Jobing.com, Summer 2008

Summary: Escalating gas prices in 2008 fueled a media campaign, highlighting a unique employee benefit at Jobing.com and generating unprecedented media exposure. The media coverage splashed the Jobing.com logo on airwaves all over the country.

Strategy: The vehicle wrap program allowed employees who turn their cars into mobile billboards for the company to get an additional $500 added to their paycheck every month and Jobing.com picks up the tab for 100% of employee fuel costs. The strategy was to launch a two-tiered media campaign capitalizing on gas price buzz; after securing a major national hit I would aggressively reach out to local TV in each of Jobing.com’s markets.

Tactics: The tactics were fairly simple: secure a solid national media placement and use as a springboard for local media outreach. That outlet proved to be the Wall Street Journal, who sent an advance copy of the article to producers at Good Morning America, who also wanted to run a segment the same morning the story would hit the paper.

Results: Jobing.com saw unprecedented national exposure and employee-driven vehicles plastered with company logo were seen by millions of eyeballs. Following the WSJ story and Good Morning America segment were stories on CNN, FOX News, CBS News, Forbes, and the New York Times. Through aggressive local media outreach, the pitch generated numerous local media placements:

• Coverage in 11 different Jobing markets, including a feature story w/ photo on the front page of the Denver Post
• Local stories from the NBC affiliate in Dallas and FOX affiliate in Phoenix were shared via satellite network feed and ran in an additional 36 U.S. markets
• 13 million media impressions, ad value of $2.5 million

Marquette University, Fall 2003

Summary: Event to celebrate new library at Marquette University was not the typical ribbon-cutting ceremony

Strategy:

• Leverage media interest in actor Martin Sheen as guest speaker at ceremony to tell bigger story of the library’s innovative design & advanced technology
• Execute communications campaigns for both internal and external audiences to drive attendance to the ceremony and awareness of Marquette’s library resources

Tactics:

• Personal outreach and media materials were distributed to media prior to opening
• Informational tours with local media prior to opening
• Gave the student newspaper “special access” to certain parts of the facility to ensure students were engaged and excited.
• Working with Mr. Sheen’s publicist we were able to give local media access to the actor in a personalized press event after the ceremony.

Results:

• Media coverage included:
  o Front-page story with large photo in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
  o Two different TV stations broadcasted Martin Sheen’s speech live
  o Regional coverage, including Chicago media
  o Story was picked up nationally by hundreds of newspapers, including USA Today, many included a photo of Mr. Sheen in academic regalia in front of the MU insignia.
  o Celebrity-focused media coverage included US Weekly, People Magazine and Inside Edition.

Jobing.com, December 2007 – January 2008

Summary:

Jobing.com, a regional employment website, needed additional exposure at the beginning of the hiring year. I devised a local media campaign to coincide with an aggressive advertising buy that would launch in January 08. The goal was to drive job seeker traffic to the website through local media exposure while also building brand awareness and capturing local market share.

Strategy:

• Developed individual media pitches for each of Jobing.com’s twenty U.S. markets, revolving around New Year’s as well as a national pitch

Tactics:

• Created a set of five tips for people who wanted to find a new job in 2008, called the “Five P’s” for finding a new job in 2008: probe, prioritize, project, plan, and persistence.
• Media training involved talking points and key messages to local Jobing.com Community Relations Managers for use with local media
• Other media coaching was conducted both on-site and via webinar
• Secured a national placement that would run the final week of the year

Results: From December 31 – January 7, the campaign generated:

• 104 media placements
  o 13 national stories (including the Wall Street Journal)
  o 91 local hits in 14 different markets
  o 1.5 million media impressions ($750K ad value)

YMCA of Metropolitan Milwaukee

Summary: The Milwaukee YMCA’s largest capital project in its history ($55 million) needed community support and positioning as a leading resource in the city.

Strategy:

• Planned a daylong celebration including neighborhoods, community and civic leaders, and tons of kids.
• Planned a “unity walk” and community picnic
• Media blitz with information about the YMCA’s programs and potential
• Grassroots efforts involving neighborhoods

Tactics:

• Saturated the media pre-event with YMCA benefits
• Media blitz on day of event, profiling YMCA community integration
• Grass-roots volunteers went door-to-door within a 10-block radius of the new site, distributing information and invitations to the event
• Volunteers visited neighborhood churches, businesses, and schools with information on the project.

Results:

• 500 attendees, exceeding everyone’s expectations
• “News Chopper” footage of the unity walk
• live broadcasts from three television stations
• WCMS AM broadcasting live from the site for the entire afternoon
• Surge in donations after the event