restaurant, pickleball courts, jumbotron, greenspace and even a swimming pool.

The Goal: Show That They’re More Than A Gun Range

From the moment we met the awesome people at 88 Tactical, they shared with us their passion for being “more than just a gun range” in people’s eyes. For years, they had built a reputation on their tactical training facility and gun ranges. They offered shooting lanes and free member training courses where men and women alike could learn primal defense skills – but they also offered kid’s events, fine dining, live entertainment, and meeting and event spaces. Now, after their addition, their “other” activities actually far outweigh the portion of the facility dedicated to firearms and tactical education. So the question becomes – how do we break the stigma and help people see that 88 Tactical is a facility for the whole family? 

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The Solution: Relatability and Professionalism

We thought there no better way to show a family-friendly environment than to showcase a family – in the environment! For this shoot, we casted a group of members of 88 Tactical – including married couples, young adults, and children – and staged practically everything they had to offer. The edit was fast-paced, with a fun, light-hearted track and cool motion graphics. The video was planned, shot, and edited to portray the fun side of the venue, while still highlighting their firearm-related staples.

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Another goal of the client was to produce a commercial that “didn’t look like a local TV commercial”. We did that using our knowledge of cinematography and applying it to the way we lit, shot, and edited the project. This resulted in a “local” commercial that had a regional or national level of professionalism.

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The Result: Membership Signup Rate Increased by 25%

This commercial campaign’s ultimate campaign was to drive memberships – through appealing to people who thought 88 Tactical wasn’t for them. And it did just that – boosting their membership signup rate by 25% within the first 3 months of running the commercial on local television networks. We have since worked on multiple other television campaigns and continue to show their future clientele that they are so much more than a gun range.

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