American car manufacturer facing deep financial stress during a global market slow-down needed Congressional passage of legislation to ease financing. Generated coverage of 3rd party support statements; pitched and secured coverage in local market media markets with key allies and spokespeople; organized D.C. fly-ins of mayors, auto dealers, union officials, and parts/service operators; drafted and placed op-eds, blogs and articles nationally and in local markets. The U.S. House passed a bill with 237 votes, yet fell short in the U.S. Senate by 2 votes. Ultimately, under intense public pressure generated through the PR campaign, the Administration granted $14B for client.

 

Education union in debate on education reform wanted to highlight a best-practice model to show local community effectiveness. Prepared the local union’s leadership, district teachers and parents for media interviews then pitched and secured: local editorial boards in daily and specialty papers, radio interviews, and a local TV. Drafted opinion pieces and blogs and trained the local advocates on social media maximization. Worked with a global think tank to develop a white paper on the union’s successful bargaining agreement leading to a panel discussion in D.C. and a segment during a network’s nightly news broadcast.

 

Regional business leaders needed greater economic cooperation among 22 jurisdictions for infrastructure development opportunities. Working with the region’s top business and industry CEO’s and the academic team at a leading research university, helped educate reporters and drove media attention to the evolving demographic and job-growth sector changes. Drafted and placed numerous op-eds in national and regional publications; secured print, radio and local TV interviews; drafted weekly blog installments; and created and grew their online social engagement. Produced earned media events around releases of white papers, press conferences and quarterly convenings of the association. Three major infrastructure spending bills and projects can be traced directly to the efforts of the group, owing their credibility to the PR campaign.

 

Civic engagement non-profit wanted to differentiate their work with the “Rising American Electorate” and “unmarried women” as critical voting blocs. Registering and turning out the RAE and unmarried women to impact elections was part of a designed PR campaign to secure coverage with on-camera interviews with CNN, MSNBC, Huffington Post Live, articles in Politico, The Hill, Roll Call, Washington Post, New York Times and dozens of other national and state-and-local print publications. Using earned media hooks such as polling commissioned by the non-profit, the millions of voter registration mailings which were sent quarterly, and public speaking opportunities secured for leadership, the organization’s credibility was dramatically increased because of the spotlight given to the work.

 

Stock-exchange platform sought an interpretation of regulatory rules to promote greater transparency for trading in derivative markets. Across fifteen states, validators and local spokespeople were mobilized to draw a connection between the financial vehicle and the dividends provided for their livelihoods and in their neighborhoods. Identified and educated members of diverse communities such as faith leaders, teachers and small business owners on a simplified version of the complex legislation, guiding them into creating digestible soundbites – authentic to their voice and experience – which they were then able to deliver in interviews, press conferences and written materials. The policy victory was credited with saving tens of millions of dollars.

 

Global payment company was receiving negative coverage on its credit practices regarding underserved communities. Collaborating with their charitable-giving team to showcase individual lives and local communities benefitting from the company’s direct investment, drove a digital campaign that humanized their brand: documentary-quality testimonials promoted on YouTube, passionate Facebook posts from community leaders, a Twitter hashtag campaign and a curation of pictures on Instagram showing how individuals used their credit to better their lives and towns. Through that online storytelling, and then a traditional media push around the effort, the program criticism was blunted in press coverage.