PR Week: Campaigns
Coleman Push Goes to Extremes
By Craig McGuire
The Coleman Co. will go to the ends of the earth, literally, to generate publicity. Since 1900, Coleman has provided outdoor products, such as lanterns, stoves, tents, sleeping bags, backpacks, coolers, furniture, and grills. “We have… a well-known brand, but we’ve come to rest on our laurels, just a bit,” says Ann Walden, director of PR for Coleman. “To grow, we need to rely on more than just family campers.” … (Click Here to Read More)
Henkel Makes a New Idea Stick
By Craig McGuire
They love their Duct Tape in Avon, OH, headquarters of Duck Products, a division of Henkel, which holds the Duct Tape trademark. Each year, Henkel is the title sponsor of the Avon Heritage Duct Tape Festival, billed as a three-day, outdoor event to “celebrate Duct Tape, its enthusiasts, and its wacky and fun uses.” To help drive attendance to the festival and draw media coverage this year, organizers decided to incorporate a theme that was not the most obvious choice – pirates … (Click Here to Read More)
Putting Faith in PR
By Craig McGuire
The 2007 Rosary Bowl was designed to be the largest outdoor public spiritual celebration of the Rosary in Southern California in 50 years. To promote the event, a modest team – two paid internal staff from Holy Cross Family Ministries and its local member, Family Theater Productions; one outside, part-time PR consultant; and heavy reliance on volunteers – put their faith in some solid grassroots PR … (Click Here to Read More)
ReadyPA Prepares for a Disaster
By Craig McGuire
When the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA) was conceiving ReadyPA, a campaign to motivate Pennsylvanians to prepare for a disaster, it faced a daunting challenge. “When you are working on campaigns to get people to take steps to do anything, like quitting smoking or preparing for emergency, it’s an uphill battle,” says Kim Lehman, VP at Neiman Group, the agency retained for the launch … (Click Here to Read More)
SalesGenie Aims to be the Worst
By Craig McGuire
Last year, SalesGenie.com’s single ad during the Super Bowl, featuring various Web site users boasting about earning millions through the site, was universally savaged as the absolute worst of 2007, not because of its lack of production, but because of its “cheesy” factors. Although fans voting and media outlets tracking ad reaction anointed the site’s 2007 spot as the worst of the worst, the publicity surrounding the distinction spiked sales. Determined to reclaim its Super Bowl crown, the Web site redoubled its efforts and retained DKC to mount a PR campaign to draw even more attention to its impending failure … (Click Here to Read More)
Smoothie King Gives the Troops a Little Refreshment
By Craig McGuire
Steve Shepherd was deployed to Iraq with his Ohio National Guard unit just as he was set to open a Smoothie King franchise in suburban Columbus, OH. Several months later, his wife Laura Shepherd planned to send frozen smoothies to Steve’s 100-member unit in time for Memorial Day 2007. Laura wanted the general public in the Columbus area to remember and support the troops deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan, so she asked St. John & Partners (SJ&P), Smoothie King’s AOR, to help tell her story. “When I started this, I was totally naive when it comes to PR,” Laura says. “So I was very surprised by all the publicity we generated” … (Click Here to Read More)
Hardee’s Goes on a Hometown Tour
By Craig McGuire
When MJKL Enterprises bought a 60-store chunk of the Hardee’s restaurant chain this May, members of the family-owned fast-food group wanted to introduce themselves to their new employees – in person. Eschewing the type of digital town-hall meetings so common following such acquisitions, new management was intent on hitting the road and pressing the flesh – even though the new stores spanned five states: Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, and Tennessee … (Click Here to Read More)
Revisiting the ‘80s for Teenage Drink Test
By Craig McGuire
“If you’ve never done the Moon-walk, never wished your name was Rio, or never listened to an 8-track, prepare to be carded.” If you’re not thinking Michael Jackson, Duran Duran, and tape/CD’s predecessor, drop the beer and step away from the counter. This was the message brought to underage drinkers by The Century Council (a nonprofit funded by leading US distillers). Injecting humor into its long-running point-of-sale campaign aimed at deterring underage drinking … (Click Here to Read More)
Finally, a Beard Trimmer for Women
By Craig McGuire
The Wahl Clipper Corporation wasn’t exactly targeting the elusive hairy women demographic when it came up with the catch-line “Finally a Beard Trimmer for Women!” Though the slogan does require a little explanation … (Click Here to Read More)
At Golf Rollout, Big Balls Mean Press
By Craig McGuire
Rawlings, the 113-year-old sporting-goods maker, had dropped its golf equipment line due to low profits. But it recently found it way back onto the green when Fotoball USA, a younger, specialty manufacturer with no brand identity in golf, was awarded a 10-year license to manufacture and distribute for the company … (Click Here to Read More)
Big Sales, Close Shave for Firm
By Craig McGuire
After some rough years in the mid-1990s, including a series of product liability suits settled for almost half a billion dollars, Louisiana Pacific brought in a new management team that include chairman and CEO Mark Suwyn. The company invested millions in revamping its corporate culture and finally found itself back in the black. But when Suwyn promised employees he’d shave his head if fourth-quarter earnings doubled … (Click Here to Read More)
Community Relations: Even News Media Like to Make News
By Craig McGuire
Switching gears from news media to newsmakers, Newsweek magazine and MSNBC organized The Birmingham Summit earlier this year. Subtitled “The New Color Lines: The Challenge for America in the 21st Century,” the two-day event centering on race relations featured … (Click Here to Read More)
Product PR: BSMG Chips Away at Wood Mistruths
By Craig McGuire
Late last year, BSMG signed on to help educate the North America public about the wonderful world of wood. Talk about a PR challenge. But surprisingly, the campaign was not nearly as stiff as you would image … (Click Here to Read More)
Algae Becomes a Fuel Alternative
By Craig McGuire
While ethanol might be a media darling and go-to biofuel among politicos campaigning on a green platform, it’s not the only alternative fuel in play. Global Green Solutions and Valcent Products developed a push to spread awareness of Vertigro – an algae-to-biofuel technology that mass produces algae and extracts algae oil … (Click Here to Read More)
Bank of America Drives Big Rigs to Gain Hype
By Craig McGuire
When Bank of America (BoA) set out to launch its No Fee Mortgage Plus (NFMP) program, it faced volatility in the housing market driven by the sub-prime lending debacle last year. In fact, NFMP was designed to demystify the home-buying process by eliminating closing costs and many of the surprise fees. To highlight its strengths, at a time when there is so much negative noise in the market, BoA and New York-based Emanate PR, knew they needed to do more than just send the message to Main St. USA – they had to carry it there themselves … (Click Here to Read More)
Caithness ‘Powers Up’ its Support
By Craig McGuire
When Caithness Long Island planned a 350-megawatt, gas-fired power plant for Brookhaven, NY, the power producer started a multi-year campaign to gain public support. With the project underway, Caithness experienced an array of opposition from groups that filed suits against the plant, as well as an onslaught of government-related issues. Harrison Leifer DiMarco Public Relations was hired to revamp the effort to show how the plant would benefit the environment and the community … (Click Here to Read More)
Reality Edges Ads for Colorado
By Craig McGuire
If a catastrophe struck Colorado, would its residents be prepared? To better prepare Coloradoans for this potential reality, the state issued an RFP last March for a paid ad campaign to promote influenza prevention and emergency preparedness. However, during the competitive agency review, GroundFloor Media – the only PR firm pitching – won the business with a proposal that featured a reality-show competition … (Click Here to Read More)
K’NEX Leverages Toys with ‘Made in the USA’ Slogan
By Craig McGuire
When the $22 billion toy industry was staggered by numerous recalls on products made in China that were tainted by lead paint, K’NEX Brands, the third largest toy construction company in the world, decided this could be its chance to distance itself from all the controversy. The company called upon Child’s Play Communications to help in the effort … (Click Here to Read More)
MaggieMoo Creates a Brand Icon
By Craig McGuire
When she’s a brand character invention, positioned by PR as oblivious to her true bovine beauty, adorably aspiring to be the next cultural icon. Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide was enlisted by NexCen Franchise Management to help debut the ambassador (brand icon) for MaggieMoo’s Ice Cream & Treatery as the newest “celebutante” on the American pop culture scene … (Click Here to Read More)
OnStar Puts Media Behind Wheel
By Craig McGuire
To drive interest in its new Stolen Vehicles Slowdown (SVS) technology, OnStar ignited a cross-country PR effort that literally put journalists in the driver’s seat. The campaign was engineered to build buzz around this enhancement to the OnStar service, which allows remote access to slow down a car that has been stolen … (Click Here to Read More)
Fellowes Works ID Theft Angle
By Craig McGuire
Chicago-based manufacturer Fellowes wanted to position itself as the expert in personal protection. Using the topical issue of identity theft as its hook, Fellowes tapped GolinHarris for a consumer education effort. “When it comes to associating your brand with consumer issues, there is a limit to what you can accomplish with advertising,” says Maureen Moore, Fellowes director of corporate marketing. “PR gives you more access to the media and a vehicle for participating in campaigns to educate consumers”… (Click Here to Read More)
Fund-Raising: L&B Contain Press at Fight Night Gala
By Craig McGuire
For the Fight Night Foundation, the problem isn’t raising money or attracting the media to their annual Celebrity Fight Night charity gala. It’s keeping the journalists in line. After weathering backlash from celebrities angered by pushy paparazzi at last year’s event, organizer’s enlisted Lavidge & Baumayr to get a handle on the press his year … (Click Here to Read More)
Fire District Sways Voters With Focus on Town Relations
By Craig McGuire
When the town of Huntington, NY, rejected a bond referendum to finance much-needed safety improvements to the district’s 63-year-old main firehouse – for the fourth consecutive time – a rogue volunteer posted a sign outside the firehouse that read “F.U.P. Though quickly removed, the sign, and its not-so-subtle acronym (Firefighters United Promoting Unity, Brotherhood, and Loyalty In Centerport), enraged some in the community … (Click Here to Read More)
Foundation Fights Health Threat
By Craig McGuire
Looking to shave Medicaid costs, Pennsylvania was considering making a preferred drug list (PDL), which designates a single treatment for each medical condition, usually a generic drug. Essentially, the list limits enrollees to a select group of drugs and either bars or makes difficult the ability to access drugs not on the list. Unlike PDLs in other states, Pennsylvania was exploring the inclusion of hemophilia treatments. But hemophilia doesn’t have a generic treatment; patients use a combination of six different “clotting” treatments. Limiting access to even one could threaten their health. The National Hemophilia Foundation stepped in with an effort to block the move.… (Click Here to Read More)
McDonald’s Joins Ohio Walking Club to Reduce Obesity
By Craig McGuire
Even before weathering negative publicity from bestsellers (Fast Food Nation), documentaries (Super Size Me), and a slew of lawsuits blaming it for the bulging waistlines of obese nugget noshers, fast-food goliath McDonald’s Restaurants saw the ketchup on the wall. The “Eat Smart, Be Active” initiative was launched under first-year CEO Jim Cantalupo. More chicken and entree salads were added to the menu, as healthy options, such as fruit, were introduced into Happy Meals. And lest we forget, the Super Size option on the menu was phased out last year … (Click Here to Read More)
Uncle Ben’s Helps to Feed Children
By Craig McGuire
When Mars Foods sought a charity for its Uncle Ben’s brand, the “America’s Second Harvest – The Nation’s Food Bank Network,” seemed like an ideal choice. The massive hunger-relief organization provides food to more than 25 million low-income people. Considering that Second Harvest is already popular among food-producers, Mars needed its own recipe for a multi-year partnership, so the company enlisted the help of Current Lifestyle Marketing (CLM) … (Click Here to Read More)
Cast of Clients Back at Film Festival
By Craig McGuire
Not every film festival can be as prominent as Cannes. But the festivals that find success usually do so by carving out a distinct niche in the film community. For its 2006 debut, the Delray Beach Film Festival aspired to be the festival for the filmmakers. To become so, it needed the pro-bono PR firepower of TransMedia Group, a Boca Raton, FL, agency that cast several of its other clients in supporting roles to help drum up some buzz.… (Click Here to Read More)
Cross-country Ride Boosts Support for Wounded Soldiers
By Craig McGuire
Frustrated with the results of two unfruitful benefit concerts, Chris Carney, a bartender and personal trainer from East Hampton, NY, decided to ride his bike across the country to raise funds and awareness for wounded veterans. However, lacking an effective publicity engine to power a national campaign, Carney clearly faced an uphill climb… (Click Here to Read More)
Consumer Outreach: DoctorSolve Cures U.S. Sales Woes With Integrated Initiative
By Craig McGuire
As a Canadian online pharmacy catering to a US base frustrated with paying exorbitant prices, DoctorSolve Healthcare Solutions knew there was more money to be made. However, before it could improve its web sales, there were major PR obstacles to overcome. “There was a prevailing misconception among US consumers that purchasing prescription medication online was not safe or legal,” says Phyllis Gerhardt, DoctorSolve’s assistant director, marketing and PR … (Click Here to Read More)
DOT Goes Online to Talk About Drunk Driving With Teens
By Craig McGuire
The Connecticut Department of Transportation (DOT) launched a statewide drinking and driving awareness program in 2003 as part of a mission to reduce fatalities and injuries resulting from crashes. Statistics revealed that year that alcohol-related fatalities in the state were 4.7% higher than the national average and 1.4% above the rest of New England. When the DOT sought to extend its awareness initiative to target underage drivers, it knew it needed something beyond traditional advertising to engage a teen audience … (Click Here to Read More)
Safety Push Touts SUV Mastery
By Craig McGuire
In late 2002, Ford Motor Co. agreed to a $51.5 million nationwide settlement with attorneys general from 50 states and other US territories, stemming from claims that the automaker failed to disclose rollover risks involved with its Explorer SUV. Of that, $27 million was earmarked for a campaign to promote SUV safety. Ad agency Bartle Bogle Hegarty was brought in to execute the campaign, with Peppercom tapped to handle PR … (Click Here to Read More)
Economic Development: Upstate NY Looks to Lure City Folk
By Craig McGuire
After the Central New York Regional Compact received a grant from state Senator John DeFrancisco to launch a campaign to attract attention and entice businesses to relocate to the Syracuse area, it turned to its PR agency, MRA, for ideas … (Click Here to Read More)
Product PR: Hair-care Client Scores With Joe Theisman
By Craig McGuire
When rolling out a new formula for its Just for Men Haircolor, parent company Combe wanted to Joes spread its PR dollars around to reach high-end, high-maintenance male consumers as well as everyday Joes. The Joe they landed as celebrity spokesman, however, turned out to be everything but everyday … (Click Here to Read More)
Freedom Rides on Greyhound PR Bus
By Craig McGuire
They were called the Freedom Riders. In 1961, 13 civil-rights activists courageously boarded buses bound for Montgomery, Alabama, uncertain they’d return. Along the way, they faced the naked hate of racist mob violence … (Click Here to Read More)
With US Swim Olympic Trial Approaching, Campaign Looks to Overcome Suit Controversy
By Craig McGuire
As the U.S. Olympic Trials approached, Steve Furniss was stunned to hear that U.S. Swimming, which oversees the United States Olympic swimming team, was planning to ban the use of full-body suits. After all, the sport’s governing body, the Federation Internationale de Natation had already approved the suits for the Sydney games, making the bank that much more frustrating. Furniss, a former Olympian, was counting on the Indianapolis trials to debut his Qauapel suit … (Click Here to Read More)
Ontrack Data Gets PR from Bug’s Bite
By Craig McGuire
Faced with losing hundreds of valuable JPEG and MP3 graphics files to the not-even-likable “Love Bug” virus, Gregory Communications SVP Doug Rose needed answers, and he needed them in real time … (Click Here to Read More)
One Soldier’s Care Package Attracts National Attention
By Craig McGuire
Stationed in Iraq, Cpl. Christopher Tomlinson, 21, wrote to his mother in July and described how he and the members of his unit were suffering under the sweltering Middle Easter sun, where the heat index routinely tops 140 degrees. So Frankie Mayo shipped her son and air conditioner. This simple exchange between mother and son became the catalyst for a campaign in which … (Click Here to Read More)
Pitch “The Dream” to the Monied Lot
By Craig McGuire
Four years ago, Weber Shandwick chairman Bruce Rubin strolled into the showroom at The Collection in Coral Gables and drove off with a brand new Jaguar … and a contact to help the southern Florida dealership reach the right audience for each new model … (Click Here to Read More)
PR Powering Property Battle
By Craig McGuire
After the 1996 closing of the Naval Undersea Warfare Center that employed more than 1,500 residents, the New London, CT, economy had declined steadily. Consequently, local developers hatched a plan to turn 90 acres of waterfront property into office buildings, upscale housing, and a marina near a $300 million research facility Pfizer was building. The problem: Owners of 15 homes on 1.54 acres of the proposed site refused to sell out, including Susette Kelo, a resident who had just completed extensive remodeling … (Click Here to Read More)
Raytheon Boosts Math Careers
By Craig McGuire
When the National Academy of Sciences reported that the US graduated 70,000 engineers in 2004 – versus India’s 200,000 and China’s 500,000 – execs at defense technology and aerospace systems supplier Raytheon were concerned. After all, the Business-Higher Education Forum cites Department of Labor projections that jobs requiring science, engineering, and technical training will increase 51% from 1998 to 2008, four times faster than overall job growth … (Click Here to Read More)
RI Domestic Violence Group Boosts Budget, Awareness
By Craig McGuire
The Rhode Island Coalition Against Domestic Violence (RICDV) last year updated a 1997 survey in which 43 percent of respondents had agreed that a woman who was the object of domestic violence had provoked it. The 2005 update showed that now 73 percent completely disagreed. “It is progress, but it is not enough,” says Karen Jeffreys, RICDV comms director.… (Click Here to Read More)
Rubik’s Cube Prodigy Draws Attention at Trade Show
By Craig McGuire
Generating buzz at a trade show is always challenging. Generating buzz at a large trade show when you are launching at the event and have barely any PR budget is a much more difficult puzzle to solve. Software startup Think2020 “had a complex message, a small budget, and a blank slate,” says Suzanne Moccia, senior account strategist at Carabiner Communications … (Click Here to Read More)
Silent Treatment Works on Media
By Craig McGuire
Actions speak louder than words, or in the case of Brett Banfe, in place of them. Last fall, the 19-year-old college student from New Jersey took a year-long view of silence as an exercise in self-improvement, while hoping to inspire others to set goals. When Hill & Knowlton heard of his plan through local media coverage … (Click Here to Read More)
Pavone shows SpotBowl is More Than Just an Ad Poll
By Craig McGuire
Advertisers dropped more than $200 million on Super Bowl spots this year, or an average of $2.6 million for every 30 seconds seen by 80 million US viewers. Tapping into the nation’s obsession with those ultra-expensive, quirky commercials run during the big game, Pennsylvania agency Pavone set up a real-time online poll to review the spots, and in the third year of the effort, generated some national PR for itself … (Click Here to Read More)
Subimo Solidifies Its Standing
By Craig McGuire
With health insurance premiums up 285% in the past five years, HMOs and employers are under pressure to provide new tools and information to millions of plan subscribers. Web-based healthcare decision-support tools that help consumers make informed choices, such as those from online giants like WebMD and HealthGrades, are now in high demand. But what happens when you’re a smaller competitor – like Subimo, with 25 employees … (Click Here to Read More)
Tillman Foundation Reinforces Positive Message in Salute
By Craig McGuire
When Pat Tillman turned down a three-year, $3.6 million contract with the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals to enlist as an Army Ranger following 9/11, he inspired the nation. When he was killed in a firefight in Afghanistan, he became a hero. To honor his memory, his family created The Pat Tillman Foundation, tapping Gordon C. James Public Relations (GCJ) to help plan and publicize events encouraging others to follow Tillman’s selfless example … (Click Here to Read More)
Resort Builds Buzz With Books
By Craig McGuire
Promoting the installation of a swimming pool might not be the sexiest PR assignment, even if it is at Little Dix Bay, the luxury Caribbean resort envisioned by Laurance Rockefeller in 1964. To build buzz for this new amenity, Nike Communications conceived an effort diverting attention from the actual pool itself … (Click Here to Read More)
Virgin Airways Epitomizes Spirit of New York
By Craig McGuire
When New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani issued his plea to draw tourists back to New York City following September 11 terrorist attacks, Sir Richard Branson, founder and chairman of Virgin Atlantic Airways, was listening. Prompted by Branson, British tabloid The Sun ran a contest offering to fly a planeload of lucky passengers to New York from London on October 31 on Virgin Atlantic … (Click Here to Read More)
Dow Puts Stock in Wall Street ‘Toons
By Craig McGuire
Since signing on with The Wall Street Journal in 1950, editor Charles Preston estimates he’s waded through some 2.5 million offerings; 175 of those have appeared in the paper have been selected for a new collection. From ponytails to e-mails, the book draws from a 50-year history of poking fun at trends in the workplace … (Click Here to Read More)
Website Launch: Brilliant Shopper Taps Into Blogs to Reach the Market
By Craig McGuire
Early this year, as competitors were inking deals and launching products, and the media were evangelizing search technology as the net’s best thing, Brilliant Shopper founder and CEO Phil Lan decided the time was right to debut his fledgling online engine. After all, his product would not only borrow some of the buzz being generated, but also would make recruiting a management team and raising funds that much easier … (Click Here to Read More)
Cincinnati Plastic Surgeons Present a New Face to the Public
By Craig McGuire
From Fox’s The Swan to ABC’s Extreme Makeover to MTV’s I Want a Famous Face, the endless parade of makeover shows emerging in recent years has made middle America take a closer look in the mirror. As a result, the plastic surgery business is booming, and not just in Beverly Hills and Manhattan. But while the Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana tri-state region saw a 33% rise in procedures in 2003, Cincinnati-based The Plastic Surgery Group (PSG) reported flat growth for that period.… (Click Here to Read More)
Gartmore Global Sells Reporters on Micro Caps’ Value
By Craig McGuire
With the market clogged with thousands of micro-cap mutual funds, or funds investing in companies valued at less than $250 million, investors rely heavily on the media for advice and information. The catch is that journalists usually will not cover a micro cap with less than a three-year track record. Reporters also look for a rating of three stars or better (from an agency such as Morningstar) and usually only will consider funds with more than $100 million in assets … (Click Here to Read More)
Star Uses Napster for Princely Score
By Craig McGuire
Not all artists are quick to jump on the anti-Napster train sputtering through Congress and the court of public opinion these days. The artist currently known as Prince recently tapped into the 70 million strong Napster community to debut a new single, while also looking to usher traffic to his own online outlet … (Click Here to Read More)
NASA Touts Science to Students
By Craig McGuire
Did you know that in some middle school in America today sits a child that will one day walk on Mars, according to NASA? Unfortunately, while employment opportunities in science and technology should increase three times faster than all other occupations, enrollment in related courses in US colleges is declining. To promote interest in these subjects when it counts, NASA partnered with Honeywell Hometown Solutions to launch “FMA Live! Where Science Rocks” … (Click Here to Read More)
No Milk for Maher in Newest PETA Ad
By Craig McGuire
Got Milk? Well you’d better dump it quick and wipe off that white mustache before the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and Bill Maher walk in the room. PETA recently dressed up the Politically Incorrect pundit Maher as an oversized baby in a diaper … (Click Here to Read More)
Photo Credit: William White (Courtesy of Unsplash)