Work/Family Directions
Situation Analysis
The challenge in developing and implementing a media relations campaign for Work/Family Directions was that we needed to promote an entire company -- not a specific new product.
Objectives
Promote new services and initiatives that will be developed during the year.
Promote the "business case" for work-life services and programs.
Provide media support to corporations using the company's services to both demonstrate the public relations benefits of the programs as well as to enhance loyalty.
Strategy
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Aggressive media outreach
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Enter competitions recognizing progressive companies
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Utilize the 10th anniversary of the company as a news hook
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Promote the CEO as a good news/feature opportunity
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Cultivate key reporters and freelancers
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Utilize a 10th anniversary white paper as a vehicle to spin-off by-lined articles and serve as a media cultivation tool |
Results
The company appeared in more than 800 publications with a total circulation of more than 75 million readers in one 15-month period alone.
Among the major successes:
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The company won three major awards in competitions we entered on their behalf: National Socially Responsible Entrepreneur of the Year (Inc. Magazine);
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Working Mother Magazine's "Best 100" Companies for Working Women, and Small Business Assn. of New England "New Englander Award."
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An AP feature profile on the company's CEO ran in more than 300 newspapers with a total circulation of more than 20 million. Another AP feature based on the company's school-age care service was also carried nationally.
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The 10th anniversary white paper formed the basis of a major story on the CEO and company in the Sunday New York Times.
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NBC Nightly News did a feature segment on the company's elder care service, including filming in the Boston office as well as in the field with employees of some of the company's clients. CNBC also did a live guest segment for Money Wheel with a senior Work/Family Directions client. National Public Radio did a feature with a W/FD principal on telecommuting and flextime. CBS This Morning did a feature on elder care which included the company.
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The senior editor from BusinessWeek responsible for social trends visited with Work/Family Directions senior executives. Two Wall Street Journal reporters met with the CEO in Boston and senior executives from the company visited with editors and writers from Fortune, Newsweek, and The New York Times.
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Major features about the company and/or its services appeared in such newspapers as USA Today, Wall Street Journal, The San Jose Mercury News, Boston Herald, Dallas Morning News, Los Angeles Times, St. Paul Pioneer-Press, Chicago Tribune, Detroit Free-Press, Kansas City Star, and the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle. |