2006 OVATION Award Winning Entries Booklet Table of contents
1. Congratulatory Letter from IABC/Toronto President Page 2
2. Complete List of 2006 OVATION Award Winners Pages 3-6
3. Message From the Director of Judging Page 7
4. 2006 OVATION Award Judges Page 8
5. OVATION Awards 2006 SPONSORS Page 8
6. OVATION Awards 2006 Committee Page 9
7. Marketing Communications • Legal Aid Online: Making Legal Aid Work Easier for Lawyers (pages 10-12) • McCain Foods Canada: Potato Facts Marketing Communications Campaign (pages 13-16) • Harbinger Communications and Vaseline Intensive Care Lotion Battle the Canadian Touch Deficit (pages 17-19) • Sleep Country Canada: Breakfast in Bed – in Winnipeg (pages 20-23)
8. Electronic and Interactive Communication • iStudio Holiday Guide (pages 24-27)
9. Interactive Media Design • Explore Michener Interactive Viewbook (the “Viewbook”) (pages 28-29)
10. Other Graphic Design • “50 Years of Innovation” Icon (pages 30-31)
11. Media Relations up to $50,000 • All The Season’s Wants and Wishes at Second Cup (pages 32-34) • The Retail Launch of Inuit Legend Barbie (page 35) • “Concierge: The Grocery Cart of the Future” (pages 36-38) • Prospecting the Future (pages 39-42) • Fashion Cares 2005 – M.A.C VIVA GLAM Bollywood Cowboy (pages 43-46)
12. Employee/Member Communication • The Launch of Hbc Life (pages 47-49)
13. Special Events • FACE Of Fashion 2005 – Helping FACE Help Families (pages 50-53) • Gingivitis Week 2005: The Great Canadian Rinse-Off (pages 54-56)
14. Issues Management • Garbage Collectors’ Strike – June 2005 (pages 57-59)
15 Media Relations over $50,000 • The Launch of Virgin Mobile Canada (pages 60-62) • Sean John: The Future of Fashion Comes to Canada (pages 63-67) • Toronto Unplugged (pages 68-71) OVATION AWARDS 2006 WINNERS
This is always an exciting time of the year for me. It's a time when we take the opportunity to recognize our peers in the communications practice for the tremendous strategic work they are undertaking within their respective organizations. And, this is a time when we take the opportunity to learn and share best practices within our IABC community.
Over the last few years, the IABC/Toronto OVATION awards program has grown in both its popularity and impact and I'm very pleased to note that this year is no exception. This year's organizing committee received close to 100 entries to be reviewed by our committee of distinguished judges. The judging committee consisted of senior-level communicators and accredited IABC members who methodically examined, discussed and provided feedback for each entry. The judging committee is truly an exceptional group of individuals that continue to demonstrate a real spirit of volunteerism within the chapter.
As we say so often, volunteers are the life-blood of our association. As we recognize our judging committee, I would also like to thank Lisa Bélanger, IABC/Toronto VP, Awards, and her entire team for the countless hours dedicated to running our 2006 OVATION program. I know I speak for the entire chapter when I say that your efforts are so very much appreciated.
Congratulations to all of the OVATION winners and thank you to everyone who participated in making this event both enjoyable and meaningful.
Best regards,
Rawle Borel Jr. 2005/2006 IABC/Toronto President
2 Community Relations Sponsored by NewsCanada
Award of Merit: “Shred to get ahead” – The Shred-it North American Community Shred Toolkit Fleishman Hillard Canada Inc. Jane Shapiro, April Bonham, Ellen Kalis, Jill Rutherford, Alison Orr – Fleishman Hillard Canada Inc.; Bonnie Shettler – Shred-it
Award of Excellence: M&M Meat Shops National Family Dinner Night Campaign Strategic Objectives Inc. Judy Lewis
Writing Sponsored by NewsCanada
Award of Merit: William Shatner Gets a New Job Apex Public Relations / Kellogg Canada Ellen Leesti, Jo Langham ABC - Apex Public Relations; Lores Tomé – Kellogg Canada
Marketing Communications Sponsored by Bowdens
Award of Merit: McCain Foods Canada: Potato Facts Marketing Communications Campaign Fleishman-Hillard Canada / McCain Foods Canada Sheri Goulet, Linda Smith, Cathy Pearson, Stella Mok, Sarah Rutka – Fleishman-Hillard Canada; Mark McCauley – McCain Foods Canada
Award of Merit: Cadbury Adams Canada Purple Revolution Strategic Objectives Inc. Judy Lewis, Michael Abbass
Award of Merit: Harbinger Communications and Vaseline Intensive Care Lotion Battle the Canadian Touch Deficit Harbinger Communications Lisa Pasquin, Deb Adams, Rosa Mangiardi, Catherine Santos, Paul Dolenc, Lisa Valent
Award of Merit: Sleep Country Canada: Breakfast in Bed – in Winnipeg Argyle Rowland Communications Daniel Tisch APR, Amber Wallace, Kyla Thoms
Award of Excellence: Legal Aid Online: Making Legal Aid Work Easier for Lawyers Legal Aid Ontario Elaine Gamble, Diana Benjamin, Kelly Villeneuve, Leann Faria
3 Electronic and Interactive Communication Sponsored by NewsCanada
Award of Excellence: iStudio Holiday Guide iStudio Brandy Fleming, Steve Coppola, David Upward
Interactive Media Design Sponsored by Jib Media
Award of Merit: Explore Michener Interactive Viewbook (the “Viewbook”) The Michener Institute for Applied Health Sciences Michael Grant, Rebecca Lee, Tim Chipman Alex DeOliveira, Rochelle Straker, Jason Verbovszky
Other Graphic Design Sponsored by Jib Media
Award of Merit: “50 Years of Innovation” Icon Siemens Milltronics Process Instruments Ltd. Janet Wile ABC, APR, Peter Froggatt
Media Relations up to $50,000 Sponsored by CNW Group
Award of Merit: Seneca College – Ryan Oscar Awards Campaign Seneca College, Marketing & Communications Laura Mandell, Martha Lowrie, Richard Douglas
Award of Excellence: All The Season’s Wants and Wishes at Second Cup Apex Public Relations / Cara Operations Limited Jo Langham, ABC, Jacqueline Mazereeuw, Sylvia Sicuso, Elizabeth Mitches – APEX Public Relations; Dorene Wharton, and Anna Datri – Second Cup Limited; Rachel Douglas – Cara Operations Limited
Award of Excellence: M&M Meat Shops National Family Dinner Night Campaign Strategic Objectives Inc. Judy Lewis
Award of Excellence: The Retail Launch of Inuit Legend Barbie GCI Group Kristin Gable, Paul Tyler, Cynthia Zamaria, Lindsey Coulter – GCI Group; Wendy Ward, Steve Trofimchuk – Mattel Canada
Award of Excellence: “Concierge: The Grocery Cart of the Future” MAVERICK Public Relations / Springboard Retail Networks Julie Rusciolelli, Geoffrey Morgan, Colleen Uncao, Caroline Verboon
Award of Excellence: Prospecting the Future MAVERICK Public Relations Felicia Shiu APR, Diane Medeiros – MAVERICK Public Relations; Ryan Montpellier, Paul Hebert – MiHR; Duane Herperger – ideaConnect 4 Award of Excellence: Fashion Cares 2005 – M.A.C VIVA GLAM Bollywood Cowboy Weber Shandwick Worldwide Lisa Bednarski ABC
Employee/Member Communications Sponsored by MAVERICK Public Relations
Award of Merit: The Launch of Hbc Life Hbc – Hudson’s Bay Company Theresa Patterson, Stephanie Thornbury, Anchel Ghai
Award of Merit: Our Success Plan: The Story Behind AstraZeneca Canada’s New Strategic Plan AstraZeneca Canada Inc. Susan Quinn-Mullins, Lee Rammage and Michelle Fleming – AstraZeneca Canada Inc., Watercooler Inc., and Cohn and Wolfe
Award of Merit: Curriculum Update/Actualités de la mise d’oeuvre Ministry of Education Diane Gumb, Frank Emmerson
Award of Excellence: RBC Dexia Joint Venture Communication to RBC Employees RBC Financial Group Annette Martell ABC, MC – RBC Financial Group; Merrill Matthews – Matthews Insights Group Inc.
Award of Excellence: The LCBO Re-Planogram Challenge LCBO Lisa MacGregor, Marlene Hait, Nancy Adderley-Colby, Michael Anderson, Britt Hamilton
Special Events Sponsored by MANDALA Communications Inc.
Award of Merit: Cadbury Chocolate Couture Collection Strategic Objectives Inc. Judy Lewis, Michael Abbass, Michelle Veilleux
Award of Merit: Gingivitis Week 2005: The Great Canadian Rinse-Off Environics Communications Liz Carson, Amy Laski, Mary Beth Denomy, Jennifer Duggan, Karen Cleveland, Nicole Paara
Award of Excellence: FACE of Fashion 2005 – Helping FACE Help Families Voice Freelance Communications April Rutka, Nancy Toran Harbin, Vanessa Bond
5 Issues Management Sponsored by Bowdens
Award of Merit: Garbage Collectors’ Strike – June 2005 Region of Peel Annette Geldbert
Strategic Management Processes Sponsored by MANDALA Communications Inc.
Award of Merit: Our Success Plan: AstraZeneca Canada’s Strategic Plan Launch AstraZeneca Canada Inc. Susan Quinn-Mullins, Lee Rammage, Michelle Fleming – AstraZeneca Canada Inc., Watercooler Inc., and Cohn and Wolfe
Media Relations over $50,000 Sponsored by CNW Group
Award of Merit: The Launch of Virgin Mobile Canada Virgin Mobile Canada / Hill and Knowlton Paula Lash, Jennifer Koster, Kristy Derkson
Award of Merit: Toronto Unplugged Toronto Hydro Corporation Blair Peberdy, Catherine Parry, Tanya Bruckmueller
Award of Merit: Diabetes Testing – Communicating the “No Coding Required” Message in Key Markets Bayer HealthCare Inc. / Cohn & Wolfe Alison Bing, Danielle Mencke – Bayer HealthCare; Sheila McEachen, Alanna Fox, Emily Hanft, Sylvie Tessier, Lydia St-Germain – Cohn & Wolfe
Award of Merit: Sativex® – Launching the first cannabis derived medication for MS Pain in Canada Bayer HealthCare Inc. / Cohn & Wolfe Lori-Ann Horrigan – Bayer HealthCare; Alanna Fox, Sheila McEachen, Sylvie Tessier – Cohn & Wolfe
Award of Merit: Sean John: The Future of Fashion Comes to Canada Diana Robinson & Associates Diana Robinson
Award of Excellence: The Rebranding of Marc Anthony Strategic Objectives Inc. Deborah Weinstein
6 OVATION Awards 2006: A Message From the Director of Judging
This year, fourteen accredited members and senior communications practitioners spent more than 160 hours judging entries for the 2006 OVATION Awards. Every entry was carefully reviewed and scored independently by at least two judges.
Following the independent review, the judges worked together to reach a consensus score and then to provide comments. In a few situations where a consensus may not have been reached, the entry was reviewed by a third judge.
Entries are composed of two parts: the work plan and the work sample. Entries are judged on technical excellence, creativity and innovation; effectiveness in identifying and responding to an organization’s or community’s needs; the delivery of measurable outcomes; and the overall success of the project. Judges score the above criteria on a scale from 1 – 7 which gives a weighted calculation for the criteria depending on the division. During judging, all entries scoring 5.25 to 5.74 receive an IABC/Toronto OVATION Award of Merit. Entries scoring 5.75 and above receive an OVATION Award of Excellence.
It was my pleasure working in this role and again thank you to all of the judges for their hard work.
Suzanna Cohen OVATIONS 2006 Director of Judging IABC/Toronto
7 JUDGES
• Priya Bates, ABC, Internal Communications Manager, Hewlett Packard (Canada) Co • Lisa Bélanger, Communications Consultant, Purolator Courier Ltd. • Eric Bergman, ABC, APR, MC, Senior Consultant, Bergman & Associates • Ken Cherney, ABC, APR, MC, President, Ken Cherney & Associates • Kim Cochrane, Manager, Channel Communications and Programs, Foresters • Janet Comeau, Manager, Corporate Communications, CDS Ltd. • Ruth Lewkowicz, APR, Educator/Professor - Communications Advantage • David Magil, APR, President, David Magil Communications • Cyrus Mavalwala, President, Advantis Communications Inc. • Anna Relyea, Associate Director, Strategic Communications, Ontario Science Centre • Bobbie Resnick, ABC, APR, MC, Fellow, Principle, Roberta Resnick & Associates • Felicia Shiu, APR, Vice President, MAVERICK Public Relations Inc. • Sabita Singh, ABC, Director, Strategic Communications, iStudio Canada • Janet Wile, ABC, APR, Director Communications, Siemens Milltronics Process Instruments Ltd.
OVATION Awards 2006 SPONSORS
IABC/Toronto thanks the following companies for their generous support of this year’s OVATION Awards:
Exclusive Gala sponsor CNW Group
Silver Sponsors Bowdens Media Monitoring News Canada MAVERICK Public Relations
Bronze Sponsors Jib Media Mandala Communications
IABC/Toronto also appreciates the contributions of InterContinental Toronto Centre Media Strategy Inc.
8 OVATION Awards 2006 Committee
IABC/Toronto recognizes the support of the following organizations whose employees volunteered time and talent to make the 2006 OVATION Awards possible:
Vice President Awards Lisa Bélanger, Purolator Courier Ltd.
Director of Judging Suzanna Cohen, Greater Toronto Home Builders’ Association
Gala Director Natasha Compton, High Road Communications
Gala Coordinators Sonya Malcolm, Habitat for Humanity Angela St. Amour
IABC Toronto Executive Board 2005/2006 President Rawle Borel Jr. Immediate Past President Alix Edmiston Executive Vice President Felicia Shiu, APR Vice President, Accreditation & Standards Brent Carey, ABC Vice President, Association Management Dave Traynor Vice President, Awards Lisa Bélanger Vice President, Finance Janet Comeau Vice President, Marketing Communications Trell Huether Vice President, Member Communications Kim Cochrane Vice President, Membership Anna Relyea Vice President, Networking & Special Events Shari Balga Vice President, Professional Development Leslie Hetherington, APR, MBA Vice President, Volunteer Services Natasha Renaud, MBA
IABC/Toronto 296 Jarvis Street, Suite 7 Toronto ON M5B 2C5 Phone: 416-968-0264 Fax: 416-968-6818 [email protected] http://toronto.iabc.com
9 Award of Excellence: Communications Management – Marketing Communications
Legal Aid Online: Making Legal Aid Work Easier for Lawyers
Entrant’s Name: Elaine Gamble Organization’s Name: Legal Aid Ontario Time Period of Project: September 2004 – January 2006
1. Business Need and Opportunity Attracting and retaining the over 4,000 lawyers who do legal aid work is key to ensuring vulnerable legal aid clients get the service they need. As part of a project to revamp business processes, Legal Aid Ontario developed a secure online billing portal for lawyers. Our goal was to make legal aid work easier and more attractive to lawyers. To achieve our goals, we committed to treating service providers as valued partners in a relationship characterized by trust, by eliminating, as much as possible, manual verification and paper processing and examination of accounts. In turn, we were relying on lawyers to change their processes by using the online billing portal rather than sending in paper accounts. A high level of acceptance and use by lawyers would allow legal aid staff to be reassigned to work at the new “Lawyer Service Centre” to provide more value-added supports and services to lawyers.
2. Entrant’s Role in Project The Communications department worked with various parts of the project team and was involved in every step along the way including planning and implementation to monitor progress of the project and to ensure communications would meet the timelines and requirements of the project. We attended design and development team meetings to learn as much as possible about its usability and features and to provide input on making everything as user friendly as possible.
3. Intended Audience The primary audience for Legal Aid Online is approximately 4,000 lawyers who do legal aid work, as well as bookkeepers who work for lawyers and handle their billing and accounting. As part of our initial research, we divided this group into three sub-groups: • 100 very frequent billers, including bookkeepers and lawyers. This group includes mostly criminal lawyers, whose legal aid work makes up the bulk of their practice. This group was recruited to be our “early adapters”. • 1,300 frequent billers. This included lawyers and bookkeepers who account for 80 per cent of the money paid out to lawyers. • All other lawyers and bookkeepers. This includes lawyers who may do only one file per year. At the start of the project, we conducted an online and paper survey called “Getting ready for online billing”. The survey allayed our initial fears about their technological readiness – 92 per cent of the most experienced lawyer respondents use a computer frequently (Tab 1: Lawyer Survey Results). We also invited frequent billers to billing training sessions. This allowed us to begin reaching out to lawyers, start preparing them for the changes, introduce them to the concept of online billing and test methods of attracting lawyers to information sessions. These sessions showed us that lawyers and their staff were eager and willing to understand more about how to bill properly, and that it would be very effective to combine education about billing with promotion for Legal Aid Online. This would help us to develop orientation sessions for the rollout. The sessions also gave us a chance to address lawyers’ biggest issue – early negative impressions of our new technology, based on start up problems which delayed payments to lawyers for several months.
4. Goals and Objectives Goal • Attract and retain lawyers who do legal aid work by making the work easy and attractive.
10 Objectives • Generate awareness of Legal Aid Online to get lawyers interested in using Legal Aid Online (high level of response to orientation session invitations). • Inform and educate lawyers and their staff about new services and supports available to them (high level of attendance at orientation sessions). • Provide clear and easy to understand information about Legal Aid Online and billing procedures to help lawyers bill correctly, with 70 per cent of accounts paid automatically (which means the account was billed correctly with no errors). • Encourage maximum use of Legal Aid Online in order to reduce the number of paper accounts received. A target of 300 paper, 300 online accounts per day by April 30 was set, with a longer term target of 90 per cent of accounts being received online by the end of the first year of operation.
5. Solution Overview Our communications strategies included: • Promote early and often. A special edition of the newsletter was mailed to each lawyer to promote the upcoming orientation sessions and the launch of Legal Aid Online. All other publications and website updates included regular mention of the sessions and the benefits of Legal Aid Online (Tab 3: Outlook newsletter). • Identify early adapters and involve them at every stage of the project from development and testing to launch. This would allow us to develop better materials for new users, based on their feedback (Tab 4: Feedback Form – January 2005). • Publicize early successes with Legal Aid Online in order to build excitement. Early adapters started using the system in late January and became champions for the changes and the benefits of Legal Aid Online. Quotes from the early adapters were included as part of regular updates. Word of mouth from the early adapters spread quickly when they told others about how quickly they were being paid and how easy the system was to use. By February, lawyers were asking to get online immediately – they didn’t want to wait for the orientation sessions. • Promote the orientation sessions locally. Each legal aid office and duty counsel office put up posters to advertise the upcoming sessions. Local staff, (who often have personal relationships with the lawyers) also attended the sessions and were on hand to answer questions (Tab 5: Promotional Poster). • Develop an educational presentation to give lawyers information about billing accounts correctly and using Legal Aid Online. Invite lawyers and their staff to attend information sessions and give them a chance to ask questions and talk face to face with Legal Aid Ontario representatives. We scheduled 25 orientation sessions around the province during March, April and May and invited lawyers and their staff to attend either in person or by web conference. • Stagger the rollout over several months, to give us time to ramp up resources here (staff were only gradually reassigned to work on the Lawyer Service Centre to assist new users) and to minimize the impact if errors or bugs in the system were discovered early on. This also gave us the chance to improve on the printed and online materials and to better anticipate common mistakes and problems. • Seek out coverage in legal publications for the launch of Legal Aid Online (Tab 6: media clippings). • Develop tools and supports to make it easier for users to get started. We developed a new user kit, which included a personalized letter with user id and password, getting started fact sheets, frequently asked questions, user guide and handy reference card for the new Lawyer Service Centre if they needed help (Tab 7: Welcome to Legal Aid Online user kit).
6. Implementation and Challenges The budget for communications was $75,000. We budgeted to spend $25,000 on print and promotional materials, including posters, business cards, user guides, user kits and pens. We budgeted a further $30,000 for webcasts and teleconferences, and $10,000 on travel. $10,000 was set aside as contingency. Based on the response rates to the invitations to the orientation sessions, we decided to use this extra money to print more user kits (Tab 8: budget materials). To sell the plan, we met with various staff groups to outline the early adapter concept, the orientation sessions plan and the staggered rollout. It was important that everyone support the idea of letting early adapters use the system before it was finalized, and that they understood the importance of getting the support of the early adapters before rolling out to the larger audience.
11 One of our biggest challenges was developing clear, concise and user friendly materials. We worked with staff who are subject matter experts to write down processes and policies that had never before been communicated outside of the organization. This helped to “demystify” our former paper and manual processes for lawyers who would be responsible for doing their billings online, with no manual examination and corrections by Legal Aid Ontario staff. We tested the written materials and made changes before the rollout began in March. We had planned on making any necessary changes and reprinting for the second half of the rollout in May, however the demand for the kits and to start using the system was far higher than planned, so we accelerated the mailout of the kits to users. This required us to make changes and reprint the user guide by the end of March. It also required the flexibility of different departments to print, stuff and mail over 2,500 kits in just one month. One final print of the user guide was done in May. For each version of the user guide, we made changes based on feedback and questions asked by lawyers and bookkeepers attending orientation sessions and on surveys which were included in the kits and online. We have continued to update users with tips and information on using the system (Tab 9: Legal Aid Online Updates, May 11, August 14, October 4, 2005). Supporting the orientation sessions was extremely important, and ended up taking more of the Communications department’s time than originally planned. We had to work quickly with our IT department to develop a backup plan after we ran into connectivity problems for the webcasts. We also found we needed more staff to attend the sessions, to greet attendees and to help answer questions both in the room and online. This required us to reprioritize and reassign work within the Communications department with at least one of us offsite and travelling to each of the 25 locations around the province. We used our contingency budget to fund the additional travel costs, as well as the additional kits that were printed.
7. Measurement and Evaluation • Interest in orientation sessions: 887 responses out of 3,600 invitations sent out (25 per cent response rate) (Tab 10: Measurement – Statistical Reports, External Relations handover document May 31, 2005). • Attendance at orientation sessions: 1,500 attendees out of 3,600 invited (42 per cent attendance). • Percentage of accounts submitted correctly which were paid automatically: 73 per cent (December 2005). • Number of Legal Aid Online users (December 2005): 2,950 (82 per cent of eligible users). • Number of paper accounts received: decrease from 9,613 in April 2005 to 1,768 in December 2005. 85 per cent of accounts being received are sent through Legal Aid Online, compared to 73 per cent in June 2005. (Tab 10: Measurement – Statistical Reports, Legal Aid Online Status Update, January 11, 2006, Lawyer Payments Statistical Report, December 5, 2005).
12 Award of Merit: Communications Management – Marketing Communications
McCain Foods Canada: Potato Facts Marketing Communications Campaign
Entrant’s Name: Sheri Goulet – Project, Website and Media Relations Lead, Fleishman-Hillard Canada Mark McCauley – Project Lead, McCain Foods Canada Linda Smith – Account Lead, Fleishman-Hillard Canada Stella Mok – Spokesperson Media Tour Lead, Fleishman-Hillard Canada Sarah Rutka – Project Tactical Support, Fleishman-Hillard Canada Organization’s Name: Fleishman-Hillard Canada and McCain Foods Canada Time Period of Project: July to November 2005
1. Business Need and Opportunity In mid 2005, with the low-carb diet fad on its way out, McCain Foods Canada (McCain) recognized that negative perceptions about carbohydrates and potatoes still existed among consumers. Seemingly even more misunderstood was the French fry, a Canadian favourite that was being demonized in the media because of the growing obesity coverage and school feeding issues. And for the first time, foods were being labeled as “good” or “bad” at the government level in relation to healthy living initiatives, specifically the revision of Canada’s Food Guide to Healthy Eating. Fleishman-Hillard (FH) recognized this environment as an opportunity to educate Canadians about the positive nutritional attributes of potatoes and oven-baked French fries (OBFF) - specifically McCain Superfries®. This was especially important because McCain had never before proactively communicated the nutritional attributes of Superfries® to Canadian consumers or stakeholders. Omnibus research conducted on behalf of McCain in June 2005 reaffirmed the need for consumer education: • 62 per cent of Canadians didn’t know potatoes contain vitamin C and 32 per cent didn’t know potatoes contain fibre. • 72 per cent of Canadians didn’t know OBFF contain vitamin C and 45 per cent didn’t know OBFF contain fibre. • 67 per cent of Canadians surveyed thought that a serving of OBFF contains more than 5 grams of fat. • 32 per cent of respondents had misperceptions about the saturated and trans fat content of OBFF. • Only 25 per cent of Canadians polled knew the number of pieces in a sensible serving of OBFF. FH worked with McCain to develop a campaign, called “Potato Facts”, based on these research results. The strategy was to address the Canadian misperceptions about potatoes and OBFF, leveraging the research, nutritional information and credible, third-party experts to deliver balanced key messages in consumer, media and influencer communications.
2. Entrant’s Role in Project FH was named agency of record for McCain in January 2005. During the first four months of the relationship, FH was able to gain significant insight into McCain’s business objectives and potential issues facing the company. In April 2005, FH proposed the “Potato Facts” campaign concept to McCain. The campaign elements were flushed out in May and June with the goal of commencing activity in early July. From July to November 2005, the FH team of Sheri Goulet, Linda Smith, Cathy Pearson, Stella Mok and Sarah Rutka worked with Mark McCauley of McCain to develop and implement a multi-layered marketing communications campaign. FH executed the tactical elements of the campaign while Mark McCauley facilitated approvals of campaign materials and acted as a campaign ambassador with McCain, potato growers and other industry audiences. As this was the first campaign of this nature for McCain, the results would be closely scrutinized and used as the benchmark for all future PR activity.
3. Audiences • Media (Print, Broadcast and Online) o Food / Lifestyle / Business reporters – Influential with consumers and stakeholders. o Registered Dietitians in the media – Influential in the good/bad food debate.
o Trade (Marketing, Grocery) outlets/reporters – To reach industry stakeholders. • Consumers (Women _ Mom’s) 13 o Key decision makers for household groceries
• Registered Dietitians (RDs)
o Influential with consumers, industry and gov’t • Food Industry Stakeholders
o Involved in the good/bad food debate. • Government Officials (Food, Agriculture, Health)
o Involved in the good/bad food debate.
4. Goals and Objectives FH set broad communications goals for the campaign: • Generate awareness and understanding of the nutritional attributes of potatoes and OBFF with RDs, industry influencers and government officials to neutralize the good food/bad food debate. • Generate awareness of the nutritional attributes of potatoes and OBFF with Canadian consumers. • Generate media coverage about the positive nutritional attributes of potatoes and OBFF. To measure success, FH set quantified objectives for key campaign elements: • 350,000 bookmarks to be distributed to consumers and stakeholders. • 7,000 dietitians and 30 stakeholders to be contacted via face-to-face meetings and/or letter signed by credible third party experts with relevant background information. • Media relations to generate at least 10 million impressions. • Generate media coverage that reinforces positive messages about Potato Facts and OBFF. • Potato Facts coverage to appear in all major cities across Canada. • Spokesperson tour to include at least 15 interviews (3 per city @ 5 cities).
5. Solution Overview FH developed “Potato Facts”, an integrated communications campaign that involved print advertising, public and media relations, interactive communications and government relations outreach. From July to November 2005, Potato Facts was executed as a collaborative effort between McCain, Fleishman-Hillard Canada companies (FH, iStudio, GPC Communications and GPC Research) and C2 Communications (C2). McCain also solicited support from select Canadian potato grower groups (Alberta Potato Growers, Keystone Vegetable Producers’ Association, Potatoes New Brunswick and the PEI Potato Board). Grower logos and endorsements appeared in all communications, positioning McCain and the growers as joint partners in this national initiative. National Omnibus Survey – To measure Canadian attitudes about potatoes and oven-baked French fries, FH coordinated a national consumer omnibus through GPC Research. Survey results were used as the foundation for all campaign materials. Print Advertisements – FH worked with McCain’s advertising agency, C2, to create double-page print advertisements in English and French to visually convey the campaign key messages. The advertisements were placed in key Canadian consumer magazines (i.e., Canadian Living, Coup de Pouce, Chatelaine, Châtelaine, Today’s Parent and Le Magasin Enfant Quebec). Potato Facts Bookmarks – Building on the print advertisement visuals, FH worked with McCain to develop a doublesided bookmark (in English and French) that would further reinforce the campaign messages with key audiences. FH worked with the Canadian Federation of Independent Grocers (CFIG) to coordinate bookmark distribution to consumers via member grocery retailers across Canada. The bookmark was also distributed in attendee bags at key lifestyle shows across Canada (Calgary, Edmonton and Toronto) and available, along with product samples at McCain exhibits at the Calgary and Toronto shows. RD, Stakeholder and Government Outreach – FH felt it was important to reach out to RDs, government and food industry influencers to reinforce the key messages communicated to consumers. This was especially important because McCain had never proactively communicated to these audiences before. Canadian RDs were sent (via Dietitians of Canada and l'Ordre professionnel des diététistes du Québec) a letter and copy of the bookmark as a way to promote the campaign and RD materials available on the website. The letter provided RDs with detailed nutrition information and a chart comparing typical starch side dish choices. FH worked with GPC to implement a two-pronged stakeholder outreach effort that included food industry groups, foodservice customers and government officials from key food, agriculture, and health departments that were identified as potential stakeholders in the good food/bad food debate. The outreach strategy involved a combination of face-to-face
14 meetings, telephone liaison and follow-up mailings. Bookmarks were also distributed to industry stakeholders at the Grocery Innovations Canada trade show in Toronto.
National Media Relations Campaign – FH recommended and hired two Canadian nutrition experts – Nancy Schwartz and Kim Arrey - to act as campaign spokespeople. Media materials were distributed nationally on October 11, 2005 and FH conducted proactive media relations with key Canadian media. The campaign was also leveraged in a national (8 city) spokesperson media tour. Spokespeople delivered key messages while referring to campaign visuals. To broaden the campaign’s exposure outside the media tour markets, English and French b- roll was produced and distributed via satellite and three camera-ready matte stories were developed and distributed to community newspapers. Website and RD Virtual Toolkit – To support the extensive media relations campaign and provide a mechanism for consumer response, English and French websites (www.potatofacts.ca / www.pommesdeterre-verite.ca) were developed. Content included quirky and basic nutritional facts about potatoes and OBFF, polls, recipes, and a media room with press materials, images and grower quotes. FH also created RD materials; tracking downloads through a simple form.
6. Implementation and Challenges • The English spokesperson was unavailable for a full month prior to the campaign launch so all written materials had to be completed a month early to accommodate approvals. • Midway through pitching the media tour, FH discovered that a similar, pro-potato campaign called “Kids and Carbs” was also touring the country. FH approached the Kids and Carbs PR team to discuss the best approach for moving forward so both campaigns would complement, rather than compete with, each other. Both campaign teams adjusted markets to avoid conflicting pitching ad to ensure all major markets were covered off. While this was mutually beneficial, it also put FH in the position of re-pitching a national tour less than two weeks from the scheduled dates. Both teams maintained ongoing contact to share information and maximize media opportunities, where possible.
7. Budget • The campaign’s PR budget was $315,000 Canadian ($190,000 fees, $125,000 expenses). Costs related to the print advertisement design, media buy, bookmark printing and consumer show participation fees were separate.
8. Measuring and Evaluation Since “Potato Facts” launched on October 11, 2005, approximately 15.7 million Canadians have been reached. All results targets (as outlined in goals/objectives) were exceeded. Campaign results include: • Media buy of double-page advertisement placements with a total circulation of 1,848,871 (publications included Canadian Living, Coup de Pouce, Chatelaine, Châtelaine, Today’s Parent and Le Magasin Enfant Quebec). • 366,259 bookmarks were distributed to consumers and stakeholders (exceeding the goal of 350,000). o 22,600 total bookmarks were distributed at the Calgary Women’s Show, Toronto Women’s Show and Edmonton Women’s Show. Potato Facts booths with sampling appeared at the Calgary and Toronto Women’s Shows. o 330,000 bookmarks were distributed to consumers via CFIG retailers (3,800 stores across Canada). o 6,000 bookmarks were distributed at Grocery Innovations Canada. o 7,550 RDs across Canada (English and French) received the Potato Facts mailing (exceeding the goal of 7,000). o 109 stakeholder contacts (English and French) received the Potato Facts mailing (exceeding the goal of 30). • Stakeholder activity was extremely positive, with virtually all contacts praising the campaign and McCain’s efforts. o Industry stakeholder outreach resulted in 11 face-to-face meetings, 28 mailings and 6 telephone meetings. o Government relations activity resulted in 12 face-to-face meetings, 33 mailings and 19 telephone meetings.
15 • Despite the negative launch environment, the tone of the media coverage was immensely positive with little-to-no criticism of the campaign or McCain (meeting the goal of reinforcement of positive messages). o 13,433,100 media impressions generated with English and French coverage in Canadian print, broadcast and online media outlets (exceeding the goal of 10,000,000). o 50 print stories, including front page of the Toronto Star Business, pickup of the story by Canadian Press (and outlets across Canada - achieving our goal of national coverage), and hits in Metro (Vancouver, Ottawa, Toronto). o 19 spokesperson interviews in media tour markets across Canada (exceeding the goal of 15 interviews). o 27 broadcast clips, all featuring spokespeople delivering branded key messages. Most clips also showed the ad visuals and/or McCain Superfries® packaging. o 18 online stories with consumer and agricultural media outlets and assorted blogs. • Total (English + French) website traffic of 1,836 unique visitors or 2,618 visits. The RD materials, promoted exclusively through PR, were downloaded 30 times. The website email was used as a mechanism for campaign questions and feedback by consumers and RD’s. The eight website polls received 686 total votes/responses. • McCain presented a campaign results highlight reel at a PEI Potato Board AGM, generating considerable support and praise for the campaign within the grower community along with print and broadcast coverage from attending media. The biggest measure of success for this campaign is overall client satisfaction, especially because this was the first campaign of this kind for McCain. Employees and senior executives were very satisfied with the campaign and have encouraged other McCain operations around the world to consider similar efforts.
16 Award of Merit: Communications Management – Marketing Communications
Harbinger Communications and Vaseline Intensive Care Lotion Battle the Canadian Touch Deficit
Entrant's Name: Lisa Pasquin Organization’s Name: Harbinger Communications Time Period of Project: Fall 2005
1. Business Need/Opportunity After extensive consumer research, Vaseline Intensive Care Lotion (VICL) had determined that although brand awareness was extremely high, consumers lacked an emotional connection with the product that would be key to building market share in an increasingly competitive market. To this end, a relaunch of the brand was planned, featuring new packaging, new formulations and a new personality: that of "touch ambassador". Specifically, to help the brand develop that much-needed emotion appeal, it was determined that the communications focus moving forward would be on the importance of touch - skin-to-skin contact - in the development of physical and emotional well-being. And this touch would be facilitated by healthy skin - which starts with Vaseline Intensive Care Lotion.
2. Entrant’s Role in Project Harbinger Communications worked with VICL to develop an integrated marketing communications campaign that positioned the brand as a "touch ambassador". Tying into consumer insights that skin is for touching and that healthy skin facilitates healthy touch, the program educated Canadians on the need for touch and challenged them to add more touch to their everyday lives.
3. Intended Audience The target consumer is female with a family. Pragmatic, grounded and social, she sees body lotions as a chore, but understands the benefit. The condition of her skin is important to her as it affects how she relates to others (this key consumer insight was one of the keys to developing the touch positioning).
3. Budget The campaign was executed on a budget of $170,000 (fees and expenses).
4. Goals/Objectives As part of an integrated marketing team, the public relations program was designed to: • Secure 15-20 million media impressions. • Change beauty editors' perception of VICL. • Secure media coverage for VICL in fashion and beauty magazines. • Raise VICL's profile within the marketing industry.
5. Solution Overview To achieve these objectives, Harbinger developed a two-pronged strategy: • A touch campaign, centred around the Vaseline Week of Touch. • New product communication targeted at fashion and beauty media. Vaseline Week Of Touch The challenge for Harbinger was to reach Canadians with information about touch in a timely and relevant manner, and to generate coverage in news outlets that traditionally wouldn't feature a lifestyle brand like VICL. To accomplish both of these objectives, Harbinger created the Vaseline Week of Touch, held from September 25 to October 1. The following elements were incorporated into this program:
17 • Survey: To produce salient statistics to support media relations efforts as well as position Vaseline as a leader on touch, Harbinger commissioned a survey on Canadians' touch habits. When the survey found that almost half of all Canadians wanted to add more touch to their lives, the Canadian Touch Deficit was born. • Spokespeople: To lend a credible voice to the touch deficit, and to educate Canadians about the power of touch, Harbinger sourced two media spokespeople: Patti Wood, a touch and non-verbal communication expert (English Canada) and Julie Gravel, a nurse studying touch in babies (French Canada). • Touch Pledge: Harbinger created an online touch pledge, through which Canadians could commit to increasing the quantity and quality of touch in their lives. For every signature, Vaseline made a donation to Kangaroo Care, an in-hospital program that facilitates touch between parents and premature babies. • National Media Relations: The Week of Touch was launched and promoted through a national media relations campaign and a cross-Canada media tour. • Marketing Outreach: To secure maximum coverage in marketing trade publications, Harbinger created and distributed a fact sheet about the integrated campaign uniquely tailored for this specific type of media. New Product Outreach To generate additional coverage in support of the brand relaunch, and the release of two new Vaseline products, Harbinger conducted targeted outreach to lifestyle and beauty reporters at both long lead magazines and short lead newspapers. To ensure a consistent communication of the brand's contemporary new look and feel, a package was prepared that showed the packaging off in a unique and eye-catching way by encasing them in picture frames. A small booklet sent with the frames provided an overview of Vaseline's new touch campaign, information on the two new products and details on the brand's relaunch.
6. Implementation and Challenges This campaign was executed on a budget of $170,000 (fees and expenses). This program was planned and implemented along a fairly tight timeline: the brief from the client was given in May, and the program was executed in September 2006. The overarching media relations challenge for the Vaseline Week of Touch was to ensure that the brand connection was communicated throughout the coverage. This was achieved by providing our spokesperson with as many tools as possible to incorporate the brand mention: the creation of the Vaseline Week of Touch, the website link, the charitable donation program. Coupled with extensive spokesperson media training, we were able to secure a Vaseline brand mention in 87 per cent of the Week of Touch media coverage (34 of 39 hits).
6. Summary of Results Objective: Secure 15-20 million media impressions. • The Week of Touch secured 9,848,488 impressions, and the new product campaign secured 12,431,564 impressions, for a total of 22,280,052 media impressions. This represents a cost per impression of $0.0076. • Articles about the touch deficit appeared in both the Globe and Mail and the National Post during the Week of Touch and the survey results made the front page of the Montreal Gazette, the Regina Leader-Post and the Saskatoon Star Phoenix. • Eighty one per cent of the new product coverage (13 of 16 hits) included an image of at least one of the products. Objective: Secure media coverage for VICL in fashion and beauty magazines. • VICL has been featured in a total of 11 top fashion and beauty magazines including Elle Canada, Fashion, Glow, Wish, Chatelaine and Flare. Objective: Change beauty editors' perception of VICL. • Direct liaison with these key media targets, coupled with the volume of coverage generated, reflected an openness to see the brand in a new way. • VICL received endorsement in the "editor's pick" pages of Elle Canada and Glow and through inclusion among "our favourites" in Fashion Magazine. Objective: Raise VICL's profile within the marketing industry. • Coverage of the revitalization of the VICL brand reached a total of 88,938 key marketing influencers through coverage in targeted outlets including Adnews, Marketing and Infopresse. • Throughout this coverage, Vaseline - and the Vaseline campaign - was positioned as being forward-thinking, contemporary and dynamic.
18 In the ultimate measure of success, VICL had its highest share period of the year during the time in which the public relations campaign was executed, and the touch positioning has been extended into 2006.
19 Award of Merit: Communications Management – Marketing Communications
Sleep Country Canada: Breakfast in Bed – in Winnipeg
Entrant’s Name: Daniel Tisch, President: Strategic development; messaging and spokesperson preparation; senior counsel Amber Wallace, Senior Consultant: Project leadership and management; oversight of all planning and implementation, in advance and on site. Kyla Thoms, Account Coordinator: Management of event logistics and media relations Organization’s Name: Argyle Rowland Communications Time Period of Project: July – August 2005
1. Business Need and Opportunity Sleep Country Canada had grown from start-up in 1994 to become Canada’s number one mattress retailer, with more than 100 stores in eight urban markets across the nation by mid-2005. The company’s growth had been driven by its approach to each market: developing high local brand awareness to drive consumers to its stores, and then delivering a superior in-store and home delivery experience. As Sleep Country prepared to enter Winnipeg, a new market in a new province, it had to build local brand awareness from scratch. With six Winnipeg locations set to open within a few months, Sleep Country and Argyle Rowland Communications had to act quickly to build a foundation of local awareness of the company and its unique value proposition.
2. Entrant’s Role in Project The Argyle team handled all aspects of the Winnipeg launch, including event design and management, media relations, spokesperson preparation and on-the-ground execution.
3. Intended Audience Keeping in mind Sleep Country Canada’s primary target audience – i.e., women aged 25 to 64, who tend to drive mattress purchasing decisions -- we identified the following audiences for the Winnipeg launch: • Primary: Potential Sleep Country Canada customers in the Winnipeg area, especially female decision- makers in local families; • Secondary: Sleep Country Canada employees and Sleep Country Income Fund investors, in Winnipeg and across Canada; and • Local, regional and national media, the conduit to all audiences.
4. Goals and Objectives • Raise awareness of Sleep Country’s launch among • Media coverage of launch. Target: Audience reach potential customers in Winnipeg. equal to Winnipeg population (650,000). • Motivate Winnipeg customers to visit a local store • Attract at least 100 visitors to the first Winnipeg store when they need a mattress, contributing to higher on launch day – a high number given that mattresses sales. are a large, infrequent purchase, and that customers must drive (rather than walk) to the store. Exceed typical sales on opening weekends for Sleep Country store launches in major urban centres. • Build understanding of the Sleep Country value • Ensure at least 50 per cent of media stories go proposition — i.e., a superior in-store and home beyond basic corporate information about the store delivery experience, accomplished through product opening and contain messages on sleep education knowledge, sleep education, and attention to detail and/or Sleep Country’s superior in-store or home and customer needs; delivery experience. Support communications with investors and Sleep Country employees by demonstrating the success of the company’s strategy in yet another major Canadian market.
20 • Develop positive impressions of the company’s • Secure at least one prominent local story about the values and commitment to the local market, to company’s charitable initiatives in Winnipeg. counteract and/or inoculate the company from any negative publicity generated by local competitors. • Create a re-usable marketing concept for major Sleep • Client evaluation on whether to replicate the launch Country store openings. concept in other markets.
5. Solution Overview To help achieve Sleep Country’s business goals, Argyle Rowland Communications conceived and implemented an attention-getting consumer marketing program based on the theme “Breakfast in Bed – in Winnipeg.”
STRATEGIES: The Argyle team developed the following core strategies (see ‘implementation’ section below for supporting tactics): • Drive customer traffic through an attention-getting event. We selected a high-traffic store location to host “Breakfast in Bed – in Winnipeg” -- a fun, interactive and high-energy launch event that offered a free breakfast with Sleep Country president Christine Magee, free consultations with a local sleep expert, interactive games to test customers’ “sleep IQ”, and plenty of branded prizes. • Associate Sleep Country with sleep education. We identified, contacted and partnered with a local expert – the coordinator of a world-renowned sleep clinic based in Winnipeg – and offered on-site customers and media a tangible, valuable educational benefit: access to her expertise on good sleep habits and sleep disorders. • Spokespeople who reflected the target audience: Since our primary targets were women aged 25-64, we had two accomplished female spokespeople — company president Christine Magee and local sleep expert Zoe Pouliot. • Breakfast in Bed – on Breakfast Television. In choosing the name for the launch, the Argyle team also saw a news hook that could enhance the appeal of the story to Winnipeg’s top morning television show. We also showed flexibility by offering a choice: their hosts could come to Sleep Country, or we could take Sleep Country’s sleep experts -- and our beds -- to them. • Target and segment media — and pitch different angles to each segment. This “diversified strategy” involved customizing pitches to news, health and business journalists; targeting local, regional and national media; and offering strong visuals to improve the odds of both broadcast and print coverage. This strategy would generate strong branding and coverage across a range of different media, with similar reach and greater credibility than advertising. • Enhance reach through a radio partnership. We supplemented earned media coverage and on-site promotion with a live radio remote that helped draw customers to the store. • Demonstrate our commitment to Winnipeg — and reinforce Sleep Country’s values — through charity. To complement the Breakfast in Bed marketing campaign, Sleep Country launched two of its national charitable programs in Winnipeg — Backpacks for Kids and the Donated Bed Program. • Measure success and be prepared to respond to competitors. Argyle proactively tracked media attention and customer participation at the launch and was prepared to respond to competitors if required.
6. Implementation and Challenges The build-up: Advance promotional work builds anticipation • Media relations: Some weeks before the launch, we offered the Winnipeg Free Press and Winnipeg Sun opportunities to speak to Sleep Country president Christine Magee, creating some local awareness and anticipation of the launch. • Radio remote: We negotiated a radio remote with a popular local station that was part of Sleep Country’s existing advertising buy. This provided plenty of launch-day promotion of our event. • Sleep education campaign: We initiated a partnership with Zoe Pouliot, a respected local sleep expert from Winnipeg’s St. Boniface Hospital, to develop educational materials that offered tips on the keys to a better night’s sleep. This sleep education campaign was very popular with media and customers, and reinforced Sleep Country’s focus on educating customers rather than engaging in ‘hard sell’ tactics. Our team flew to Winnipeg early to help Ms. Pouliot prepare for media interviews. • Breakfast Television: We were successful in interesting Winnipeg’s premier morning television show in interviewing both Zoe Pouliot and Christine Magee. On the morning prior to the official launch, we set up 21 two Sleep Country beds in the Breakfast Television studio, and the hosts conducted two segments “in bed” with their two guests. In addition, a local musician – also a guest on the show – performed a song while lying on the mattress. The event design: tangible value + fun promotions drive customer traffic To introduce Winnipeg’s first Sleep Country store to local residents, the Argyle team held its “Breakfast in Bed – in Winnipeg” event on Saturday, August 6, 2005. • Attracting attention: Consumers were drawn to the event by dramatic signage in the parking lot, the radio remote and the success of the advance promotion on Breakfast Television. • Sleep education: Ms. Pouliot was on hand to offer advice to consumers on the keys to better sleep. This was supplemented by Sleep Country’s highly trained sales team, who assisted customers in trying out mattresses and identifying beds that were right for them. • Engaging activities: In the parking lot, consumers enjoyed breakfast, interacted with Christine Magee and Sleep Country staff, and tried a range of games (a pillow toss, a prize wheel and a sleep trivia game) oriented around raising one’s “sleep IQ.” • Prizes: Prizes included a range of branded Sleep Country merchandise that would be well-used during the summer season – e.g., Frisbees, water bottles, etc. The media campaign: a regional focus In developing story angles the Argyle team thought carefully about how to attract significant regional coverage. For example: • Speak to Christine Magee: We offered on-site interviews with Christine Magee — one of Canada’s most famous female entrepreneurs — to discuss why the company chose Winnipeg for its most recent expansion • Top sleeping tips — from a top local expert: Media were also attracted by the opportunity to speak a local expert and to publish user-friendly sleep tips for consumers; • The Sleep Country story: For business media, we targeted stories about how Sleep Country Canada had become the number one mattress retailer in Canada. The charitable program: making a national brand local To highlight Sleep Country’s values and commitment to local communities, we announced two charitable initiatives in Winnipeg: • Backpacks for Kids supports students in grades one to seven who do not have the resources to purchase school supplies. The program ran in Winnipeg throughout the month of August and ended on Labour Day. Local residents were encouraged to purchase a backpack and fill it with school supplies, such as pencils, notebooks and dictionaries, and drop it off at any Sleep Country location. The backpacks were distributed through the Salvation Army and Kidsfest Canada in time for the school year. • Donated Bed Program: When customers purchase a new bed from Sleep Country, they can give their old bed to charity through the Donated Bed program. These gently used beds are distributed in Winnipeg through local charities. The Donated Bed program runs year-round.
CHALLENGES: • Budget constraints. Argyle’s overall fee and expense budget for the entire marketing campaign was just $20,000. This included third-party spokesperson fees, coordinating the radio remote, producing all event materials and signage, and managing all media outreach activities. To help justify and manage the client’s investment, we ensured that all launch event materials could be reused as required at the launches of other stores in other cities. Indeed, many of the same materials were used for the opening of a new store in Belleville, Ontario in October 2005. • Timing. The Argyle team had approximately six weeks to coordinate Breakfast in Bed – in Winnipeg. In this time, Argyle closely monitored outsourced contracts, including the sleep expert, radio remote team and event marketing staff, to ensure a flawless event.
7. Measuring/Evaluation In terms of its objectives, Breakfast in Bed – in Winnipeg was a great success. The campaign’s achievements included: • Media coverage of Sleep Country’s Winnipeg launch: Our media coverage reached an estimated audience of 800,000 Winnipeg residents.
22 • Strong customer participation: Attendance exceeded our expectations, as approximately 200 consumers participated in the event. • Increase in sales: Sleep Country recorded exceptionally strong sales in Winnipeg on the launch weekend. In the company’s earnings announcement for the quarter ended September 30, 2005, Sleep Country reported that in just a few weeks the new Winnipeg region had generated a 1.3 per cent increase in the entire company’s sales, and that Winnipeg was expected to make a positive contribution to the company’s earnings ahead of schedule. • Communication of value proposition: 100 per cent of media stories went beyond the basic news of the launch and contained information associating Sleep Country with sleep education and/or contained clear messaging about the company’s value proposition (superior in-store and home-delivery experience). • Profile for charitable initiatives: Four media stories covered the company’s charitable initiatives in Winnipeg. The event also earned the Argyle team very positive feedback from its client at Sleep Country Canada. One sign of success is that the Winnipeg launch set a new standard for public relations surrounding the company’s entry into a new market – and we were able to replicate the launch concept when we launched the first Sleep Country store in Belleville, Ontario in October 2005.
23 Award of Excellence: Communications Skills – Electronic and Interactive Communication iStudio Holiday Guide
Entrants' Names: Brandy Fleming, Internet Communications Consultant Steve Coppola, Senior Director, Interactive Design David Upward, Technical Lead Organization’s Name: iStudio Time Period of Project: October - December 2005
When iStudio, an online communications agency, faced the need to strengthen client relationships and boost online profile among the communication and interactive community, the agency seized the opportunity with their annual holiday greeting. The iStudio Holiday Guide shared staff tips, advice and seasonal memories with clients and colleagues, generating buzz for the company, strengthening client relationships, and positioning iStudio as an Industry leader In online communication techniques.
1. Business Need/Opportunity Each year, iStudio sends an online holiday greeting to clients, colleagues, friends and family to celebrate the end of a great year of work, to thank clients, and to exercise some creative freedom In the process. When it was time to prepare the 2005 holiday greeting, the team knew that this effort had to be different. iStudio rebranded itself In 2005, launching a new visual identity, brand personality and corporate web site to clearly communicate what set the firm apart from other agencies in the interactive space - the team's winning personality, approachable attitude and driven working style. Tired of being the unknown in the interactive agency arena, iStudio decided that this year's holiday greeting had to stand out above the crowd - to serve as a reintroduction to clients, increase visibility among the Interactive community and communications profession, and strengthen the team relationships that are the backbone of the iStudlo brand itself.
2. Intended Audience
The iStudio Holiday Guide was created to meet the needs of the following audiences: Audience Needs/Messaging Existing clients A thanks for year of great work; a reminder of iStudio capabilities; a relationship-building message. Prospective clients A showcase of iStudio talent; an introduction to the agency Suppliers and partners A thanks for year of great work; a relationship-building message. Colleagues from the interactive community and A showcase of iStudio talent; an introduction to the agency communication profession Family and friends A personal message from iStudio staff; a showcase of iStudio talent
24 4. Goals and Objectives iStudio's holiday greeting had three key goals: 1. Strengthen client relationships • Introduce clients to employees outside of their account team by including personal stories from all staff • Use commenting functionality on each chapter to encourage dialogue with a goal of receiving at least 24 comments (one for each chapter, plus one reply from a team member) 2. Introduce clients to new online communication tools, such as RSS, pod casts and blogs, as a reminder of best practices and iStudio's capabilities • RSS feed accesses should account for 5% of holiday card traffic • Twenty-five per cent of visitors to the "Catch the Hum Bug" story should download the podcast file • Achieve a 50% click-through rate on the email blast 3. Increase online visibility and profile • Include a "Forward to a Friend" link In the email blast • Two per cent of original contact list should forward to a new generation of em ail recipients • Based on a distribution to approximately 350 contacts, attract 600 unique visitors to the holiday card (all email contacts, plus visitors click-throughs from a blog posting and link on iStudio.ca), 25% of which should visit again • Increase overall traffic to the iStudio.ca corporate site by 5% during the holiday campaign period
5. Solution Overview At the conclusion of an all-staff brainstorming session that produced the project goals, the iStudio team developed a plan for an original holiday greeting: the iStudio Holiday Guide. A collection of tips and advice to survive the holiday season, the guide would be presented in an advent calendar format, where a new chapter would be unlocked over the course of 12 business days leading up to the holidays. This format would allow each staff member to contribute their own chapter of the guide, introducing "new" iStudio staff to clients who typically work with a set account team. It would also allow clients to get to know their day-to- day contacts on a more personal level. To create a dialogue around the content, commenting functionality would allow visitors to post feedback on each chapter. This feature would give the guide a blog-like feel and an aspect of user participation, online communication best practices iStudio has been touting to clients for some time. On the day of the guide launch, iStudio would distribute an HTML email message to a client and colleague contact list to Introduce the iStudio Holiday Guide concept, invite contacts to view the first unlocked chapter, and to encourage subscription to the RSS feed for future updates. Because the guide would unfold over nearly three weeks, the program would be most successful if users returned on a regular basis - ideally each day - to view new content. Rather than distributing a series of 12 mass emails, something bound to irritate even the most patient of recipients, a RSS feed would allow users to opt-in for dally updates direct to their own RSS reader. This gave iStudio an opportunity to encourage clients to learn more about RSS, a best practice for content syndication.
6. Implementation and Challenges Planning began in late October 2005, after the concept was developed and overall functionality defined. Each of iStudio's 12 employees chose a subject of particular interest to them, with topics ranging from holiday recipes and cocktails to outdoor activities and gift ideas. With the rough outlines of their chapters in hand, iStudio's Toronto employees traveled to join the Ottawa office in an evening photo shoot and staff party. Following the cue of the newly redesigned iStudio.ca, each chapter of the holiday guide featured Playmobil characters illustrating the chapter's concept, and the photo shoot party allowed each team member to direct their own shoot with the contracted photographer. In November, Steve Coppola, Senior Director, Interactive Design, took the lead and designed a homepage concept mimicking an advent calendar, and a sample chapter page. Each staff member provided direction to Steve for the layout of their respective chapter - even selecting which photo from the shoot would work best with their content. David Upward, Technical Lead, led the technical development of the site and email template in late November. Brandy Fleming, Internet Communications consultant, led testing and quality assurance into early December, and readied the campaign for email distribution. The iStudlo Holiday Guide was launched on December 7 and was announced by an email, which was distributed to 352 contacts, comprised of iStudio's existing and past clients, partners, suppliers, industry colleagues, and family. Contacts were asked to "pass along the holiday cheer" to a friend, by using a link in the email footer. 25 Each day until December 22, a new .window" of the advent calendar was made available, unlocking a new story on various holiday topics. Execution varied across the chapters, with some employees using rich media such as Flash animation, audio clips, descriptive photography and even a downloadable pod cast. The advent calendar page also contained a link for users to subscribe the Holiday RSS Feed, along with links to three popular news readers for users unfamiliar with the technology. Each day's RSS feed update contained an excerpt of the full article, allowing readers to evaluate the subject and click through if they were interested in reading more. The guide was actively promoted by all staff. Each employee Included a link to the holiday guide in the signature of every outgoing email and a blog posting encouraged readers to check it out. Following the guide's launch, all employees remained engaged throughout the campaign, by participating In online discussions specific to their holiday contribution, and maintaining a dialogue with visitors. Cutting through the marketing clutter of the holiday season was deemed to be the project's biggest challenge. Due to the multitude of agency holiday greetings being distributed during the same time period, audiences had to view iStudlo's guide as unique. useful and memorable. As a non-billable project in a busy time of year, it was difficult to find the time needed to keep the guide fresh during the 12 days of the campaign. The guide not only required daily updates, but also needed "care and feeding" to monitor comments and reply to feedback. However, the personal nature of the project meant that employees would make time, even in off-hours, to contribute to the effort. The budget was estimated at $20,000 in time resources for design, content development, technical build, testing and project management. An additional $75 in expenses was budgeted for email distribution. The project came in slightly under budget at roughly $19,700.
7. Measurement/Evaluation The overall strategy allowed iStudio to incorporate new or best practice online communication tools, such as user participation, content syndication and podcasting. By integrating these various techniques, the program not only opened a dialogue with audiences, but further positioned iStudio as a leader in online community-driven communications. The guide garnered positive attention, as detailed below, as a unique and memorable effort. To measure the campaign, iStudio evaluated traffic logs from the mini-site and metrlcs provided by the em ail distribution service, GotMarketlng. The Holiday Guide exceeded expectations in both volume of traffic and unplanned coverage from online and print media popular among the interactive and communication community. Samples of coverage have been included in the work sample and include: • OneDegree.ca: "Tis the Season to Send e-Cards" (December 9) • AdRants.com: "Agency Holiday Card Offers Practical Information" (December 12) • BitlngWaves.com: "12 Days of Christmas - A Usable Version" (December 12) • BrandFlakesforBreakfast.com: "Agency holiday card" (December 13)
• The Ragan Report: "Benchmarking File: 'Tis the Season to Woo Customers" (December 19)
Highlights from online measurement (December 7 to December 22), categorized by goal: 1. Strengthen client relationships • Each staff member contributed a story, allowing clients to learn more about the full team • The Holiday Guide attracted 54 comments, including staff responses 2. Introduce clients to new online communication tools, such as RSS, pod casts and blogs, as a reminder of best practices and iStudio's capabilities • RSS feed accesses accounted for 30% of site visits, exceeding objective of 5% • Over 37% of visitors to the "Catch the Humbug" story downloaded the associated podcast file, exceeding objective of 25% • Sixty-seven per cent of email recipients clicked a link (10% clicked on the "What is RSS?" link, suggesting clients were interested in more information on content syndication) 3. Increase online visibility and profile • The email blast went through three generations of forwarding. Three per cent of the original contact list forwarded the message to a friend using the link, exceeding objective of 2%. In fact, a further 25% of the first new generation forwarded the message to a second generation, and 20% of those contacts forwarded to a third generation. This viral component grew the original contact list by 17%.
26 • The Holiday Guide attracted 1,663 unique visitors who viewed 12,664 pages, far exceeding objective of 600 visitors. Surprisingly, the average visitor spent over 20 minutes on the site, viewing an average of seven pages. In comparison, visitors to iStudio.ca typically spend just over 2 minutes browsing the site. • 441 visitors (27%) viewed the guide on more than one occasion, exceeding objective of 25%. • Overall traffic to the iStudio.ca corporate site increased by 23%, far exceeding objective of 5%. Links to the corporate site from blogosphere coverage accounted for 5% of that traffic. The 2005 holiday greeting was a resounding success. Each objective was met and exceeded, and unplanned coverage resulted from the guide's unique blog-style format and innovative use of RSS. While the effort was not intended to directly drive new business, many clients have since inquired about how content syndication would benefit their online communications, after experimenting with RSS for the first time. Because every employee actively participated in the project, it was a wonderful team-strengthening exercise to watch coverage for the effort roll in - iStudio's name has emerged among some of the more well-known Interactive players in the industry.
27 Award of Merit: Communications Creative – Interactive Media Design
Explore Michener Interactive Viewbook (the “Viewbook”)
Entrant’s Name: Michael Grant, Marketing Communications Coordinator Organization’s Name: The Michener Institute for Applied Health Sciences Time Period of Project: April 2005 – August 2005
1. Business Need and Opportunity Michener’s primary recruitment vehicle was a combined print calendar co-mingling full-time programs targeted to the University and High School market(s) with advanced practice and continuing education programs targeted to practicing health professionals. a) Opportunity for More Targeted Communications Surveys of first year full-time students revealed a decline in both the use and effectiveness of the print calendar as well as an increase in the use and effectiveness of the web over the past several years. In 2005, only 2% of first year students listed the calendar as having an influence on their decision to attend The Michener Institute. Also, the significant health care human resource shortages throughout Ontario necessitated more advanced recruitment and communications methodologies in order to attract the next generation of qualified healthcare workers. b) Financial Considerations The print calendar was also scheduled to consume approximately 40% of the budget devoted to communications for the 2006 calendar year. Demonstrating fiscal responsibility in reaching our target demographic became a necessity. 2. Entrant’s Role in Project My role was that of project manager for this initiative. I undertook the original situational analysis and developed the concept for the Interactive Viewbook. During the implementation of this project I was responsible for the following aspects: concept design, securing executive and cross-organizational support, construction of outlines and project milestones, management of the production team, direction of the video shoots, writing, assisting in video editing, promotion and distribution. 3. Intended Audience The primary target audience(s) for the Viewbook are University and High School students majoring in Sciences (Biology, Chemistry, Physics etc.) and more specifically, interested in pursuing a health/science related career. From a demographics perspective, we were targeting a Generation Y audience (~ 15 to 25 year olds).
4. Goals and Objectives The goal was to create a new communications piece that: Provides prospective students a better understanding of the programs at The Michener Institute and the associated professions that they are investigating as career options Communicates program and career information in a more engaging fashion Attracts a new youth demographic to the allied health professions Integrates with the website (www.michener.ca) Allows for quantitative methods to better track use and effectiveness 5. Solution Overview To address the opportunities/necessities and objectives listed above, we created an Interactive Viewbook entitled Explore Michener. The concept was a communications vehicle that seamlessly integrated three mediums: print, CD-ROM and web media. The final product was a consolidated version of a traditional print viewbook that included a CD-ROM containing multi-media clips exploring the “experience” for Michener students and of the professions they are working towards. We expected the video would resonate well with our predominantly Generation Y audience. The video segments were specifically designed to be informal and non-scripted. The conservative use of effects were intended to give the piece an honest, grassroots feel. As one of a few educational institutions utilizing new media pieces such as this, we anticipated the Interactive Viewbook would help position The Michener Institute as an innovator.
28 6. Implementation and Challenges Since this was a new communication piece, never undertaken by us before, the first step was to create a wire- frame outline of the major components of the final product. This set the scope of the project and allowed us to identify the actions we would need to take. Next a critical path was produced setting out the project timelines and milestones. The two major components of this piece are the 5.5” x 8.5” print brochure and the accompanying CD- ROM. Both components would be developed on parallel schedules. Using in-house resources for the majority of this project allowed us to keep costs down. The success of this project greatly depended on the buy-in and participation for many individuals working collaboratively in a cross-functional environment. This included faculty members from every program area, students, our international education department, the registrars office, our recruitment staff, the IT department, Audio and video production staff and senior management.
Print Production The print production began with an outline of the content. We were then able to determine how much text would be required on each page. From there, several concepts for the graphic design were created that incorporated the required space. Once a concept had been selected and approved, the content was fine-tuned and than laid out. While most of the photography came from existing stock, we were faced with scheduling two additional photo shoots to obtain photos that were lacking.
Approximate Time: 5 hours concept development and writing 55 hours Graphic Design Cost: $2,750 Graphic Design $12,140 Printing of Viewbook
CD-ROM Production To obtain the video footage required to produce the piece, we set up several video shoots with students, faculty and other key individuals in the organization. An initial challenge was the timing of the project. Students were heading into an exam period and then would be leaving for the summer break, making student availability limited. Aggressive scheduling and efficient use of the resulting footage allowed us to conclude the filming portion of the project on schedule. All video was shot digitally. Approximately 23 hours of raw footage was shot over the course of five to six weeks. To accommodate the large amounts of storage space required for the digital video, we needed to purchase a new computer with upgraded storage and video editing capabilities. The video was eventually edited into thirteen segments, each running two to three minutes. While the video was in the editing stage, the program that would run the CD-ROM was being developed using Macromedia Flash. Our plan for the CD-ROM called for extensive use of video which roved to be problematic for the version of Flash used in The Michener Institute. We eventually had to upgrade the software to ensure the video segments would run smoothly and remain stable. We chose to have the CD-ROM link into www.michener.ca for the user to access specific information on our educational programs. This provided us with much needed flexibility to add and make changes to program specifics and enabled us to track the number of hits this would generate, providing usage statistics of the CD- ROM as well.
Approximate Time: 5 hours Concept Development 5 hours Scheduling Video Shoots 23 hours Filming 26 hours Editing 150 hours Flash Development Cost: $8,000 CD Replication $5,000 New Production PC
7. Measuring and Evaluation This product was created for use in the 2006/2007 recruitment cycle. The main quantitative measurement tool is web tracking. Users need to enter our website through the CD-ROM to access certain information. We track those “hits” and separate them out from users hitting that same page from other sources. In the first four months of its release, the Viewbook generated more than 1,300 hits. The number of unique visitors to our site has increased 61.2% and 42.6% over last year in November and December respectively. Additional quantitative feedback will be acquired by our annual survey of first year students in September and will be compared against the data from previous years. Focus groups are scheduled for February 2006 to provide qualitative feedback.
29 Award of Merit: Communications Creative – Other Graphic Design
“50 Years of Innovation” Icon
Entrants' Names: Janet Wile, ABC, APR, Director of Communications Peter Froggatt, Graphic Designer/Illustrator Organization’s Name: Siemens Milltronics Process Instruments Inc. Time Period of Project: 2004
1. Business Need/Opportunity Siemens Milltronics Process Instruments Inc. (SMPI) designs and manufactures sophisticated level measurement instruments and weighing equipment used by the water, cement, chemical, milling and other process industries. Products are sold worldwide. Based in Peterborough, Ontario (population 74,000), SMPI is known for innovative technology and strong technical support. It is a subsidiary of Siemens, a global leader in electronics and engineering. Founded in 1954 as Milltronics Ltd., SMPI celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2004. The company was purchased by Siemens in 2000 and experienced many changes during the transition. The anniversary was a positive event to renew employee pride, gain recognition from other offices and distributors, and focus on the future. SMPI designed an integrated communications program to celebrate with employees, sales partners, community and media. A graphic icon was needed to symbolize the 50th anniversary, to support the theme "Celebrating 50 Years of Innovation," and to mark all materials related to the celebrations.
2. Entrant’s Role in Project As Project Manager for the 50th Anniversary celebrations, Janet Wile, Director of Communications, coordinated development of all project activities for the various audiences. Peter Froggatt, Graphic Designer/Illustrator, participated in the focus groups and strategic planning, and was primarily responsible for all the creative and design work related to the celebrations. He worked closely with various suppliers in production of the banners, flags, shirts and other items to ensure the integrity of the design was maintained throughout.
3. Intended Audience 1. Employees and Retirees: The 300 employees in Peterborough include 180 factory/assembly workers; 65 R&D engineers/technical staff; as well as marketing, finance, and other staff functions. Employees have a wide range of education, backgrounds and interests. Culture is informal with a flat structure. Employees thrive on direct involvement and fun rather than formal ceremony. There are many long-term employees with an attachment to successes of the past. The company wanted to build on that pride but refocus on the future. 2. Sales Partners: This includes regional sales offices around the world and 3rd party distributors wor1dwide. These are not SMPI employees and they sell a wide range of products. SMPI competes with other product lines for their attention and sales focus. Long-term distributors have in-depth knowledge of the company and its products, while many of the Siemens sales offices are relatively new relationships since 2000. 3. Local Community and Media: SMPI is a major employer in Peterborough, actively involved in local organizations (Trent University, Fleming College, the Economic Development Corp., Chamber of Commerce, United Way, etc.). Reinforcing good relationships and visibility is an important part of our corporate responsibility and recruiting strategies. Key local media includes a television station, a daily and a bi-weekly newspaper.
4. Goals and Objectives The goal of this design project was to create a visual symbol that would support the anniversary theme "Celebrating 50 Years of Innovation," and appear on all materials. It needed to reflect key messages about "celebration" (pride in the past) and "innovation" (focus on the future). Criteria for development were set out in the following objectives: • Must support the theme "Celebrating 50 Years of Innovation" • Must be developed in-house at no cost (there was no budget for outside design) • Must reflect the company's history; must connect with the past to ensure relevance to long-term employees • Must look modern and open in connection with technology and innovation • Must be flexible and easily adapted to multiple applications (various media, colour and black and white) • Must specify this is an SMPI subsidiary anniversary (the parent company is more than 150 years old)
30 5. Solution Overview, Implementation and Challenges Planning for the 2004 anniversary celebrations began with focus groups held to obtain employee input from all levels and departments. This helped us develop an integrated program of activities for the various audiences. It also helped us to define criteria for an icon that could represent the 50th anniversary. These criteria became the objectives stated above for the icon design project. Several rough designs were developed and reviewed against objectives. We chose six designs for further refinement. These refined options were presented at the monthly Managers' Council meeting. Managers indicated their favorite design and explained the reasons for their preferences. This efficiently gathered input from a cross- functional group that included many long-term employees. We further refined the favored design. We presented it to the Executive Committee and received unanimous approval to proceed. The chosen design featured a golden, stylized 50 sitting on the well-known "stylized M and ultrasonic pulse" from the company's product displays, along with the theme "50 Years of Innovation" and the Siemens Milltronics company name. The icon was designed and ready so that it could be implemented early in January, 2004, and used throughout the entire anniversary year.
7. Measurement/Evaluation
Objectives Approach Taken Measurement/Evaluation Support the theme Appeared on all aspects related to the 5010 anniversary. Carried theme on all materials for visual consistency. No cost Developed by in-house Graphic designer. No cost other than time. Reflect company Incorporated a streamlined version of the "Milltronics This tie with the past brought history; connect with Pulse" into the design. It is stylized "M and ultrasonic immediate buy-in from long- past for relevance to wave" symbol that has appeared on all product display term employees and long-term employees Windows for several decades. distributors. Not one negative comment. Look modem and We rejected several options that were squares, boxes, Horizontal design is open, open in connection And other symbols with vertical lines in favour of a more signifying time moving with technology and dynamic horizontal design. forward. The "ultrasonic innovation pulse" is a well-known symbol of SMPI technology. The icon appeared on all elements, including: Icon appeared on all Flexible and easily Banners hung in the plant and used at events, trade shows, elements, tying them all to adaptable to multiple etc. the consistent theme and applications Flag that flew all year outside the plant reinforcing the program's Stationery: Letterhead, news releases, fact sheets, and sticky messages of celebration, notes used as giveaways innovation, pride and future. Souvenir shirt given to all employees, retirees, 200 key Icon was flexible and readily salespeople and business contacts, and plant visitors adapted to print, electronic, throughout the year. The shirts generated goodwill and apparel, signage and other created a "team look" for the major employee event and an applications, and to sizes all-employee group photo. both very large and very The all-employee group photo was mapped out in the shape small. The design was used of the stylized 50 from the icon in more than 20 All signage related to 50th anniversary events applications in different Printed materials: "50 Years of Innovation" article, invitations, media. flyers, survey forms, event menu, etc. PowerPoint presentations (internal and external) Employee quilt (all employees decorated a square) Time capsule container Memory Kit for employees (on CD, memory book, and folder with a die cut in the shape of the "pulse") Letters and plaques for long-term sales partners Specify SMPI event Subsidiary name appeared in the design Clarity achieved
The 50th anniversary program achieved its participation and recognition objectives with employees, sales partners, community and media. Employees were surveyed at several points throughout the program and gave high ratings. Participation rates at events achieved or exceeded set targets, and media coverage was positive. The "50 Years" Icon was an integral part of the program's success, tying all the various aspects together to effectively support the theme and reinforce the company's messages. 31 Award of Excellence: Communications Management – Media Relations up to $50,000
All The Season’s Wants and Wishes at Second Cup
Entrant's Names: Jo Langham, ABC, Jacqueline Mazereeuw, Sylvia Sicuso, Elizabeth Mitches, APEX Public Relations; Dorene Wharton, Anna Datri, Second Cup Limited; Rachel Douglas, Cara Operations Limited Organization’s Name: APEX Public Relations / Cara Operations Limited Time Period of Project: July 2005 - December 2005
1. Business Need/Opportunity If you need a hit of caffeine, a pound of coffee beans or a travel mug, then Second Cup is the place to go. But would you think of the coffee company if you wanted to get the kids a Christmas gift from grandma, or delight grandma with a pink leather nesting box? Second Cup Limited knew that no one, not even coffee drinkers in Canada, perceived its cafés as a destination for holiday shopping. That was a problem, given the strong competition for coffee shop market share in Canada, and the big part that gift merchandise plays in sales and profits. So Second Cup embarked on a significant plan to increase gift sales in cafes beyond coffee-relevant merchandise, and to position Second Cup as a destination for unique and premium gift solutions. In July 2005, APEX Public Relations was asked to ensure that over the holiday gifting period articles and features supported Second Cup as a destination for holiday gifting across Canada. We were also asked to move beyond standard press kits that had proven ineffective for Second Cup in the past. This was a tough assignment given that long lead gift columns were dosing as we were appointed to the job.
2. Entrant’s Role in Project I was responsible for developing the project's strategic direction and overall project management. I was ably assisted by a team of three comprising: Jacqueline Mazereeuw (Consultant), who was responsible for day-to-day project deliverables including drafting media materials, managing the loan program, English media liaison and budget management; Sylvia Sicuso (Senior Consultant), who managed French media liaison; and Elizabeth Mitches (Coordinator), who was responsible for media list management, day-to-day loan program logistics and tracking coverage and results.
3. Target Audiences Ask the Second Cup marketers who their customers are and they'll tell you about the "heavy loyals", "loyals" and "indifferents" that make up Canadian coffee drinkers and their customers in particular. But prior to developing the strategic direction for this program, they had also told us that even those customers heavily loyal to Second Cup did not traditionally view Second Cup cafés as a destination for holiday gifting. When developing our solution we considered that the product line-up offered access to gift solutions for everyone, from children looking for a thoughtful gift for their parents to a grandma looking for something for a granddaughter, and from guys looking for a great gift for a coffee-drinking colleague to a last-minute buyer for the hostess of a holiday party. Because at that time of year most everyone is shopping for a gift for someone, APEX decided to clearly point out the target audiences for each gift item within the communications activities. To reach holiday shoppers across Canada, APEX and Second Cup chose: • Tier 1 media, which included long lead magazines, national newspapers and other large circulation newspapers, were identified as a main target. While coverage was also welcome in smaller community daily and weekly newspapers regional long lead publications because of Second Cup's outlets across the country, for the purpose of this project they were considered Tier 2 media. • Lifestyle, food, fashion, consumer and special section/gift guide editors of print, broadcast and online media
4. Goals and Objectives BUSINESS GOAL Second Cup's stated business goal for the holiday merchandise project was: • Generate total same store sales growth of 10%
COMMUNICATION OBJECTIVES APEX Public Relations in conjunction with Second Cup, developed the following communication objectives: • Position Second Cup as a destination for unique and premium gift solutions • Increase awareness/media coverage of Second Cup as a gifting destination 32 • Drive traffic into Second Cup cafes, encouraging regular and non-regular customers to explore the store and merchandise • Increase qualitative coverage rating from 6.9 (2004) to at least 7.5 • Encourage use of Second Cup photography in articles
5. Solution RESEARCH APEX reviewed 2004 media coverage of holiday gift items and examined ongoing and upcoming 2005 trends to identify areas of focus within the gift line. For example storage solutions, including nesting boxes, were identified as a hot trend for 2005 holidays and were well highlighted in materials. Additionally, APEX consulted with editors and editorial calendars at long lead publications to determine deadlines, Interests and needs. As we expected, given that it was already July, deadlines were quickly approaching and we knew we had to find a way to hit those issues. STRATEGY The strategy developed by APEX Public Relations was: • Create an immediate outreach program to alert long-lead media working on, or dosing, gift issues that Second Cup inclusion in articles • Use electronic communications to disseminate information quickly and accurately, but also in a creative manner to ensure Second Cup stood out against the copious amount of competition that the holiday season brings • Give as many media as possible the chance to touch, see and believe in Second Cup's unique and premium gift solutions
6. Implementation Jingle Bells eBlast: With approval of the holiday program coming only weeks (and in some cases days) before long lead publications would be closing holiday editions, APEX developed a stylized email that briefly outlined what Second Cup had to offer by way of holiday gift items and referenced the availability of high resolution photography and samples available for loan. The eBlast was distributed to food, lifestyle, fashion and gift guide journalists for long lead publications across Canada in both French and English. Follow-up calls were made promptly following the distribution of the eBlast to secure interest and provide publications with more information or photography. Budget: $4,000 All the Season's Wants and Wishes Preview Event: APEX hosted long lead media at an exclusive preview of the Second Cup holiday collection at a central Second Cup cafe location in downtown Toronto. Interested journalists were booked into private, 15 minute, one-on-one briefing sessions with Second Cup merchandising manager Anna Datri, to review and discuss all of the gift items Second Cup would be offering as of November 1. Response was positive with journalists representing 11 different long lead outlets attending including Style at Home, Canadian House & Home, Life & Fashion, Elle Canada, Verve Girl, Fashion 18 and Wish. The event not only provided media with a hands-on preview of the merchandise, but also a sample of holiday beverage flavours while they listened to holiday music and relaxed in the comfortable café setting, providing a true holiday experience. Budget: $16,500 12 Angles of Christmas eNewsletter: APEX distributed a stylish email newsletter that contained a variety of different "angles", each creatively themed to a traditional Christmas carol and each relating to a group of Second Cup gift items and their target audience. For example, sections included: Put It Away in a Manger - Gifts That Organize; and Frosty the Snowman Who Has Everything - Unique Gift Ideas for Kids. The eNewsletter contained images of each of the gift items as well as a brief description and pricing. Long lead materials were distributed immediately and short lead materials went out in early November. Budget: $15,500 APEX Tinsel Trends Event: The APEX Tinsel Trends event brings several APEX clients together in order to show holiday gift guide journalists what is available across the board in one stop. The APEX Second Cup team lobbied to have the event hosted at the Second Cup café in Toronto that had been used for long lead media briefings, as it had already proven to be an ideal space for such an event and would give our client the chance to showcase in-store seasonal merchandising, food and beverages, music and signage. In total. 40 media attended the event representing more than 30 key media outlets across Toronto including Globe and Mail, National Post, Toronto Star and MuchMusic. Budget $5,000 'Tis the Season to Do Giveaways: APEX negotiated and secured Second Cup gift basket giveaways with several print publications across Canada. Gift baskets were valued between $50 - $100 and contained Second Cup Holiday Blend coffee, edible samples as well as an array of items from the holiday gift line. Giveaways were secured with six different outlets: Metro (Toronto, Ottawa and Vancouver), Winnipeg Sun, Edmonton Sun, CityLine, Transcontinental Media and Canoe.ca. Budget: $5,000
33 7. Budget APEX originally had a $46,000 budget, including fees and expenses, from Second Cup Limited to develop and execute the Second Cup holiday public relations program. Expenses included: translation, catering, signage, long distance and couriers. Mid-way through the program, Second Cup provided an additional $2,500 to participate in the APEX Tinsel Trends event, not budgeted in the original program. This additional sum covered half of the event participation cost. Due to APEX's media relations budget efficiencies the other $2.500 was able to come from the original budget.
8. Challenges Accommodate all requests for samples with only a limited supply to share with media, while keeping samples looking new and fresh. In the early phase of the program, Second Cup had access to only one sample set in the country, which they had used for photography. It was this single set that APEX had to use to secure long lead coverage. However APEX politely but stringently policed a database to track loaned items and media proved to be very accommodating in returning items promptly after they finished with them. APEX also took special care to ensure that sample items were well packaged and delivered with trusted courier suppliers to ensure the items remained in prime condition as they had to be used over and again. Some media outlets are unable to view HTML email, which was the format for all electronic media materials. In order to ensure that everyone received an attractive copy of the eNewsletter, APEX developed a text version that could be immediately distributed to journalists who were unable to view the online HTML version. For these journalists a CD with high-resolution images and a PDF of the media materials were couriered to make viewing the items as easy as possible.
9. Measurement and Evaluation Position Second Cup as a destination for unique and premium gift solutions • More than 25 million media Impressions across Canada. • More than 35 print articles in newspapers and magazines across Canada between November 1st and December 25th, 2005. • 73 per cent of the media coverage included Second Cup key messages reinforcing the cafés as a unique and premium gift solution destination. • Media coverage placed Second Cup gift items in gift guides featuring other recognisably premium brands and products such as William Ashley, Williams-Sonoma and Godiva Chocolates. • 70 per cent of the overall media coverage appeared in Tier one media outlets. • Drive traffic into Second Cup cafés, encouraging regular and non-regular customers to explore the store and merchandise • The 2005 holiday season produced the best sales results Second Cup has seen in the last five years. Net sales rose just under 10 per cent in cafés across Canada in December, attributed by Second Cup in part to the media relations campaign. Increase qualitative coverage rating from 6.9 (2004) to at least 7.5 • The average overall qualitative coverage rating for the 2005 holiday program was 9 out of 10 • Cost per contact less than $0.01 Encourage use of Second Cup photography. • 84 per cent of coverage used photography
34 Award of Excellence: Communications Management – Media Relations up to $50,000
The Retail Launch of Inuit Legend Barbie
Entrant's Names: Kristin Gable, Paul Tyler, Cynthia Zamaria, Lindsey Coulter – GCI Group Wendy Ward, Steve Trofimchuk – Mattel Canada Organization’s Name: GCI Group
When the world's quintessential fashion icon (that would be Barbie doll, of course) teamed up with a budding Canadian fashion designer, the results were of "legendary" proportions. On July 14, 2005, Mattel Canada announced the upcoming retail launch of Inuit Legend Barbie, one of the first Collector-edition Barbie dolls designed and sold exclusively in Canada. Inuit Legend Barbie was the winner of "What Will Barbie Wear in 2005?", a competition presented by Mattel Canada in partnership with Ryerson University's School of Fashion. Executed over two phases in 2004, the competition commemorated Barbie's 45th anniversary by challenging Canadian fashion students to design an original Barbie doll based on their own unique vision and inspiration. The winning entry would be produced as an actual Collector-edition Barbie doll and sold at select Canadian retailers in the summer of 2005. The designer of Inuit Legend Barbie was then a second-year student at Ryerson who had been inspired by her family's Inuit heritage. Her design was the result of both her unique creative inspiration and painstaking research. When Inuit Legend Barbie officially hit store shelves on July 18, 2005, only 5,000 units were available at select independent specialty retailers in British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario and Quebec, as well as through Toys 'R Us (online store only) and the Sears Wishbook. Part of the exclusive Gold Label category of the Barbie Collector line, Inuit Legend Barbie was considered a highly valuable limited-edition doll. Public relations was selected as the primary tool to support the retail launch of Inuit Legend Barbie. The key objective of the Inuit Legend Barbie public relations program was to generate awareness and, consequently, sales of the doll. After carefully analyzing the scope and intended outcome of the public relations program, GCI decided that a short-term, high-impact media relations campaign was the most effective means to meet its goals within the program budget and launch time frame. GCI designed a media relations campaign that would make highly efficient use of all available resources while also achieving the broadest-possible diffusion of the launch announcement. GCI also structured its campaign to ensure that media outlets were proactively provided with the tools needed to put a story together, instead of making them travel to a launch event. Given the July timing of the launch, this was of particular importance - many media outlets had limited staff resources due to summer vacations. Key elements of the media relations program included: 1-The diffusion of a news release and two placement-ready photos via Canada Newswire and PR Direct. To maximize potential for media pick-up, GCI opted for two very different photos. The first photo was a "beauty shot" of Inuit Legend Barbie. The second photo was intended to capture the anticipation leading up to the retail launch, and featured a Mississauga retailer stocking her shelves with the doll. 2-Media interviews with the doll designer, by far the most qualified person to talk about her design and inspiration. 3-GCI also ensured that had samples of Inuit Legend Barbie available to respond to any media requests. Samples of Inuit Legend Barbie were also brought to each broadcast interview so the interviewer(s) would effectively describe and communicate the doll's key features. Results: • GCI's media relations strategy proved to be successful, and media coverage for the retail launch of Inuit Legend Barbie was extensive. The majority of media coverage included a strong retail "call to action," and media interest lasted several weeks after the launch. Most stories included commentary from the doll designer about her design and inspiration. • Within 2 weeks of its retail launch, Inuit Legend Barbie was sold out at specialty retail locations. • The media relations campaign achieved over 90 print and broadcast hits, and the doll designer was interviewed by Canada's most prestigious media outlets, including the Globe and Mail, Canada AM and CBC Toronto Metro Morning. As well, 77 per cent of the print articles included a photo of Inuit Legend Barbie, including the Globe and Mail, National Post and Toronto Star
35 Award of Excellence: Communications Management – Media Relations up to $50,000
“Concierge: The Grocery Cart of the Future”
Entrants' Names: Geoffrey Morgan, Colleen Uncao, Caroline Verboon Springboard Retail Networks Organization’s Name: MAVERICK Public Relations Inc. /Springboard Retail Networks Time Period of Project: April 2005 - May 2005
1. Business Need/Opportunity Springboard Retail Networks Inc. is a new technology Canadian start-up that has developed and designed a unique electronic shopping cart system called the Concierge. The company provides complete systems to retailers - from interactive touch-screen display equipped carts that track store shopping statistics and patterns for retailers and marketers, to in-store wireless networks with targeted advertising that make shopping faster and easier for consumers. MAVERICK was hired to support the North American introduction of Springboard Networks and its Concierge grocery cart and to raise awareness and excitement among grocery retailers, major advertisers and consumers at-large. MAVERICK worked closely with the client to launch their prototype-shopping cart at the largest grocery industry trades how in North America - the Food Marketing Institute (FMI) in Chicago, which attracts more than 30,000 attendees. Bottom-line, our job was to give key media a glimpse into the future of technological grocery shopping brought to them by Springboard. MAVERICK was allotted four weeks and a $30,000 budget to develop and execute a media relations plan targeted mainly in the United States, provide on-site media support and write all marketing collateral - including website copy, brochure, key messages and media kit materials.
2. Entrant’s Role in Project The MAVERICK team was asked to develop a public relations strategy and execute a media relations campaign that would resonate with retail, advertising and mainstream media. Caroline Verboon provided client counsel, strategic planning and budget. management. Geoffrey Morgan was the senior consultant responsible for day-to- day account management, media research and outreach, and collateral development. Colleen Uncao supported the account with U.S. media outreach, interview coordination and coverage reports. Specific responsibilities included: • Develop communications plan - primarily based around activities at the FMI Show in Chicago. • Create all collateral for marketing materials, web copy and media kit including lead release and HTML media invite • Provide strategic counsel and ensure an integrated approach with the branding team which was producing the show booth and handling show logistics • Book media one-on-one demonstrations with key journalists at the show • On-site media support and media relations in Chicago • Remote media relations support from the Toronto MAVERICK offices • Media monitoring
3. Intended Audience Springboard defined its core target audiences as: • US and Canadian chain-store grocery retailers, both regional and national • Major US and Canadian advertisers and marketers with advertising budgets of $10M or more . Consumers, both male and female between 25-45, who are early technology adopters • Grocery, retail and consumer media as influencers
4. Goals/Objectives Springboard's overall goal was to create demand for Springboard's grocery technology innovation among US and Canadian grocery retailers, advertisers and consumers. 36 Communications Objectives MAVERICK and Springboard set the following strategic and tactical communications objectives for this campaign: • Create awareness of both the Springboard corporate entity and the Concierge product among advertisers, retailers and consumers • Build immediate broad-based coverage across general and vertical media in US media outlets (secondary Canadian) -- generate approximately 5 million media impressions in North America • Soften outbound sales calls to advertisers and retailers • Secure one broadcast interview with either a Canadian or US outlet • Secure six briefings with US or Canadian reporters at the FMI show
5. Solution Overview Research MAVERICK participated in several focus group studies where Springboard gathered data from retailers, advertisers and shoppers regarding their interest in electronic shopping systems, their perceived opportunities and barriers to usage and their views on the system's infrastructure. This original data proved to be key to our outreach as it identified key selling features of Concierge: ease of use, improved customer relationship opportunities and new ways of providing deals to consumers. During media outreach to the various verticals, MAVERICK leveraged the statistics to secure appropriate interviews with targeted reporters. We also conducted competitive analysis of similar products from Fujitsu and IBM to better understand how we needed to differentiate Concierge as a "second to market" player. Lastly, MAVERICK researched media and analyst influencers in the US market - including an audit of what every key journalist who was attending the show was writing about in order to form targeted pitches. Strategy • Launch Springboard's futuristic product. Concierge at FMI - the grocery retail industry's largest trade show in North America • Validate the Springboard offering by associating the product with their key competitors in the grocery technology space - IBM and Fujitsu • Develop a creative and easy to understand media kit in the form of a "grocery flyer" to appeal to all stakeholders (media, retailers etc.) • Create a surgical three-pronged media relations strategy to appeal to mainstream, advertising and retail publications
6. Implementation and Challenges Implementation 1) Collateral MAVERICK took a creative approach with the media and marketing materials by offering them in the form of a grocery flyer - which was not only well received by the client, but also garnered many positive comments from media. These materials were created within a week by drawing from the original research and interviewing Springboard executives. Please see Tab 5. 2) Media Training MAVERICK was working with a "start-up" technology company with non-savvy media spokespeople. The client required extensive media training, from both a technical and corporate perspective. MAVERICK also went the extra mile to provide deep level counsel based on individual media interviews - giving them direction on what key messages to target to each journalist. 3) Media Relations MAVERICK first created an HTML teaser campaign to encourage media to stop by Springboard's FMI booth. Next, we created a series of targeted vertical pitches to appeal to mainstream consumer, retail and advertising publications. Finally, MAVERICK referenced the confirmed media list, identified 10 must-have interviews with key reporters, and created specific pitches based on their recent articles. As such, MAVERICK secured a briefing with Associated Press, whose story was later picked up by approximately 300 outlets around the world. 4) On-site Support MAVERICK provided unprecedented onsite support, staffing confirmed interviews and demonstrating guerilla PR tactics at the show - tracking down media and guiding them to the Concierge booth.
37 5) Post-Show Media Relations MAVERICK persisted with aggressive media follow up post show to confirm that media had product photos and in particular FMI B-roll footage was sent to mainstream US reporters including Yahoo Finance and NBC. Challenges 1) Prototype Technology: The biggest challenge in creating media hype for the Concierge product was the fact that the product was shown as "concept" technology with no real working model as yet developed. We did not have any customer testimonials to leverage nor any retailers who backed up our claims. We used a "futuristic" look at grocery shopping to attract media interest. 2) No Media Relationships: Since the FMI show was in Chicago and attracted mostly US media, MAVERICK did not have any existing relationships to leverage. We were working with unfamiliar media. 3) Tradeshow clutter: In a show that is the largest of its kind, it's often hard to stand above the crowd and get noticed. MAVERICK worked closely in advance of the show to conduct targeted outreach to identified "must have" reporters. Using the HTML teaser, coupled with call-downs in advance of the show, we w I able to pre-book key briefings with reporters. Finally, by leveraging guerilla PR tactics on-site with "on-the-spot pitching" to broadcast outlets, we were able to secure solid media traction for Springboard. 4) Timing: The timelines from concept development, approvals and on-site implementation was 1 month. Given the tight timelines, we had to work fast to develop message positioning, collateral and media outreach. 5) No brand equity: Both the names Springboard and Concierge were finalized just three weeks before the FMI Show. With no recognition anywhere, MAVERICK had to create a compelling media story and develop concise and compelling messages that would grab reporters' attention immediately. Budget MAVERICK was given a budget of approximately $30,000 to develop and execute the media relations program. This budget was inclusive of all fees, expenses and taxes including strategic counsel, writing all marketing collateral, key message development and media training, media outreach, media monitoring and on-site support - including flight and hotel for a MAVERICK representative.
7. Measuring/Evaluation MAVERICK far exceeded Springboard's expectations in terms of reach for the FMI launch of Concierge. Media coverage highlights included: • Secured 11 face-to-face briefings/interviews in Chicago - almost doubling expectations (i.e. Libby Quaid, Associated Press; Jack Neff, Advertising Age; Joe Tarnowski, Progressive Grocer) • Secured more than 350 hits in only three days in 17 countries - including Canada and US (see results report in Tab 6 for complete breakdown) . • Generated 150+ million impressions, far exceeding objective of 5 million impressions. • Coverage appeared in all target publications including top-tier broadcast, major dailies and key verticals covering advertising and grocery retail • Low cost per impression: five impressions per penny spent Additional sales measurements include: • Secured face-to-face sales meeting with large Canadian retail chain (name under NDA) following FMI Show; beta testing soon underway • Received inbound requests for meetings with major US advertisers including Unilever, Proctor & Gamble and Johnson & Johnson
38 Award of Excellence: Communications Management – Media Relations up to $50,000
Prospecting the Future
Entrant's Names: Ryan Montpellier - Mining Industry Training and Adjustment Council (MITAC), Duane Herperger - ideaConnect Marketing and Communications, Diane Medeiros and Felicia Shiu, APR, Andre Beaulieu - MAVERICK Public Relations Organization’s Names: MITAC, ideaConnect Marketing and Communications, MAVERICK Public Relations Time Period of Project: July - August 2005
1. Organization background The Mining Industry Training and Adjustment Council (MITAC) is a not-for-profit sector council established to address the common human resource development and training needs of the Canadian mining industry and its workers. MITAC provides HR products and services for the mining industry that develop and maintain a highly skilled minerals and metals industry work force. They are principally funded through the Government of Canada - Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC) Sector Council Program (public funds).
2. Business Need/Opportunity For eight years, MITAC has provided their stakeholders (industry - Canadian mining companies, union and labour associations, along with federal, provincial and territorial governments) with training materials, the construction and launch of a bilingual online job bank and other tools that contribute to a strong mining industry workforce. Now they were experiencing a period of transition. HRSDC placed new requirements on the sector council program and it's funding in order to Increase accountability to Canadian taxpayers. MITAC had to demonstrate they were representative of its industry sector, results based, and responsive to the real and relevant needs of the mining industry. MITAC's strategic direction was unclear as it was facing challenges in terms of being useful and relevant to the Canadian mining industry and other stakeholders. They had no marketing Initiatives and were not well known in the mining industry. MITAC's weak relations with the mining industry, which made it difficult to obtain endorsement and implement initiatives and of course, weakened their ability to obtain funding from the federal government who placed funding contingent on MITAC's industry connections. To help redefine their mandate, broaden its membership, and continue to provide relevant services to the mining industry, MITAC conducted a comprehensive 2.5 year long mining industry study explaining the short and long term human resource issues and challenges facing the minerals and metals industry. The Prospecting the Future - Meeting Human Resources Challenges in the Canadian Minerals and Metals Industry final report was completed at the end of July 2005. The study provided the Canadian mining industry with a strategic plan to address some of the human resources challenges facing the sector. MAVERICK was hired to announce the study results and raise awareness of MITAC to profile its value among its stakeholders including HRSDC, Canadian mining companies, unions, mining associations, educational institutions, and other industry stakeholders.
3. Entrants' Role in Project Ryan Montpellier of MITAC provided overall project management. Duane Herperger of ideaConnect Marketing and Communications was the project lead contractor who developed and implemented all aspects of the overall communications strategy including key messaging, website, advertising and final report design and development. Duane implemented the stakeholder outreach strategy to engage target audience participation in this project. For the media outreach initiative, Duane Herperger wrote the key findings fact sheet and provided client liaison. MAVERICK Public Relations was responsible for developing the media relations strategy and executing the media relations program in collaboration with ideaConnect and MITAC. Felicia Shiu provided client counsel, strategic planning, budget management, wrote the lead news release. Diane Medeiros created the background media materials, interview coordination, and managed the media outreach. Andre Beaulieu provided media relations outreach for the province of Quebec.
39 4. Intended Audiences MITAC's primary target audience was divided equally into: • Federal government - Human Resources Development and Skills Canada - management of Human Resources Partnership -15 managers who determine whether or not MITAC continues to receive funding • Mining companies - Senior Management (CEOs. Presidents. VPs of Human Resources) of the 30 Canadian mining companies with operations in Canada (Teck Cominco, Inco, Falconbridge, Cambior. Quebec Cartier Mining, Barrick, Dynatec, etc.) The secondary audience included other mining related stakeholders. • Educational institutions that offer mining education. unions, federal/provincial/territorial governments (ministers, deputy ministers, bureaucrats). Aboriginal groups and various mining associations including Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM), Mining Association of Canada (MAC), Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC). and provincial mining associations who represent industry within each province. MITAC did not have any existing collaborative projects with any of these stakeholders.
5. Goals/Objectives Communication Goals To create broad awareness of the study's findings and recommendations as well as establish MITAC as a viable mining sector council worthy of investment and collaboration. Communication Objectives • To generate positive media coverage in the major national Canadian dailies about the study findings and recommendations and to increase the profile of MITAC as the catalyst organization to address HR issues for the Canadian mining industry. • To introduce and position MITAC as a viable partner with various mining stakeholders particularly the provincial mining associations through media exposure • To establish MITAC's executive director, Paul Hebert as an expert in the Canadian mining industry from a HR perspective through media interviews • To generate a cost per contact of less than 10 cents.
6. Solution Overview Research MITAC conducted extensive qualitative research before launching the study results with the mining industry including various mining companies and other stakeholders to fully understand perceptions about MITAC. The research showed that these stakeholders had very little knowledge about MITAC, its mandate and its products and services. Note MITAC considers research proprietary and therefore can only share top line results. MAVERICK conducted a competitive media relations analysis on the mining industry and also competing industries like oil sands. There was limited media coverage around the topic of human resources for the mining industry. The Mining Association of Canada - a national organization of the various companies engaged in mineral exploration had issued numerous releases on CNW without much success. Even the oil sands industry through Shell was only able to place one story in the Globe and Mail in July 2005 around the shortage of construction trades people. Media analysis revealed the need for a compelling pitch to obtain media exposure. Strategy The team developed and executed a two pronged national media relations strategy designed to increase awareness and profile the value of MITAC by launching the study results in late August prior to Labour Day weekend to allow for sufficient time to develop materials, honour the HRSDC funding requirement to complete the project by August 31,2005 and capitalize on slower summer news period and the upcoming Labour Day weekend to build media traction around the human resource requirements of the mining industry. The strategy was to target top tier national media through an embargoed exclusive with a copy of the final report for Canadian Press, the mining reporters at the National Post and the Globe and Mail, Canadian Miner and Canadian HR Reporter. The second approach was to outreach to the larger Canadian mining communities.
40 7. Implementation and Challenges Implementation To properly prepare MITAC staff for media interviews, MAVERICK conducted half-day media training program including a key messaging session. While the executive director had previous experience with media interviews, he wanted to ensure that he was able to deliver his key messages during interviews and MAVERICK provided a messaging session to develop key messages for both MITAC and the study results. To educate media of reasons to support the study results and produce editorial content, we instituted a national media relations campaign to advance the study's key messages. MAVERICK first assembled a list of Canadian mining communities to help create a comprehensive media list and then segmented the media by identifying top mining reporters along with key career/HR reporters. MAVERICK and ideaConnect developed an electronic media kit to include electronic PDFs of the study summary report, key findings, a news release, and a backgrounder on MITAC. B-roll footage was developed in both English and French including an interview with one of the study's industry partners - Patricia Dillion from Teck Cominco. The B-roll was provided to major Canadian broadcasters. The release was issued over the Canadian newswire service (CNW) and MAVERICK also emailed the electronic media kit to targeted media and then followed up with aggressive media follow up to confirm receipt and interest. The team arranged for interviews with MITAC's executive director, Paul Hebert with influential media and provided briefing notes for each interview.
Challenges: • No brand awareness - MITAC had limited brand equity amongst media and other stakeholders. MAVERICK had to create compelling messages to attract media attention • Extensive study findings with numerous messages - MAVERICK had to create concise key messages to communicate the key findings to convey both the opportunity for jobs and the threat to the viability of the Canadian mining industry • Short Timelines - With the final report completed at the end of July 2005, the entire media relations campaign had to be completed including an analysis of the report findings, determining what was media worthy, the development of media materials, approvals, media training, b-roll development, and media outreach by the scheduled launch on August 24, 2005. Since HRDSC funding commitment was time sensitive, the entire project had to be completed by August 31,2005. • Negative stereotype of mining by both media and the general public about the mining industry - seen as dangerous and dirty work - perception that miners and prospectors with picks and shovels rather than high tech with engineers, robotics, and women
Budget: MAVERICK was given a budget of approximately $26,500 to develop and execute a media relations program. This budget included study analysis, media list development, media materials development including key messages (developed in conjunction with ideaConnect), questions and answers document, and a news release, national media outreach, half day media training session, b-roll creation and editing, and project management. This budget included all fees and expenses. Expenses included media monitoring, mailing costs, long distance telephone costs, b roll filming and editing costs, Beta video duplication, and other expenses.
8. Measuring/Evaluation Media Coverage Highlights MAVERICK exceeded MITAC's expectations for the media relations campaign Media coverage highlights included: • The campaign generated more than 11 million print media impressions across Canada including top tier media and 8 broadcast mentions including Global TV and various French radio interviews • There were 45 newspaper stories about study's findings and ran in every province across Canada and within the major mining communities in Canada including a front page story on the Sudbury Star • Highlights include the full front page of the National Post's Financial Post, front page story on the Toronto Star business section, an article in the Globe and Mail newspaper, a Canadian Press article that was picked up in various papers including the Hamilton Spectator, The North Bay Nugget, Toronto Sun, Calgary Sun, and the Sault Star and CanWest new service article which was picked up in the Montreal Gazette and Regina's Leader Post 41 • Trade coverage included Canadian HR Reporter and Canadian Miner • Low cost per contact was less than $0.001 Business Highlights MITAC has been vaulted into the forefront and seen as HR experts in the mining industry. • MITAC has received additional funding from the government (HRSDC) for new projects as result of higher profile (including more than $247,000 to develop career information products for high school students, youth and career changers). Several million dollars of additional funding from HRSDC is expected in 2006. • As a result of media exposure, they are now seen as a media source and have received ongoing media calls for other mining stories. (e.g. Globe and Mail Careers front page story on mining job opportunities-January 11, 2006 with interview with MITAC's executive director) • MITAC received a strong endorsement at the CIM annual general meeting and have now for the first time entered into a partnership with CIM to collaborate on a HR tradeshow called Mining in Society (Vancouver May 2006). The exposure from the media coverage resulted in additional marketing funding from the Government of Canada from low tens of thousands to more than $140,000. • MITAC has been asked to speak at numerous conferences and events since the release of the sector study including the Canadian Aboriginal Minerals Association, the Saskatchewan, Ontario and Quebec Mining Associations, several CIM events, etc. • As a result of the coverage, MITAC and the sector study findings figured prominently at the September 2005 provincial mine ministers' conference in St-Andrew's, New Brunswick (who's who in mining -politicians and bureaucrats at both federal, provincial and territorial level) • MITAC also received and continues to receive numerous inquiries about mining careers by educational institutions, students, and the general public • Interest in MITAC continues post media relations campaign as they receive 500 visitor sessions to their web site daily and has distributed more than 1,500 copies of the Prospecting the Future study summary report.
42 Award of Excellence: Communications Management – Media Relations up to $50,000
Fashion Cares 2005 – M.A.C VIVA GLAM Bollywood Cowboy
Entrant: Lisa Bednarski Organization’s Name: Weber Shandwick Worldwide Time Period of Project: March - July 2005
1. Business Need/Opportunity In 2005, Fashion Cares, Canada's largest AIDS fundraising event, celebrated its 19th year in support of the AIDS Committee of Toronto (ACT). Fashion Cares is ACT's most important fund raising event generating more than 57% of ACT's fundraising revenues - money which finances the programs and services ACT directly and indirectly provides to people living with HIV, including education, advocacy and emotional support. With more than 6,000 patrons, 200 accredited media and a list of celebrity performers, Fashion Cares enjoys international recognition as one of the premier charity benefits and is one of lead sponsor, M.A.C Cosmetics', highest profile marketing events of the year. Although the event's roots are in HIV/AIDS awareness and fund raising, and its brand image is still provocative and outrageous, Fashion Cares has become a mainstream entertainment event, attracting patrons and sponsors from a broad spectrum of Torontonians. The evening features a gala dinner, fashion boutique including high-end items at dramatically reduced prices and on-site entertainment capped off with a high-end fashion and entertainment show featuring internationally-recognized designers, models and entertainers. Fashion Cares is planned, organized and executed by a volunteer Steering Committee of approximately 20 members, each managing their own sub-committee of volunteers to help in their respective areas. There are representatives from the event's main sponsors (M.A.C Cosmetics, the Bay and BMO Financial Group) as well as two full-time ACT staff members who also sit on the Steering Committee to act as liaison between ACT and the event organizers. Due to the size and nature of Fashion Cares there is widespread interest from a cross-section of media - relevant and non-relevant - in both attending and covering the event. The primary media relations "needs" are to a) find new and unique ways to generate pre-event coverage that drives ticket sales for an event in its 19th year and, b) to manage the event's media accreditation effectively, ensuring that a maximum number of tickets are left available for sale. It's also important that coverage profiles sponsors and highlights the fun and outrageous nature of the event, in keeping with its brand image.
2. Entrant’s Role Lisa Bednarski, co-chair of public relations on the Fashion Cares Steering Committee and vice president, consumer for Weber Shandwick Worldwide's Toronto office oversaw the program's implementation and mobilized a volunteer public relations committee of 15 people, with varying levels of experience. Public Relations committee member, Kim Roman, served as co-chair and an intern was hired at Weber Shandwick to be the day-to-day media relations contact and various members of the committee were engaged to write media materials, develop media lists and conduct media relations follow-up.
3. Intended Audiences • Past and potential event patrons who are typically 18-34 with a male/female ratio of 60/40 and a gay/straight ratio of 60/40. They are vanguard social influencers who are at the hot events to see and be seen. • Event sponsors including corporations and individuals who sponsor the event as part of marketing or charitable-giving plans and have a vested interest in its success and profile • Media, as a conduit to reach the above audiences, including: fashion, lifestyle, social scene, gay community and entertainment reporters and editors at print, broadcast and online outlets primarily in Toronto, but some national outlets given the event's profile
4. Program Goals and Objectives Overall, the program goal was to position Fashion Cares as the hot event of the social calendar with the ultimate aim of driving ticket sales and sponsor interest for 2005 and beyond.
43 Specific program objectives were to: • Generate pre-event media coverage communicating the event theme and ticket availability • Generate pre-event media coverage of key event elements including the entertainment line-up and on-site shopping • Generate event night coverage highlighting the unique nature of the event and, where possible, profiling sponsors • Make as many "free" passes tickets as possible available for sale • The public relations committee also set its own goal of surpassing the previous years' media coverage (113 total hits; 25% occurring in the pre-event period)
5. Solution Overview The solution involved a) leveraging a highly-visual launch party to announce the event theme and generate some pre-event buzz and excitement; b) creating and/or pitching relevant news hooks and story angles to sustain coverage, communicate key event elements and keep Fashion Cares top-of-mind with media and potential patrons during the pre-event period, and c) developing and implementing an accreditation protocol to manage media access. The key messages were modified for the pre-event period and the event, but overall the aim of the program was to communicate the following: th • The 19 annual Fashion Cares 2005 M.A.C VIVA GLAM Bollywood Cowboy is being held June 4, 2005 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. Tickets are available at Ticketmaster and through ACT. • Fashion Cares 2005 M.A.C VIVA GLAM Bollywood Cowboy includes all that patrons have come to expect from Fashion Cares - an exciting and visual theme, hot entertainment, fabulous shopping and a glitzy fashion show featuring a tribute to four legendary Canadian designers. • Fashion Cares 2005 M.A.C VIVA GLAM Bollywood Cowboy is expected to raise close to $1 million dollars in support of the AIDS Committee of Toronto. This included the following program elements and/or activities: Launch Party & Pre-event Support: • A Fashion Cares "Launch Party", announcing the Bollywood Cowboy theme was held six weeks prior to the event. Invitations and a media kit including information on all aspects of the event were distributed to a comprehensive list of media. Fashion Cares images for media use were also uploaded to an FTP site to provide media with easy access to high-resolution images. • To sustain media interest in the weeks after the launch party, two updates were sent to media - one announcing a confirmed entertainment line-up, and another announcing the event host, Pamela Anderson. • Media training was provided to all spokespeople to ensure effective delivery of program messages. • Regular media coverage updates, with examples, were provided to share with key sponsors. eBay.ca Partnership & Auctions: • To sustain media interest and coverage, the public relations committee coordinated a partnership with eBay Canada. An "About Me" page, featuring Fashion Cares 2005 M.A.C VIVA GLAM Bollywood Cowboy was created (www.ebav.ca/fashioncares) including information on the event and its beneficiary, ACT. It also used the event advertising creative to ensure consistent messaging and was linked to the main www.fashioncares.com site • Experiential packages, designed to generate pre-event buzz while communicating some of the key and unique event elements, were coordinated and auctioned on eBay.ca, including front row tickets to the show, early access to the Fashion Cares Boutique, an opportunity to go backstage and see the show preparation and a backstage first-person meeting with Pamela Anderson, autograph and commemorative photograph • In partnership with event sponsor, M.A.C Cosmetics, celebrity-signed Levi's (another event sponsor) jean jackets from personalities including Tommy Lee, Cher, Lisa Marie Presley, Pamela Anderson and rapper 50 Cent among others, were sent to a host of Canadian designers, who created designs inspired by the celebrity and the cause. • These auctions were staggered to ensure ongoing news hooks and supported with media relations. Media Accreditation: • In order to make as many tickets as possible available for sale, the number of media passes available was limited to 200. To ensure the appropriate media were accredited, an accreditation process was developed and implemented to verify that all outlets and reporters were legitimately there to cover the event. An 44 accreditation form was distributed to media with the information kits after the launch party, and was available to download from the official web site. All requests were tracked and evaluated and media were provided with the appropriate designated access to the event. • Media passes identified the appropriate level of access for all media, based on a tiered system. Passes were limited to relevant, working media covering the event and those who had provided valuable pre-event coverage.
Onsite Event Support: • A public relations team of 15 people from within Weber Shandwick and its members' network of public relations colleagues was onsite to manage the various areas and media requests throughout the evening. Key responsibilities included: • Management of media desk (sign-in for 200 accredited media, distribution of media passes) • Coordination of news conference and photo opportunity with event talent and host, Pamela Anderson • Onsite media relations support (pitching angles, facilitating interviews, coordinating backstage access) • Identifying opportunities for media to profile event sponsors/sponsored elements - including providing "social scene" media with a PR committee runner to identify sponsors to photograph and include in media coverage o Management of photographers and videographers on the event risers and runway • Facilitation of experiential packages with all eBay winners • The team was managed from a central media desk, communicating via headset with team members.
6. Implementation and Challenges There were a number of challenges that were overcome as part of the program implementation, including: Budget and staffing: • Having the team include a cross-section of professionals with varying levels of experience and in many different locations, meant the bulk of the day-to-day work fell to the committee members from Weber Shandwick, putting stress on the $50,000 budget (the agency's in-kind donation of time, including that of the public relations committee co-chair). An intern was hired to be the day-to-day point person to field media inquiries and execute program activities under the direction of other committee members. Entertainment Announcement: • Last-minute details with talent were not finalized in time to include them in the Launch Party media materials or announcement. The team turned this into an opportunity - first by focusing Launch Party media relations efforts on the four designers being featured in the show and then leveraging the announcement of a host and entertainment line-up as another opportunity to generate and sustain media interest and coverage. Issues Management: • Although ACT had enlisted feedback from the South Asian community prior to approving the Bollywood Cowboy event theme and materials, there was backlash from a small group of community members who found the theme and collateral materials disrespectful to their culture and religion. The public relations committee provided the following short-term strategic counsel and support: • Counseled the Steering Committee and ACT that to protect the event "brand" and its sponsors, ACT spokespeople should speak to the issue rather than Fashion Cares representatives • Advised ACT to issue a written statement explaining its point-of-view, expressing regret for any insensitivity on its part, outlining its process for ensuring it doesn't happen again and reinforcing the good that Fashion Cares does for AIDS-service organizations in all communities. The final statement issued by ACT reflects most of this counsel. • Drafted and distributed a FAQ document to key event sponsors. members of the Steering Committee and its sub-committees to ensure that everyone was onside with messaging • Advised ACT to invite three of the more vocal opponents to sit at one of ACT's tables at the Gala dinner to see first-hand how the theme was being portrayed • Advised ACT to create a plan to reconcile its relationship with the South Asian community • Although the issue initially generated some negative publicity for the event and for ACT, the strategy for managing the controversy worked to its advantage in the longer-term with media continuing to use ACT's written statement in coverage ultimately leaving the story, while sponsors continued to support the event and theme. It also succeeded in distancing the Fashion Cares brand, and sponsors, from the controversy.
45 7. Measuring/Evaluation Weber Shandwick measured the success of the campaign on the resulting media coverage, analyzing the results compared to the goals listed above. Overall the event was a huge success, with extensive coverage of the launch party, featured designers, talent and host announcements and eBay auctions. The media coverage for the event was overwhelmingly positive, profiling the unique aspects of the event and highlighting various sponsors.
Quantitative coverage: • 228 total hits - a 100% increase in number of hits over the previous year and • Of the total hits, 113 (49.5%) occurred in the pre-event timeframe - surpassing the previous year by 40% • 143,157,610 impressions - more than an 80% increase over the previous year • More than 80% of the pre-event coverage highlighted the key event information, Bollywood Cowboy theme, event entertainment or shopping • The eBay auctions generated close to 20 extra hits for the event, profiling event title sponsor MAC Cosmetics. supporting sponsor, Levi's, while also raising more than $10,000 for ACT • "Free" media passes were limited to 200 • Although attributed to all of the elements of the event and its marketing activities working together. Including media relations outreach, ticket sales surpassed previous years' sales
Qualitative coverage: • Pre-event coverage included announcement of event theme, ticket availability and key details, plus profiles of expected entertainers, the eBay auction items (experiential event packages and celebrity-signed jackets) • Coverage clearly communicated the unique entertainment elements and outrageous brand image • The majority of the media provided passes, were "working" the event and either provided significant pre-event coverage or delivered satisfactory coverage for the actual event • Key event night coverage from the National Post. Toronto Star, Toronto Sun, Metro, 24 Hours, CITY TV and GLOBAL TV mentioned one or more event sponsor in addition to title sponsor, MAC Cosmetics • Coverage for the event appeared in daily newspapers across Canada giving sponsors national profile
46 Award of Merit: Communications Management – Employee/Member Communication
The Launch of Hbc Life
Entrant’s Name: Theresa Patterson, Manager, Internal Communications Organization’s Name: Hbc – Hudson’s Bay Company Time Period of Project: February 2005 – present
1. Business Need and Opportunity As a company with 70,000 associates across Canada, Hbc requires a strong internal communications strategy with tools and vehicles that reach all associates, whether they work in a store or a corporate office. Management supported the idea that an effective communications strategy would allow them to better leverage the power of its associates - as employees and as customers – in support of the overall business strategy. In February 2005, several internal communications vehicles existed for targeted audiences, but there was no overarching vehicle for all internal audiences, including the 90 per cent of associates who work in stores with no regular access to computers, the company intranet and email. Since 2002, Hbc had been implementing its business strategy to meet the needs of its customers by streamlining operations and systems to operate as one company, rather than as several, separate retail banners and business units. While the company made great strides in revamping the business to operate as one company, the different banners and business units continued to communicate as separate entities, with different ‘voices’ and messages to associates. In the course of developing an overarching internal communication strategy, the Hbc Internal Communications team learned that over 15 different internal publications existed, all aimed at different audiences across the company. The publications presented different messaging, viewpoints and interpretations of the company’s overall business strategy, culture and vision, with no unifying message to associates. The volume of publications resulted in a great deal of duplication of effort/work (i.e. similar content would be researched and written for different publications by a variety of people), wasted resources, outdated information and of course, cost. Upon further examination, the internal communications team estimated the company could save approximately $90,000/year by consolidating publications and producing one newsletter for all Hbc associates and retirees. With the production of one publication and the elimination of existing ones, we had the opportunity to: • Reduce costs and eliminate duplication of effort; • Provide one ‘voice’, and consistent messaging to all associates; • Instill a sense of pride and community in Hbc by celebrating our successes, and highlighting interesting, relevant information about our people, our business and strategy and our customers. Our recommendation to senior management was to create one company-wide publication for all Hbc associates and retirees, whose primary goal is to inform, motivate and engage all associates about the vision of the company and the role they play in ensuring we achieve that vision.
2. Entrant’s Role in Project As project leader, I was responsible for all phases of this project, from background research to strategy development, management and execution of all phases of production and I am the managing editor of the publication. The overall success of Hbc Life is due to the collaborative effort of members of the department who contribute writing and photography.
3. Intended Audiences Primary • Associates: The primary audience is all Hbc associates across all business units and retail banners. This includes store associates who do not have regular, individual access to computers or other formal communication vehicles. Other than their in-store communication, this would be their only ‘Hbc’ communication vehicle. All other associates, located in corporate offices, would also receive Hbc Life in addition to the other communication vehicles they have access to, such as the company intranet, email, and all-associate meetings.
47 Secondary • Retirees: all retirees of the company would receive a copy of the newsletter mailed to their home. Since Hbc Life would replace the existing semi-annual retiree publication, receiving the newsletter would help retirees feel connected to the company and still feel like a part of the Hbc community. From time to time, specific information pertaining only to retirees would be added for them as an additional insert.
4. Goals and Objectives The overarching goal was to develop a company-wide publication aimed at informing, motivating and engaging all associates about the vision of the company and the role they play in ensuring we achieve that vision. The specific objectives were to: • Reduce costs, eliminate duplication of effort and speak as one voice to all Hbc associates. This would require ceasing production of current publications and being on time and on budget with our new ‘one Hbc’ publication. • Create a regular communication vehicle that would be accessible to all associates and retirees, regardless of their location. This would require delivery to all locations and distribution to all associates within one week of arrival as well as mailing to each of the 13,000 retirees. • Celebrate successes and instill a sense of pride and community by highlighting relevant information about our business strategy, our people, the retail industry, our customers and our history. This would require soliciting input from stakeholders across the business to ensure our content was relevant, represented our people, our customers and our history.
5. Solution Overview To address the identified need/opportunity, our recommendation to senior management was to eliminate the current existing publications and produce only one publication three times per year to reach all Hbc associates and retirees. By eliminating existing publications and produced only one the company would save approximately $90,000 annually and this would allow individuals who worked on these publications to be available for other projects. Producing one company-wide publication would also provide senior management with a communication vehicle that would reach all associates across the company at the same time, with the same messages – eliminating the existing multiple and sometimes conflicting messaging contained in the current publications throughout the company, providing associates with more clarity about strategies and a better understanding of the business. Before presenting the recommendation, we researched current internal publications at other retailers and in other industries, collecting newsletter examples and examining content, focus and style. This research, along with data extracted from our most recent all-associate survey, internal communications pulse survey and through informal feedback from HR representatives across the country, helped us form our recommendations for content, design, size and frequency. We also took the time to meet with those individuals responsible for the production of each of the existing publications to discuss the opportunity and our recommendation, to understand more about their experience with their current publication and feedback from associates, and to get their input on focus and content for the proposed publication. Since our production resources were limited, it also allowed us to give these individuals the opportunity to offer their expertise to help produce the new publication. Based on this background work, we worked with a designer to come up with a look and feel we felt best reflected the company and what it’s like to work at Hbc. It was important that it felt approachable, not too formal, that it contain lots of visuals and photos and the articles were short and easy to read. This would make it easy for store associates to read at their break, or at home. We also wanted it to be something that all associates would be proud to bring home and share with their families and say “this is where I work”. From this background work, we developed a presentation for senior management (see Work Sample A) outlining our overall recommendation, research, objectives, design concepts, proposed budget, and content outline. The project was approved in April 2005. Several existing publications then officially ceased production and planning began for the first issue due out in July 2005. The premiere issue launched in July 2005 (see Work Sample F).
6. Implementation and Challenges We faced several challenges in areas of production/creation as well as getting buy-in from across the business. Some of the challenges we faced are outlined below, as are the solutions we used to address and overcome these challenges. Budget: $49,000 CDN per issue (design/layout, printing, packing, shipping – see Work Sample E). We wanted to 48 be as cost efficient as possible in order to maximize the cost savings from eliminating existing publications. All writing and photography is done in-house. Design is outsourced. Retirees: Since this group of 13,000 was losing its existing publication, we had to ensure they would still feel a part of the Hbc community and that the content was relevant to them. Working with our Pensions department, we developed a plan to mail each issue direct to each retiree. We also planned to include occasional inserts with information that is pertinent only to retirees, and in our first issue we included a letter to retirees from our CEO, explaining the rationale for eliminating their existing publication and welcoming them to Hbc Life. This was also a cost-effective solution since we combined a portion of our budget (for printing the main newsletter) with a portion of the pension department’s budget (for inserts and distribution). Sensitivity to individuals who worked on other publications: As mentioned, we wanted to ensure that we included these individuals in the process early on, by meeting with them individually, presenting our recommendation, getting their input and by inviting them to share their expertise and contribute through writing or photography.
7. Measuring and Evaluation Objective: Reduce costs, eliminate duplication of effort and speak as one voice to all Hbc associates. Result: By eliminating existing publications, work duplication and production costs for these were immediately eliminated, allowing for the production of one newsletter, with one ‘voice’. Objective: Create a communication vehicle that would be accessible to all associates and retirees, regardless of their location. Result: We created a print vehicle that could be shipped to all locations across the country and distributed to each associate, who could read on their breaks or at home. We also mailed a copy to each of our 13,000 retirees. Informal, random checks to stores confirmed that store management had received shipments and were promoting Hbc Life at their daily in-store meetings within the time frame. Our Pensions department also conducted random checks via phone to ensure that retirees had received their issue and to solicit feedback. All individuals contacted received their issue and felt that it kept them in touch with the company. Objective: Celebrate successes and instill a sense of pride and community by highlighting relevant information about our business strategy, our people, the retail industry, our customers and our history. Result: We held an online discussion forum asking associates to give us their feedback on content and design. The response was overwhelmingly positive. Associates felt the content was relevant and easy to read; that it gave them a better understand of different areas of the business and what we are trying to achieve as a company; and that it instilled a sense of pride and community. We also asked management and HR representatives to provide us with their feedback and to solicit feedback from associates. All of the feedback was positive and generated submissions and story ideas for future issues. A formal readership survey is planned for the first issue of 2006 (in March).
49 Award of Excellence: Communications Management – Special Events
FACE Of Fashion 2005 – Helping FACE Help Families
Entrant’s Name: April Rutka, Family Abuse Crisis Exchange (FACE) Nancy Toran Harbin, Family Abuse Crisis Exchange (FACE) Organization’s Name: Family Abuse Crisis Exchange (FACE) / Voice Freelance Communications Time Period of Project: October 2004 – April 2005
1. Business Need and Opportunity The Family Abuse Crisis Exchange (FACE) is a small, local volunteer-run organization whose mission is to help low income families and survivors of domestic violence break the cycle of dependence on social assistance and become financially self-sufficient by helping women succeed in job interviews. Founded in 1992, FACE is a registered charity that assists over 1,200 women in the GTA each year through its key services: a) FACE provides free, quality recycled business attire for upcoming job interviews via its clothing bank located at Yorkdale Mall (donated space) b) FACE provides counseling and education resources to help keep women employed. This includes job-retention training, employment mentoring, and a make-over program The majority of FACE clients are mothers and the primary wage earners in their families. Interview and job success are critical to financial self-sufficiency and improved self-esteem. The FACE Of Fashion event began in 2000 as a small fashion show fundraiser in which volunteers modeled clothes available the clothing bank to benefit the FACE cause. By 2005, the small event had spiraled into one of Toronto’s most anticipated public fashion shows and had become the source for over half of the charity’s yearly projected revenue. The continued success of the 2005 event was critical to the charity’s short-term financial viability.
2. Entrant’s Role In The Project To maintain momentum and continue raising funds for the organization via this event, the FACE Board hired a part-time paid event chair, April Rutka, to oversee and manage all aspects of the fundraiser, including strategy and budget development, and event planning and execution. The event chair reported on progress and details to the Board and FACE founder, Nancy Toran Harbin, on a regular basis.
3. Intended Audiences By analyzing previous event ticket sales, event sponsors and FACE’s general donor information, the event chair realized that the charity’s audiences for its year-round services were different from the strategic target audiences for this particular fundraiser. The charity’s services/operations depended largely on year-round participation of professional, employed women who could share quality business clothing and career expertise to FACE clients. The charity also had few year-round corporate donors and those already involved had maximized givings to the small charity. The event chair would need to look elsewhere for corporate sponsors and event attendees: Audiences: 1. Female focused companies such as progressive financial institutions and major retailers 2. Fashion focused men and women (women between the ages of 25 – 44 in the $50K - $100K income bracket and men between the ages of 24 – 35 earning $75K - $100K) to attend the event and eventually donate clothing or time on a year-round basis
50 4. Goals and Objectives The overriding goal of this fundraiser was to make money for the charity. Due to FACE’s services (donating clothes/expertise), the charity often experiences a surplus of gifts-in-kind and many of clothing donations must be given to other clothing banks because the charity simply can not afford storage. The charity really requires funds … funds to keep the lights on, the doors open and the phone lines paid so that women in need can access the clothing bank and get back into the workforce. With this financial goal in mind, the chair established a $45,000 budget to help offset hard costs of producing a high-end fashion experience for guests: venue, staging, lighting, labor, signage, décor and some miscellaneous costs. All other aspects of the event demanded donations, sponsorships and dedicated volunteers.
Given the audiences, the overriding goal and approved budget, the event chair and FACE set the following objectives for the fundraiser and its supporting communications campaign: • To raise $65,000 through volunteer participation, sponsorships, ticket sales and on-site fundraising tactics • To place 8 – 11 pre-event media stories about the organization and/or event and 2 – 4 media stories about the fundraiser and charity to increase overall awareness and understanding about FACE • To build volunteer base and ongoing corporate support • To produce a high-end fashion event to maintain quality clothing status for the charity
5. Solution Overview Before developing the event and campaign strategies, FACE considered its one consistent and looming challenge: FACE is a local charity. Securing sponsorships from big, national sponsors without a dedicated, paid team and communications would be difficult as many companies require consistent and proven ROI incentives that will recognize their brands in order to donate funds. As a small, local charity, FACE had no budget available for paid communications and monitoring of results around the fundraiser. All activities required free expertise. Resulting Strategies: • Recruit and establish a professional volunteer steering committee whereby volunteers fulfill leadership roles reflecting professional expertise • Develop a strategic and systematic approach to securing sponsorships and event support to overcome the challenge of being a small charity • Increase awareness of the organization and event through strategic, impacting and free communications tactics With these strategies, FACE was confident it would reach all of its objectives and position the charity for success in 2005. However, the level of success strongly depended on the levels of expertise and dedication of the leadership volunteers to take on and manage such an important event for FACE.
6. Implementation and Challenges The Steering Committee (October 2004 – December 2004) FACE first recruited a posy of professional and passionate “leadership volunteers” to form the event’s steering committee and spearhead all areas of event production: sponsors, logistics, ticket sales, marketing, etc. Through current volunteers, word of mouth and www.charityvillage.com, FACE’s event chair recruited candidates, reviewed credentials and then assigned specific responsibilities and deliverables to over 20 young, working professionals to ensure all elements of the fundraiser moved ahead at a professional pace, in a strategic manner. Working with the event chair, each steering committee member set sub-committee objectives, developed supporting strategies and tactics, moved the work ahead and reported on progress. The entire steering committee also met once every three – four weeks to share progress and offer solutions/support to one another when challenges arose. They were 110 per cent committed to producing a high-end, profitable event for the FACE cause because many of these young professionals were volunteering time to enhance their own professional credentials and expertise in related industries. Securing Sponsors, Supporters And Night Of Celebrities (November 2004 – March 2005) The event chair and sponsorship committee leader worked closely to identify potential corporate sponsors, assess charitable brand needs and to develop customized pitches, strategically outlining how FACE’s mission, donors and clientele shared similar philanthropic values and audiences as each company. This systematic and strategic approach enabled the charity to secure the title sponsor, Transamerica Life Insurance, and others: RBC; Winners; HBC; CIBC.
51 To generate donations for on-site fundraising (e.g., silent auction) and to fill high-end guest gift bags, the event chair and sub-committee members together approached previous event supporters. In total, the team brought in $45,000 gifts-in-kind, earning $25,000 for the charity the night of the fashion show and gift bags worth $100. In addition to dollars, FACE leveraged volunteer contacts to secure celebrity participants the night of the fundraiser – well known names in the Canadian fashion and entertainment scenes: David Dixon; Mackage; Bustle Clothing; Jeanne Beker; Rex Harrington (National Ballet); Liz West (Citytv); Ingrid Schumacher (CHUM); Eric Aragon; Dr. Draw. Communicating The Event To Target Audiences (November 2004 – April 2005) With the guidance of a volunteer photographer and art director, FACE was able to produce top-notch visuals and graphics to support all fundraising communications. FACE was also able to secure a print and web sponsor to then produce 500 posters, 5,000 flyers, an event web site and e-vites. Print materials were distributed through the promotions sub-committee to high-end retail shops, restaurants, salons and gymnasiums throughout the GTA, and to event sponsors for their internal distribution to encourage employee event attendance. FACE used its web site and e-vites to create a viral campaign targeting previous FACE supporters and volunteer/Board contacts.
To raise widespread event awareness and understanding of FACE’s cause and services, the volunteer PR team also developed an ambitious media relations campaign that targeted the fashion, lifestyle and career print media in the GTA. The goal was to generate as much feature coverage around the charity as possible to help drive pre- event awareness and interest. Support materials and tactics included event listings and pitching feature stories using FACE spokespeople (the founder, FACE clients, counselors), statistics on female unemployment and career tips. To obtain broadcast coverage, FACE secured CHUM as a sponsor. CHUM, in turn, produced radio PSAs and television promotions to support ticket sales and understanding of the FACE cause. The charity also received support from a local event publicist who distributed pre-event emails to social media and young, hip “event junkies” listed in her database. All communications listed the charity’s web site as the place to purchase tickets so that the charity could effectively communicate its cores services, track sales and strategically measure effectiveness of communications tactics. Additional Challenges • Producing an event of this size is all consuming. The steering committee volunteers estimate they spent over 3,000 combined hours to plan and execute the fundraiser. FACE’s Board was concerned about this fatigue during the planning process, and has since taken steps to amend the situation (described below). • Most of the volunteers were employed full-time and meetings/work had to be completed in the evenings. To overcome this obstacle, the event chair made herself available for questions/meetings in the evenings. She also helped complete priority volunteer work during the day to help meet deadlines and alleviate volunteer fatigue. Timing And Budget • The timing and budget are described above. The event took place on April 14 at the Distillery District in Toronto.
7. Measuring and Evaluation Results analysis included a combination of measuring funds raised for FACE, media story placements, ticket sale insights, and continued volunteer/corporate donor relations. This campaign met and exceeded each of the four established objectives by means of talented, dedicated volunteers, strong planning and exceptional communications outreach. This event exceeded its fundraising target and raised $70,000 to support FACE. A sold out show, media attendance and participation of industry celebrities and fashion icons such as Jeanne Beker and Mackage reinforced the gala status of the fundraiser. Other quality measurements included expensive silent auction items (Birks jewelry, designer clothing, Links golf packages), and quality guest gift bag contents: CDs, Starbucks gift certificates, Pilates For Life memberships, Alberto products and free Dolce magazines. Through a strong communications campaign, FACE exceeded targets by over 100% and secured 30 branded media stories for FACE, its cause and/or the FACE of Fashion event as a result of its public relations efforts: * • • • Coverage resulted in a minimum of 5.4 million impressions … all free of cost to the charity. In addition to media stories, CHUM ran 12 radio PSAs and four radio promotions while Citytv ran four Breakfast TV promotions during key listening/viewing times to help pre-promote the charity event and drive ticket sales • The content and placement of the all coverage and promotions were strategic and targeted. All media vehicles delivered a key message about FACE and/or FACE of Fashion. Coverage highlights include
52 profiles by three national women’s magazines, four local dailies, several key community newspapers and the Canadian Press. • The charity estimates that its viral campaign reached approximately 3,000 people • All posters and flyers were distributed (5,500) around the city in high traffic, fashion focused locations • Online ticket sales revealed a spike in tangent with e-vite distributions and PSAs. These results suggest that online and broadcast media provide the best impact when promoting an event. FACE recruited 45 volunteers to assist with event production the day of the show. The charity estimates approximately 30 per cent of show-night and steering committee volunteers remain with the charity, thus achieving the volunteer objective. However, due to sheer amount of volunteer hours required to produce an event of this caliber, FACE’s Board has since decided to make a strategic shift and focus future fundraising efforts on establishing long-term corporate partnerships. The charity also achieved its sponsorship objective by establishing new relationships and maintaining year-round corporate partnerships with several of the event sponsors, including CIBC, BMO, RBC, TD, The Bay and Investors Group. It has also formalized new year-round partnerships with companies such as the Canadian Restorative Drycleaning Network and Beijo bags. The charity successfully continues to help women dress for interview success.
53 Award of Merit: Communications Management – Special Events
Gingivitis Week 2005: The Great Canadian Rinse-Off
Entrant’s Name: Liz Carson, Senior Vice President: Account director: Strategic direction, client liaison management and counsel, rinse-off logistics/participation Amy Laski, Senior Consultant: Account manager: Liaison with Canadian Dental Hygienists Association (CDHA), dental hygiene schools, client and regulators Mary Beth Denomy, Vice President: Event manager: Project management, venue liaison, event layout design Jennifer Duggan: Interim on-site event manager Karen Cleveland, Consultant: Event coordination, logistics and implementation Nicole Paara, Coordinator: Event coordination and participation Organization’s Name: Environics Communications Time Period of Project: Planning: November, 2004 to June, 2005; Event: Monday, June 6, 2005
1. Business Need and Opportunity The goal for Listerine Mouthwash (LMW) in 2005 was an ambitious one: Grow the brand beyond 50% share by educating Canadians on the need for a strong oral care routine. Not an easy task, as Listerine is the category leader and had already experienced record sales growth in 2004. To meet this business opportunity, the client recognized public relations as a key marketing driver and contacted Environics. In our resource review – two challenges were identified: • Raising the bar: The brand’s past success was partly attributed to its unique-selling point: the only gingivitis-fighting indication in the over-the-counter mouthwash category. However, a significant barrier was making gingivitis relevant to consumers. While 75 per cent of Canadians have gingivitis, only six per cent believe it impacts them personally. • More with Less: In 2004, LMW successfully introduced the first-ever Listerine Gingivitis Week, in partnership with the Canadian Dental Hygienists Association (CDHA). This multi-faceted awareness week included cross-country special events, a public service announcement, a brand new condition website (www.gingivitis.ca), and an extensive national media roll-out. Our 2005 challenge? Continue to build on the success and excitement of Gingivitis Week 2004 – but with less available marketing dollars. Faced with these challenges, it was clear creativity would be key to achieving our goal – and the Great Canadian Rinse-Off was created!
2. Entrants’ Role in Project From inception to completion, Environics managed the Great Canadian Rinse-Off – a world record attempt for the most people to rinse with Listerine at once. Kicking off Gingivitis Week 2005, this innovative challenge was a key draw to our Gingivitis Week event featuring ‘Ask a Hygienist’ information kiosks, consumer contest, sampling, and numerous gingivitis-themed activities (LMW Citrus Climbing Wall, Spin to Win LMW bottle, etc). For this event our role included: creative concept and management, event logistics (staffing, speeches, layout, participant recruitment), media relations roll-out (media materials/training, b-roll/visuals), client/professional liaison (regulatory/legal approvals), and professional outreach (CDHA partnership/sales force).
3. Intended Audience Our client pre-determined the target audience to be health-conscious Canadians (adults), ages 25-54.
4. Goals and Objectives Working closely with our client, we established our primary goal: Educate on the need for a strong oral care routine and drive purchase/usage (beyond 50% market share). From this goal, we also set specific internal objectives for the Great Canadian Rinse-Off and overall event. 1. Generate a critical mass of 50-100 participants for strong visual impact. 2. Stimulate 150 gingivitis conversations on-site – raise awareness of condition (gingivitis), and LMW/Gingivitis Week. 3. Client satisfaction with the success of program (to be determined subjectively by client). 54 5. Solution Overview Our strategy included: Power-Partner. An official three-year partnership was negotiated with the Canadian Dental Hygienists Association (CDHA) for Gingivitis Week 2005-07. While the CDHA was involved in the first annual Gingivitis Week – a lasting relationship had not yet been established. Our new long-term partnership gave our event longevity and elevated credibility in the eyes of Canadians and media alike. For added credibility and to educate on the oral health and overall health link, the Heart & Stroke Foundation was invited to the event as a charity partner and on- site participant. To push credibility even further, this event was promoted to CDHA members via numerous vehicles such as e-newsletters, journal placement, website presence and dental hygiene school network. Quirky Works. As the team was working with a smaller budget – creativity played a large role in retaining consumer mind-share and excitement. Our secret weapon? The Great Canadian Rinse-Off – a world record challenge for the most people to rinse with Listerine at once. With mouthwash in-hand, participants at the TD Centre Courtyard counted down to the beat of a drum, while our emcee gave the official thumbs-up for the Rinse- Off to commence. To highlight the link between oral health and overall health, donations were collected from participants to benefit the Heart and Stroke Foundation. Other interactive (and gingivitis-themed!), activities included: Spin to Win LMW prize wheel, LMW Citrus climbing wall, souvenir photos with the Listerine Bottle Guy, and the hi-striker challenge. While these light-hearted aspects of the event captured attention – the core message of oral health was still front and centre. From filling out gingivitis quizzes to one-on-one discussions, on-site dental hygienists educated event enthusiasts. Leading dental hygienist and oral hygiene educator, Marilyn Goulding, also captivated consumers and media alike. Spreading Our Message. In 2004, cross-country events helped spread the word of Gingivitis Week nation-wide. However, with a 25% budget cut in 2005 – careful management of our resources was needed to extend reach. Two elements were key to this success – on-site b-roll and aggressive media relations. Event b-roll footage was created on site – then instantly transmitted to newsrooms across the country to facilitate coverage. Not a simple process – as the Environics team had a mere two hours to shoot, produce and distribute b-roll from start to finish. But the results were worth it. Not only was branded footage picked up in key Toronto outlets, such as City TV – but this also extended beyond our Toronto-centric event location, with coverage on CHTV (Hamilton) and A- Channel (Edmonton) to name a few. Event coverage was also secured across the country in the Calgary Sun, Metro Vancouver, Edmonton Journal, and Canada’s leading national daily the Globe and Mail, as a result of skillful media relations. Ask Me About Gingivitis. To motivate gingivitis awareness, event participants were encouraged to ask a dental hygienist about gingivitis at information kiosks. Each booth was strategically positioned to maximize interaction. To trigger communication, Environics created a Gingivitis Quiz – a tool to make it easier for participants to discuss gingivitis with the dental professionals. Hygienists were also pre-trained to encourage smooth delivery of key messages with participants. As an incentive to engage in gingivitis conversations, each completed quiz was entered into a draw for a big-screen television (secured by Environics at reduced cost). Credibility Plus: While the Great Canadian Rinse-Off captured media attention for Gingivitis Week – this quirky event provided the gateway to raising the bar on the condition. Media-trained hygienists and CDHA spokespeople professionally delivered the Listerine routine message. For an added credibility boost, the team also secured the official proclamation of Gingivitis Week from Toronto Mayor David Miller.
6. Implementation and Challenges Timing: • November 2004 – March 2005: Official CDHA partnership solidified, Heart & Stroke participation, event logistics, Mayoral Proclamation • April – June 2005: Pre-promotion via CDHA, media, event recruitment/logistics, writing (emcee script, key message, media material development), media training (hygienists) b-roll overview/logistics • Monday, June 6 (Noon to 2 p.m.): o Pre-event media relations (media alert/media pitching) o Kick-off event at Toronto Dominion Centre Courtyard/Great Canadian Rinse-Off @ 12:30 p.m. o Event b-roll shooting and production/satellite distribution (post-event) o On-site sampling o Event photography and on-site interviews o Event photo and media release on Canada NewsWire post-event o Submit application for world-record post–event (still pending)
55 The event was not without some challenges: Rules & Regulations. Listerine Mouthwash has a Drug Identification Number (DIN) which restricts giving away complimentary samples to Canadians. So we needed to find a way to get event participants sampling within the regulations. A minimal donation to the Heart & Stroke Foundation and a waiver signed by Rinse-Off participants was the solution. Behind the Scenes. For the rinse-off to work – we needed a critical mass of people to participate. Recognizing this need – the Environics team spread the word far and wide to encourage participation from personal networks to on-site recruiting. But there were a few logistical stumbling blocks: 1) Required waivers were time-intensive to fill out; 2) tight turn-around times for participant sign-in; 3) number of participants was unknown until event day. So our team needed to be ready for everything. To speed up the process – waivers were pre-seeded with interested participants the morning of the event and directed to an easy access drop off point (on-site waiver box). To speed up the sign-in process even further, five roaming event staff also moved up and down the participant rinse-off line (clipboards in hand!), to get waivers signed quickly and efficiently. Not knowing our actual participant numbers in advance – extra event staff were added as a precaution. Unfortunately, just before June 6th, our event manager had a family emergency. As she wasn’t able to attend the event, the entire team quickly re- grouped with excellent results. An interim manager was brought on board – and with a mere 24-hour brief was ready to go. Talk about teamwork.
7. Measuring and Evaluation The Great Canadian Rinse-Off surpassed the expectations of the client and Environics, exceeding all objectives set: Goal: Grow beyond 50% share by educating on the need for a strong oral care routine. • 50 per cent share surpassed – LMW share up 4.7 per cent points four weeks after Gingivitis Week (52 per cent share) and 19 per cent (over previous year) Specific internal objectives for the Great Canadian Rinse-Off and overall event: 1) Generate a critical mass of 50-100 rinse-off participants for strong visual impact. • 277 participants rinsed-off with Listerine – three to six times the benchmark! • More than 33,000 kick-off event participants (samples distributed) versus 31,000 in 2004 via three events o 7 per cent increase despite a 25 per cent budget decrease 2) Stimulate 150 gingivitis conversations on-site – raise awareness of condition (gingivitis), LMW/Gingivitis Week • 600 gingivitis quizzes completed – Four times our original goal! • Reached more than 19.5 million Canadians with the Listerine/gingivitis message • 43 highly-credible interviews, articles and broadcast hits nationwide – despite Toronto-centric event (A- Channel, Globe & Mail, CityTV, 24 Hours, etc.) • Patient inquiries to dental professionals increased from 40 per cent to 47 per cent after Gingivitis Week • Positive feedback from CDHA member poll: o 84 per cent heard of Gingivitis Week, 88 per cent positive LMW-Gingivitis Week brand link o 96 per cent feel initiatives such as Gingivitis Week key to gain oral health awareness & broach topic with patients. 3) Client satisfaction with the success of the program (to be determined subjectively by client) • Event profiled in local and North American company publications (Planet PCH/Pfizer Café) • Positive client feedback confirming impact of gingivitis awareness: a) “As I said today onsite, I was EXTREMELY IMPRESSED with the flawless execution of the kick-off event. Your team deserves a big high five for a job very well done. On a scale of 1 to 10, in my mind the Gingivitis Week kick-off was an easy 10,” Jason Betik, Associate Brand Manager Listerine b) “Congratulations on a great event today. Not only was the sun shining but so were all the smiling faces. People seemed to be responding well to every kiosk at the event and more importantly the rinse off! Your MC was terrific. Lots of messaging got done there today. Another excellent job by Environics,” Barbara Elliot, Business Development Manager, Pfizer Professional Sales (Oral Care) c) “Great event pick up. Nice to see that the TV stations are getting in either "gingivitis" or "Listerine" into the story-line, which is always a challenge we face,” Graham Robertson, Senior Group Marketing Manager, Oral Care.
56 Award of Merit: Communications Management – Issues Management
Garbage Collectors’ Strike – June 2005
Entrant’s Name: Annette Geldbert Organization’s Name: Region of Peel Time Period of Project: June 2005
1. Business Need The Region of Peel is responsible for collecting waste and recycling from more than 270,000 households and approximately 80,000 apartments, condominiums and town home complex units in the Cities of Brampton and Mississauga and the Town of Caledon. Waste collection in the Region is contracted out to two separate service providers, Waste Management of Canada Corporation (Mississauga and Brampton) and Sandhill Disposal and Recycling (Caledon and North Brampton). The contract between Waste Management of Canada Corporation (WMCC) and its garbage collectors expired on May 31,2005. WMCC's final offer to the union bargaining team, presented to the union membership for a vote on Wednesday, June 8, was rejected, leaving the union membership in a legal position to strike as of midnight on Friday, June 10. Failing to reach a settlement before the deadline, a strike was called on Saturday, June 11 - the first garbage strike in the Region's history. The strike lasted until Thursday, June 16 when the striking garbage collectors voted to accept a revised agreement presented by WMCC. Labour action leading up to and during the strike resulted in numerous collection delays and disruptions for Brampton and Mississauga residents. The Waste Management division worked closely with WMCC to develop contingency plans in the event of a strike. Recognizing the vital need to communicate with all affected residents in Mississauga and Brampton, the Communication Services division concurrently crafted a comprehensive, multi-faceted strategy to deliver critical messages on all matters relating to waste collection services and alternate disposal options to the affected residents, municipal and regional Councilors and staff in a clear, concise, timely and effective manner utilizing partnerships whenever feasible. The division's Emergency Management Response Plan which identifies a team of staff to execute the strategy was immediately employed.
2. Intended Audience Primary Audiences: External • Mississauga and Brampton Residents • Brampton and Mississauga Municipal Councilors and Staff • Local and GTA Media Outlets • Municipal Partners - Libraries, Recreation Centres, Municipal Works Yards • WMCC • Property Managers and Superintendents - Multi-residential Units Internal • Regional Councilors • Partners in Peel Health
• Peel Call Centre Staff • Public Works/Corporate Services/Purchasing Staff
Secondary Audiences: External • Peel Community - Local Citizens including • Area Municipalities Caledon Residents • Vendors (support services) • Ministry of the Environment Internal • Regional Employees
57 3. Goals and Objectives Goal - To keep all targeted audiences apprised of the current status of waste collection services in Peel Objectives - • To ensure communication to the target audiences is established quickly and efficiently, and is properly sustained before, during and after the strike action • To effectively inform target audiences of available waste collection services, any delays or disruptions in service delivery and alternate disposal options in the Region of Peel • To partner with Peel Health to ensure the public health and safety of the Region are not compromised by delivering appropriate messages to residents and other targeted audiences • To ensure consistent messaging is delivered by the Region, its partners and the collection contractor
4. Solution Overview/Strategic Approach Upon the first indication of a possible strike, the Region pulled together a caucus group comprised of key members from the Region's Executive Office, Public Works Management team, Waste Management and Communication Services divisions, as well as representatives from other essential internal support service providers such as Legal Services, Environmental Health, Purchasing and the Call Centre. The caucus group met twice daily, at 8:30 a.m. and 4 p.m., to collectively discuss operational issues, strategic direction and communication needs, including key messaging for all communication tactics. The Communications division immediately pulled together its Emergency Response Team, which is made up of members from the entire division, each assigned to a specific area of responsibility based on their particular skill set. The looming strike required the implementation of a communications strategy employing a variety of communication tactics to reach the residents in the affected communities. Communication Services staff worked with Waste Management staff to craft the strategy. Messaging was adapted as daily collection and disposal delays and changes required. Regional partners, including Regional and Municipal Councilors, Municipal staff, as well as select interested parties were provided with daily situational updates via e-mail.
5. Entrant’s Role As the Public Affairs Associate for the Waste Management division, I acted as the key liaison between the Waste Management and Communication Services divisions, overseeing all communication activities undertaken. I was available to my client group 24/7, providing counsel, keeping abreast of all operational activities, including collection disruptions and delays. I participated in the twice daily caucus meetings, crafted all news releases and worked with the client and key members of the Emergency Response Team to ensure consistent delivery of approved messaging.
6. Implementation The communications campaign included a number of tactics to reach residents in the neighborhoods affected. The communication vehicles were multi-faceted and notified residents of any waste collection changes, disruptions or delays, as well as details on alternate disposal options. Tactics executed included: • Media teleconferences on a daily basis providing GTA media with a one-stop source to obtain easy access to current messaging • Media releases posted on Canada News Wire (CNW) • Mobile signs posted throughout the affected areas with messaging determined by situational changes • Daily updates to all Regional and Municipal Councilors, Municipal partners and key Regional staff • Messaging on WASTELlNE, the Region's resident helpline for all waste matters • Dedicated Web pages on the Region's internet site • Internal messaging on Pathways, the Region's intranet site reaching more than 3,000 employees • Information distributed through the Region's e-newsletter, Connect to Peel, with more than 800 subscribers • Posters at all Community Recycling Centres, Public Ubraries and Recreation Centres • Public service announcements • Radio spots during drive-time on major GT A radio stations • Newspaper advertisements in two local community newspapers • Flyer distribution in select areas, as required • Video coverage for use on the Region's internal Web site and archival purposes • Feature story sent to local media outlet following the strike 58 7. Challenges 1. Reaching residents In the affected areas In a timely manner. Peel's dedicated media outlets consist of community-based newspapers only (frequency - three times weekly). Lesson: Placement of the news releases on CNW assured wider daily coverage by GTA-wide media outlets. 2. Dealing with numerous media Inquiries while ensuring consistent, timely, effective and efficient message delivery. By holding daily media teleconferences at 10:30 a.m. each morning we reduced the time and pressure in handling the barrage of daily media inquiries. Members of interested media outlets across the GTA could either attend the teleconferences in person or dial-in from their home base. Lesson: Implement teleconferences when you need to deliver messages to a broad audience of media outlets unable to attend the conference site. 3. Identifying and soliciting support from municipal partners to deliver key messages to target audiences. Daily situation updates were provided to Councilors, as well as key municipal staff. Lesson: Seeking the support of our Municipal partners to deliver key messages was a fruitful experience. All those provided with pertinent daily updates were able to further disseminate the information to a wider audience. 4. Streamlining situational updates to key staff and partners. A number of individuals indicated the need to be kept abreast of the strike situation on a daily basis. The list grew daily. In an effort to streamline our efforts to ensure these individuals received the updates as needed, Communication Services requested that Information Technology Services create two specialized e-mail distribution lists, one for all Regional and Municipal Councilors and another for key staff and municipal and community partners. Lesson: By creating specialized distribution lists that could be revised as necessary. assigned staff with access to these distribution lists could send out messages and be assured that they were reaching a/l who indicated their wish to be kept informed. 5. Ensuring all communication materials received the approval of Peel's Medical Officer of Health and his staff. Peel Health representatives participated in the daily caucus meetings and media teleconferences to report on their initiatives throughout the strike. Communication Services shared all communications materials with Peel Health prior to dissemination and obtained their input on the prepared frequently asked questions. Lesson: Involve all departmental partners to participate in the communication process at the outset of a project or crisis situation. Ensuring their support as strategic decisions are made is essential to the success of your efforts.
8. Budget The budget for the implementation of all communication tactics totaled $67,662.50 and included costs for all tactical measures identified in the work plan.
9. Measuring/Evaluation Several methods were used to evaluate the effectiveness the communications initiatives undertaken during the 2005 garbage collectors' strike. Client Observations: The Director of Waste Management provided commentary summarizing the effectiveness communication measures (see video taped commentary provided in July 2005). Call Centre Call Volumes: A review of the call volumes during the strike period revealed that the Call Centre received a total of 221,792 calls from residents, a 49 per cent increase over the same period last year. On average 76 per cent of the callers to the Call Centre elect to speak with an operator. During the strike period only 35-46 per cent of callers needed to speak with an agent. The remainder of the callers obtained adequate information from the recorded messaging providing daily updates on the collection disruptions and delays. Daily updates of recorded messages diverted many calls from operators and allowed the Call Centre to handle the Increased volume of calls. Media Analysis: A review of the daily media summaries and hits provided by Bowden's Media Monitoring Service indicate our messages were covered by a wide variety of GT A and other Ontario media outlets for the duration of the strike. Six daily and community newspapers, 19 radio stations and 18 television stations covered the story, delivering key messages and providing up-to-date information on waste collection delays and disruptions. Placement of media alerts and news releases, as well as dally teleconferences on CNW ensured wider coverage of the story Increasing the delivery and consistency of our messages. Web Site Traffic: Page views for the waste collection disruption and delays totaled 94,226. Visitors to the Waste Management Web site in June were up 73 per cent over the pervious month and 251 per cent over the same period the previous year. The Web site proved to be an effective tool In our toolkit to deliver our messages In a timely fashion.
59 Award of Merit: Communications Management – Media Relations over $50,000
The Launch of Virgin Mobile Canada
Entrant’s Name: Paula Lash, Director, Public Relations, Virgin Mobile Canada Organization’s Name: Virgin Mobile Canada Time Period of Project: November 2004 to March 2005, with the official launch days occurring on March 1st in Toronto, March 2nd in Montreal and March 3rd in Vancouver.
1. Business Need and Opportunity In early 2005, Virgin Mobile Canada entered Canada's mobile phone service sector, which was heavily dominated by four established players. Virgin Mobile's much-anticipated entry into the pre-paid mobile phone sector targeted to young Canadians frustrated by long-term contracts, confusing rates, and services catering to their parents' needs - required a comprehensive media relations program featuring its well-known Chairman, Sir Richard Branson, to support its launch into the Canadian market.
2. Entrant’s Role in Project Engaged Hill & Knowlton Canada as the PR Agency of Record for the launch of Virgin Mobile Canada, Virgin Mobile and Hill & Knowlton worked in a partnership to execute and manage all PR activities in advance, during and following the launch of Virgin Mobile. Responsibilities included: • PR needs analysis • Preparation of media materials: media advisory, media alert, news release, Q&A, product/service backgrounders, bios, key messages, VIP and media invitations • Media relations pre-, during and post-launch day event • Controlling media access to Richard Branson and Andrew Black at stunt, news conference and evening VIP event • Prepping spokespeople for media interviews • Launch day PR strategy and logistics • PR rollout across Canada • Responding to competitor and analyst criticism • Ongoing liaison with affiliated agencies (i.e. advertising and event logistics)
3. Intended Audience Canadians aged 12 to 34. Virgin Mobile's research found that 3.5 million youth would enter the mobile market by 2011, representing 50% of total growth. Furthermore, many Canadian youth felt that mobile phone service providers provided poor, overpriced service, took youth for granted and ignored their demographic.
4. Goals and Objectives • Effectively launch Virgin Mobile Canada to Canadian media o Educate a wide range of media on Virgin Mobile, its service offering, and competitive advantage o Introduce Virgin Mobile President Andrew Black and set the stage for him to take a visible leadership role • Generate coverage of Virgin Mobile in media outlets that reached its target consumer 60 o Blanket news coverage in three primary markets: ON, QC, BC o Key message pick-up in outlets nation-wide • Build brand character o Use Chairman Richard Branson, stunts and VIP events to communicate Virgin Mobile's messages and maximize media exposure o Establish tone/platform for future PR and marketing initiatives
5. Solution Overview The following solution was developed and executed for the launch of Virgin Mobile Canada: • Generate awareness of Virgin Mobile across the country • Reach youth, the target consumer, and reinforce the competitive advantage Virgin Mobile had over other mobile service providers • Create an understanding of what the brand stands for to support the launch of subsequent marketing initiatives • Balancing Richard Branson's celebrity status with Virgin Mobile's story: ensuring consumer media received the key messages • Identify a separate strategy for Quebec to balance language and cultural differences and low awareness of the "British" Virgin brand
6. Implementation and Challenges The project was executed across Canada leveraging Hill & Knowlton's Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver offices. Pre-event and day-of PR activities included the implementation of the following tactics in Toronto and Montreal: • Coordinating Sir Richard Branson's participation in outrageous, branded public "stunts" to launch Virgin Mobile • Managing media briefings in Toronto and Montreal, which a record number of journalists attended, and ensuring focus remained on Canadian offer via tag-team interview panel of Andrew Black, President and CEO of Virgin Mobile Canada, Nathan Rosenberg, Chief Marketing Officer of Virgin Mobile Canada, and Richard Branson • Augmenting stunt coverage by arranging a series of high-profile one-on-one interviews for Sir Branson, with key print, broadcast and online media, which helped reach the target consumer with details on how Virgin Mobile differs from its competition • Managing media at evening VIP launch parties to help build the Virgin Mobile brand character and reach social/party media • Engaging in aggressive media follow-up to secure ongoing interview opportunities in the days following the launch with business, marketing, news, technology, lifestyle, youth, entertainment and consumer media • The Virgin Mobile Canada team also visited Vancouver, where media relations outreach was conducted • Controlling release of launch event details to minimize competitor response • Developing a comprehensive and creative media kit introducing Canadian media to Virgin Mobile's services, brand and the "No Catch" messaging. A video news release with b-roll footage was also made available to television media Virgin Mobile and Hill & Knowlton executed the launch within a PR budget of approximately $180,000. The following challenges were faced: Confidential launch: Virgin Mobile Canada was faced with the challenge of controlling the information that was released in advance of the launch date in order to minimize competitors' responses. To this effect, it was necessary to execute a controlled release of the launch event details. Competition for coverage: Richard Branson and the media were distracted by the Global Flyer story, which meant we had to share our coverage with this international event. Where possible, the PR team would attempt to steer Richard Branson and back to the Virgin Mobile key messages. Geographic separation: Despite the geographic separation, Hill & Knowlton Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal offices became a virtual team with Toronto-based Virgin Mobile Canada through regular cross-Canada conference calls and status updates.
61 Timeframe: The PR component of the Virgin Mobile Canada launch had a short project timeframe from December 2004 to March 2005. Teams had to quickly learn to trust each other and lean on each other for support and resources.
Toronto-specific Challenges Criticism of nurse representation: The Toronto stunt, which featured Richard Branson as a larger than life superhero, also featured models dressed as nurses. In-store displays and commercials also featured these nurses. Although the concept successfully registered with Virgin Mobile's target audience, several groups, including the Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario, engaged in a public outcry saying Virgin Mobile misrepresented Canadian nurses. Furthermore, the RNAO demanded a public apology and urged Virgin Mobile to pull its advertising. Virgin Mobile's communication team addressed the media by saying that the approach was meant to be tongue-in-cheek and they never meant to offend anyone. In the end, Virgin Mobile turned this PR challenge into an opportunity by obtaining seven million impressions in free media coverage, while simultaneously aligning itself with the target market - youth - who enjoy Virgin's fun, edgy and irreverent marketing. Weather: The Toronto event took place outdoors on one of the snowiest days of the year. Steps had to be taken to ensure the media corral and path to the news conference were snow-free and broadcast crews could maneuver their trucks. Montreal-specific Challenges Low awareness in Montreal: Communications efforts had to encourage buzz and interest for the launch in a region that knew little about Richard Branson or the Virgin Group. Low awareness was combated by providing essential context, such as background information on the company, key players, and service offerings. French-speaking spokesperson: In Montreal, there were limited media opportunities as media were forced to conduct interviews in English and only use one spokesperson for French quotes. Vancouver-specific Challenges Last-minute change of plans: Richard Branson cancelled plans to attend the Vancouver launch at the last minute. As such, media interest waned. As this was the third event in as many days it made it difficult to deliver a local story in this small media market without the celebrity factor.
7. Measuring and Evaluation Media impressions and quality of coverage were used to measure the project's success. The launch of Virgin Mobile Canada generated 155 million media impressions - considerable in a country with a population of 36 million. Furthermore, the domino factor stemming from the Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver launches sent a wave of coverage across Canada. Ultimately, media relations activities helped to bridge the gap between the launch of Virgin Mobile Canada and the advertising campaign. Highlights included: • More than 5.5 hours of television coverage • Visuals of the stunt in 75% of the overall coverage • 117 print articles in 56 unique outlets across Canada • "No Catch" - an important Virgin Mobile key message - was included in more than half of media hits . 45% of coverage included quotes and sound bytes by Richard Branson • One to one interviews delivered coverage to target consumer (102.1 The Edge, Breakfast Television, Flow 93.5, Canada AM, Canadian Press, Toronto Star, Much Music, Musique Plus, JR Dufort, SRC, etc.) • PR effectively shut out the competition - competitors' role in Virgin Mobile coverage was insignificant with quotes in only 7% of print hits • 185 members of the media attended Virgin Mobile Canada launch events over the three day launch period in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver • Andrew Black, president of Virgin Mobile Canada, was effectively represented with quotes in 15% of print coverage • Just two weeks after launch, before the mass advertising kicked in, an independent poll reported unaided awareness of Virgin Mobile reached 24% of respondents in Toronto, and 18% in Montreal • Fuelled mainly by media relations, the company was more than 20% ahead of its sales projections before other marketing initiatives kicked in
62 Award of Merit: Communications Management – Media Relations over $50,000
Sean John: The Future of Fashion Comes to Canada
Entrant’s Name: Diana Robinson Organization’s Name: Multiprint Ltd. - Sean John Canada Time Period of Project: October 2004 - April 2005
1. Business Need and Opportunity On January 1, 2005, Multiprint Ltd, a Montreal-based clothing manufacturer and distributor was awarded the license to distribute the Sean John clothing brand in Canada. The brand had been sold in Canada for two years through another licensee, and discussions with Multiprint identified that there was a need to reinvigorate the brand and generate awareness and excitement about the men’s clothing line. The brand was created by Sean “Puffy/P.Diddy” Combs, a well-known rap star/entertainer/celebrity, and debuted in the Spring of 1999. Mr. Combs was honoured in 2004 by the Council of Fashion Designers of America as Men’s Wear Designer of the Year. While his credentials as a true fashion designer were clearly established in the industry, the brand Sean John needed to grow beyond its “rapper” roots. There was a need to show to the Canadian fashion industry trade, the target demographic, consumers and the general Canadian public that the line and Mr. Sean Combs were legitimate, successful, and fashionable.
We conducted man-on-the-street interviews in Toronto, interviews with key retailers and intensive web, magazine, newspaper, and broadcast research into the current menswear fashion industry to gain insight into how the brand was currently perceived. We learned the target demographic audience was articulate and that both the brand and Mr. Combs were aspirational to the target demographic. We recognized that as the demographic grew older, they too were looking to enhance their fashion style, as well as their need for fashionable career clothes. This actually reflected Mr. Combs own growth as a designer, moving from the original hip-hop roots of Sean John into the brand’s more tailored suitings, knitwear, shirts, ties and other fashions. We also identified that there was a need to move the fashion trade industry to this new viewpoint – they needed to see that the line was more than just hip- hop clothing for teenagers. Introducing Canadians to the designer behind the brand, Sean “P.Diddy” Combs would bring fresh attention to the clothing line, ensuring that the new licensee would be able to sell in the brand to both existing and potential retailers in Canada and generate additional awareness amongst the demographic groups.
2. Entrant’s Role in Project Diana Robinson was actively involved in every step of the program, from presenting the concept to the client, researching the audiences, sourcing and coordinating all aspects and suppliers for the program including security, liaising with clients at all levels, designing the look and feel of all elements right through to venue floor plans and floral designs, coordinating all media and guest lists, interviews and RSVPs, coordinating and conducting the media tour including briefing Mr. Combs and timing each interview and overseeing and executing all aspects of the event.
3. Intended Audiences The target audiences for the program included: • The Canadian fashion industry including retailers, executives and buyers that do carry or could potentially carry the Sean John lines, from independent one-off retail shops to high end retailers like Harry Rosen and Holt Renfrew. At one end of the spectrum, this group can be somewhat jaded and cynical about industry events given the number they attend each year, in addition to the ones they may host; at the other end are owners of small shops in small cities across Canada who have never been invited to any type of event by their licensee/designer before. • Canadian fashion, lifestyle, business and fashion trade media as gatekeepers to the end consumer and purveyors of what is hot, trendy, in fashion and successful in business. This is a group used to being wined and dined, courted and schmoozed by the world’s biggest, trendiest, hottest designers and retailers. They think they’ve seen everything and can make or break the public’s image of a designer and their line. • Men, 18-34, the primary demographic of the Sean John brand, especially men who are fashion conscious, up on trends and styles and wanting to be at the forefront of fashion. It is a diverse group, with diverse interests, but they tend to be early adopters, ready to try new things, confident in their choices and a leader amongst 63 their friends. The age demo crosses various life stages: from high school where they have plenty of disposable income; to college and university where they become more strapped for spending money unless they are living at home and are able to spend more on fashions and discerning their fashion taste; to their first years on their own and in careers where they start buying more career clothing; to an age when they are starting to be more established in their careers and willing to invest in more expensive clothing. Our research showed that they were articulate, comfortable with who they are and very aware of the fashion scene and who and what Sean Combs and Sean John are. • The Canadian general public as influencers of public opinion. Canadians love to hear about celebrities and their latest adventures, and while this can be perceived as gossip, it can also influence retail sales.
4. Goals and Objectives Our objectives for the program were to: • Create an exciting and exclusive event that would be attended by the who’s who of the Canadian fashion industry and media, approximately 75-100 guests. • Generate national, positive media coverage of the brand that generates brand awareness, mentions the brand by name and establishes the credibility of Sean Combs as a fashion designer — in both the news and fashion sections of newspapers, TV and magazines — and includes two articles and at least one picture on the front page of a major daily newspaper. • Reach 35,000,000 Canadians through the media coverage and generate a return on investment of 2-3 times the cost of the program. • Get Mr. Combs live on MuchMusic. • Deliver the program on time, and on a very tight, very “un-P. Diddy-like” budget. • Generate interest in the line so that Multiprint could arrange meetings with retailers.
5. Solution Overview We identified an opportunity to create an exclusive, “By Invitation Only” event for trade and media. It would allow an inside look at the “not just a brand, but a lifestyle” character of the brand which was in keeping with Mr. Combs’ design approach. Sean “P.Diddy” Combs is well known for his high lifestyle. It is a key element of the brand and one of the reasons that his target demographics purchase the menswear line: the opportunity to have a taste of his lifestyle. We would bring that taste of the high life to Toronto for one night and show the trade and the media that Sean John was a strong, growing and exciting brand. Key messages we wanted to communicate through the program were: • Sean John is a fashion line by Sean “P.Diddy” Combs. • Sean John is available in Canada. • The brand is more than just clothing, it’s a lifestyle. A fashion show at the event would demonstrate the depth and breadth of the line and show how it had moved beyond the “hip-hop” look and feel it was known for. Media interviews would provide insight into the fashions and the line’s re-launch in Canada. After presenting the initial concepts to the client, we received word that Mr. Combs was so excited about this first foray into the “global” marketplace that he wanted to personally attend the event. In January, we were advised that he would be willing to do media interviews. We recognized the opportunity his presence provided and recommended interviews in Toronto, where the majority of major media are located, and in Montreal, for the French media and retailers, who have been long time supporters of Sean John, with one hour live appearances at MuchMusic in Toronto and MusiquePlus in Montreal. We recommended one-on-one interview opportunities with key Canadian media instead of a press conference to provide a sense of Mr. Combs’ approach up close, in a more intimate setting, giving journalists a taste of who he really is. The appearances at MuchMusic and MusiquePlus provided an opportunity for fans and the key target demographics to see him in-studio and on-air across the country, live, not taped. We worked with the client to create an in-store contest that would allow 5 lucky winners the chance to attend the MuchMusic and MusiquePlus sessions and meet Mr. Combs in person. We also coordinated a dinner with a key retailer in Montreal, allowing Mr. Combs and the president to meet and discuss the line.
64 6. Implementation and Challenges The budget for the program was presented as $250,000 including $16,000 in fees for handling all the event planning, execution and creative development and $8,000 in fees for coordinating the media relations. Given that Sean Combs is well known for the million dollar events that he throws, this budget was well below what he would normally spend, and yet, we recognized that expectations for the event would be just as high.
The plans for our program changed continuously -- the approach, the theme, the venue, the number of guests, the date of the event and the timelines changed week to week based on discussions with the client. When we received word that Mr. Combs would be attending the event, it intensified the event’s requirements. However, the budget remained the same. We then received word that due to Mr. Combs’ schedule, we would only have about three weeks notice of when he was available, meaning three weeks to finalize the entire event. In early March, the final event date was confirmed as March 29, 2005 with media interviews in Montreal on March 28th (the Monday and Tuesday after Easter weekend). At this time, we were also advised that the guest numbers had increased to 300 and discussions with the client resulted in us once again revising the look and feel of the event including the venue, to a high end, “evening out as a celebrity” feel. By early March, we had considered every venue possible in the city, personally visited more than 50 venues, and selected the final venue of the Rosewater Supper Club based on its reputation, similarity to the type of club Mr. Combs would feel at home in and the opportunity it gave us to create an event that would make each guest feel like a celebrity. We rented the entire venue, all dining and open rooms, and begun actual on-site planning for all aspects of the program. This included working with the chef to create a dynamic, exciting menu; devising a decorating theme; arranging for valet parking and a red entry carpet with an awning and chandelier; lighting; staging with video walls showing Mr. Combs’ music and fashion videos; sourcing decorations including flowers, creating customized gobos & rented furniture; hiring a designer and florist; creating customized ice sculptures; sourcing live music via a DJ; the development and delivery of the invitations; sourcing Vive Cliequot as the Champagne sponsor and gift bag sponsors like MAC Cosmetics, and Fiji water; making hotel arrangements for the entire entourage team including areas for media interviews; creating a live fashion show at the event; coordinating media tour arrangements in both Montreal and Toronto; and live appearances on MuchMusic and MusiquePlus, and the urban radio station FLOW in Toronto. One week before the event, we were advised that the client didn’t want to pay for the designer or the fashion show producer and we were required to rework the design, find a new florist and execute the plan personally ourselves. This included creating floor plans for all 14 rooms/areas at the venue and sourcing enough lilies -- Mr. Combs favourite flower – the week before Easter when the sales of that flower are at their highest. With only four weeks to the event, we needed to generate buzz right from the delivery of the invitations. We created a black square invitation nestled in silver tissue paper, hand wrapped in a white box tied with black ribbon and a personalized tag. Each VIP invitation was hand-delivered by two security-bodyguard type men dressed in Sean John suits driving a white Hummer with Sean John: The Future of Fashion signage on its side. The buzz about the event started immediately. The guest list changed daily; the demand to attend the event swelled the list with the addition of celebrities and fashion industry executives and required us to reprint additional invitations to accommodate the final number of 675 guests. Two weeks before the event, we received approval to execute the media relations plan. One week prior to the event, we were advised that the interviews we were coordinating could be no longer than five minutes each, requiring us to rework the schedule and advise the appropriate journalists. On the Thursday night before Good Friday, three days before the Mr. Combs was due to arrive in Canada and four days before the event, we were advised that his New York office now required us to handle all security arrangements for the visit and they had a very exacting list of requirements. This required us to source off-duty police officers, bodyguards and a security team over the Easter weekend for both Montreal and Toronto and to have all the security arrangements arranged and in place as he stepped off the plane on the Monday. Monday, March 28th began very early with the issuing of a press advisory on Canada Newswire advising that Mr. Combs would be landing in Montreal at 12:30 p.m. and Toronto at 12 a.m. on Tuesday, March 29th. It also unleashed a fury of media calls to get more information and invitations to the event by those previously not invited, even as we hopped on an early plane to Montreal to coordinate all aspects of the media tour. Mr. Combs private plane was 2.5 hours late, requiring a reworking of all of the media interviews on a day that was still considered a holiday in Montreal. We coordinated the media covering his arrival at the airport, seven live interviews in rooms at a hotel, moved onto the MusiquePlus live appearance, squeezed in five more interviews, attended a dinner with a key Montreal retailer, conducted another media interview at the dinner and flew back to Toronto, arriving at midnight. We then coordinated media covering his arrival at the airport and his hotel, caught a few hours sleep and were back at the hotel in Toronto to coordinate a day full of media interviews. Mr. Combs’ business interruptions caused the schedule to be impacted causing us to run 2.5 hours behind. The carefully 65 planned schedule flew out the window, as the hotel lobby filled up with media waiting two hours for their 5-minute interviews. We renegotiated arrival times at the live appearance on the FLOW radio station and interviews at the MUCH Television station to ensure that we would make the 5 p.m. live appearance on the MuchMusic program MUCH on Demand. We made it in rush hour Toronto traffic with 5-minutes to spare to air time. We then coordinated the remaining six interviews after the appearance, during which we received word that Mr. Johnny Cochrane, a well known lawyer and close friend of Mr. Combs’, had died. We rushed to get Mr. Combs out of the building before the news broke, knowing that he would be wanted for comment. We made it with literally minutes to spare. As Mr. Combs returned to his hotel, the team then rushed to ensure the venue was ready. We discovered that the New York office required some last minute changes to the set-up, requiring us to rework the entire registration system, one hour before the event was due to start. The event started promptly at 7 p.m. with a lineup at the registration table. The models in Sean John fashions began moving throughout the crowd at 8 p.m. and Mr. Combs arrived around 9:45 p.m., later than planned as he conducted a phone interview from his hotel room with Larry King Live about Johnny Cochrane’s death. He conducted media interviews upon his arrival and he spoke to the crowd about his excitement at being in Canada with the line. By 11 p.m., the party had officially finished, and guests started heading home. As our immediate client, Multiprint, the licensee was based in Montreal and the Sean John head office was located in New York, it was imperative that we stay in close contact with both of them throughout the planning and execution of the event. In addition, Mr. Combs is very hands on and approved all elements of the program, which was challenging given his very busy schedule. Having a successful outcome to this program required us to be adaptable, flexible, identify what would turn on the jaded fashion industry trade and media as well as appeal to the target demographic, live with almost no sleep, work very closely with the client, be reachable at all times, think beyond the mundane and usual and meet the exacting standards of Mr. Combs. We created the slogan, “Is it up to Puff?” a variation on “is it up to snuff?” meaning is it good enough for Mr. Combs. This became our measurement for every aspect of the program. The final budget for the program was $148,500 for all expenses and $24,000 for fees.
7. Measuring and Evaluation The program was an overwhelming success both in terms of the way the event was portrayed, the coverage of the event, the goodwill it generated amongst the trade, the favourable impressions it left with all the guests and the business it generated. More than 221,811,718 impressions were generated across Canada; more than $17,294,870 in editorial coverage was generated, the cost per impression was $0.00 and the ROI was 100 times the total budget. • All of the major, Tier 1, national media carried stories as did all their affiliates, resulting in more than 167 positive stories, and all mentioned the brand by name. Coverage included local, regional, national, mainstream and alternative, print, broadcast and web media outlets. Note: we know there are a number of articles/hits that we were not able to pick up and have not included in these numbers. • Each story was dedicated to Sean Combs and the brand. • Sean Combs was quoted in 98% of the stories. • All key messages were communicated. • Canada’s premier music television stations, MuchMusic and MusiquePlus, each carried one hour live segments. • Canada’s premier television fashion show, Fashion Television followed the team around on March 29 resulting in a 6-minute piece that ran 6 times. Fashion Television is carried by satellite in more than 40 countries around the world. • The largest newspaper in Canada, The Toronto Star, followed the team around in Toronto and dedicated two and a half full pages in the Toronto Star’s fashion section, including the front page of the section. • Colour pictures ran on the front page of several major daily newspapers. • There was more than 300 minutes of radio and television coverage. • There were 3 front page articles/photos in newspapers. • The cost per media impression is $0.00. • The cost per media value dollar is $0.00. • The cost per message point is $0.00. • CNW Group advised that the photo opportunity news release on their newswire was ranked in the Top Ten, having been accessed a total of 283 time on Monday, March 28, 2005 alone.
66 • The demand for interviews with the media was so intense that we had to turn down more interviews than we were actually able to set up. • Photographs shot by our hired event photographer were used by media outlets across the country. • More than 675 guests attended the event, including the who’s who of Canada’s fashion industry, media and celebrities. Again, demand for the invitations was so intense, we had to turn down requests for invitations, and have ultra tight security at the door to ensure that only those with invitations/names on the guest list were allowed in. • The program reinvigorated interest in the brand and Multiprint Ltd. landed meetings, bookings and sales. (Numbers are confidential but there was a 250% increase over previous numbers.) • Multiprint has been signed by Sean John in New York as the licensee for other lines, including its shoe, children’s and soon to be launched women’s lines. • Comments from media and trade included “The event of the season”, “Of course parties like this happen every night in New York. But this ain’t New York.”, “P.Diddy takes T.O. by Storm”, “We’ve never been invited to any event by the licensee before. Thank you for the opportunity and for treating us so well.” • The program was implemented on time, and under budget. • Mr. Combs himself told a New York based trade publication, DNR, “It was overwhelming. I think it definitely surpassed my expectations,” and he has expressed an interest in coming back to Canada again soon.
67 Award of Merit: Communications Management – Media Relations over $50,000
Toronto Unplugged
Entrant: Tanya Bruckmueller Organization’s Name: Toronto Hydro Corporation Time Period of Project: June - September 2005
1. Business Need/Opportunity As the city and province have continued to grow, electricity supply has not. Ontarians' increased consumption puts pressure on producers to use polluting coal-fired generation plants. It also increases the reliance on costly electricity that is imported to meet demand. Toronto Hydro firmly believes and supports the concept that electricity conservation is one of the cheapest and easiest ways to decrease emissions, and costs. It will also help to delay the building of new electricity generation plants. In the spring of 2005, under the threat of province-wide electricity shortages, Toronto Hydro needed to convince its customers to conserve. Emphasis was placed on increasing public awareness of the need to conserve, and why it was particularly important at that time. When building the communications strategy, the following factors were considered: • Toronto Hydro conducted a study in October 2004 revealing that 79 per cent of customers already believed they were doing their part to conserve electricity. • Electricity use in the City of Toronto is on the rise due to increasing population and economic development. • The summer of 2005 was expected to be very hot. • Conservation messages are not new, and for the most part are not compelling to consumers. • People tend not to think about electricity unless they don't have it (blackouts), or when they receive their electricity bills. • Thousands of Toronto residents do not receive a hydro bill: many renters or condo owners pay for electricity through their rent or condominium fees so they would not perceive any direct benefit from their own conservation efforts.
2. Entrant’s Role in Project The Team was responsible for the development, planning and implementation of this media relations campaign. Taking into consideration factors such as the record-breaking heat, contending news coverage and the mundane nature of conservation messages, the Team had to develop an effective strategy and action plan to deliver a campaign that would break through the summertime media clutter, and was powerful enough to get people to conserve.
3. Intended Audience Toronto Hydro identified the following audiences: • Toronto Hydro customers: home owners and renters (18+) and small commercial/large office buildings. • Toronto news reporters with a city, general-beat, or environmental focus. Consumer surveys were designed with news reporters in mind.
4. Goals and Objectives Short term: • Increase awareness of the importance of conserving electricity and position Toronto Hydro as a leader in the conservation campaign to help Toronto reduce use. • Generate media coverage about the electricity issue and the actions needed to help solve it. Long term: • Encourage a "behaviour shift" to get Torontonians to begin conserving electricity on an ongoing basis.
5. Solution Overview Customer Research • 46 per cent believe it's Toronto Hydro's responsibility to ensure long-term supply and approximately the same number think Toronto Hydro should be advising them on ways to conserve electricity. 68 • Customers want Toronto Hydro to playa role in helping them monitor and manage their electricity use. Strategies • Implement an education-based campaign that provides customers with interesting and relevant information about conservation to increase message retention and therefore change behaviour. • Look for unique stories, and tie electricity in, to provide appealing story ideas and platforms to talk to media. • Leverage Toronto's interest in weather by associating the extreme summer heat with electricity conservation. Tactical Plan The Team developed a unique, multi-faceted campaign to communicate both directly and indirectly with Toronto residents. Recognized by public relations peers as innovative and effective, (see example, Appendix H), this plan incorporated both print and broadcast media relations and public service announcements. TORONTO HYDRO-LERT MEDIA ADVISORIES During the summer of 2005 there were more than 40 days boasting over 30 degrees Celsius. The Team issued several media advisories asking Torontonians to reduce electricity use to: reduce stress on the system; prevent the importing of electricity and price increases; reduce smog and emissions; and save money (see media materials and examples of media coverage in Appendix A; TV/radio news coverage in Appendix I). TORONTO HYDRO-LERT MEDIA ADVISORIES FOR BUSINESSES The Team also recognized that business customers shared the responsibility to conserve during the ongoing heat wave. The Team issued media advisories focused on local businesses and provided information on how businesses and large companies could do their part. We used the Toronto Hydro building as a showcase for media to see what measures could be done in large office buildings (see Appendix I for example of Toronto Hydro's showcase). The Team also provided anecdotal examples of irresponsible use of electricity in media interviews such as: open doors with air conditioning (AC) on; music playing; signage on and lights on at night (see media materials and examples of media coverage in Appendix A; TV/radio news coverage in Appendix I). OMNIBUS SURVEY The extreme heat was predicted to last all summer so using the same conservation messages throughout the duration of the season would bore customers and reporters. The Team needed to find other ways to encourage media interest and tie messages into each piece of communication. In July, Toronto Hydro commissioned a survey to find out about the habits and thoughts of Torontonians based on anecdotal examples and some light- hearted humour. The results were incorporated with relevant information and conservation tips (see Appendix B for survey results). The most significant findings were used in media releases to generate publicity (see press releases and examples of media coverage in Appendix B). 1. Meat Locker Syndrome 2. Hydro Snitch-Line 3. Workplace Slackers TORONTO HVDRO-LERT PSAs - 680 NEWS Toronto Hydro produced three, 30 second radio PSA featuring the call to conserve electricity during the current heat wave. The PSA provided tips in a more casual manner to reflect the culture (go to a patio instead of home) but also address concerns (rolling blackouts). The radio messages were scheduled to run during the hottest weeks of the summer when temperatures soared above 30 degrees Celsius, the province was forced to import power and the integrity of the distribution was compromised due to the heat. Station 680 News was selected as the only station to run the Hydro-Lert radio PSA as it has the broadest reach in Toronto. As it turned out, these PSAs ran throughout the summer. The radio PSA acknowledged the heat and provided listeners with helpful hints to reduce their electricity use during the summer (see Appendix I for audio files). Weather and Traffic Report tags on 680 News were 10 seconds and the announcer read mini-versions of the Hydro-Lert 30 second PSA. The people of Toronto have come to depend on 680 News to provide weather and traffic updates every 10 minutes making 680 News the most trusted source in radio for this type of information. It made strategic sense for Toronto Hydro to align Hydro-Lert messages with this trusted source for weather (see Appendix I for audio files). ROTATING SILENT WEATHER BOARDS - (CITY TV) CP 24 CHUM Television's CP 24 has incredible reach across the GTA. The people of Toronto tune into CP 24 for the news and weather reports, both scroll on a constant loop for 24 hours a day. Weather directly impacts the amount of electricity people use during the summer and in turn affects the distribution system. Toronto Hydro's CP24 PSA campaign saw a 10 second conservation message appear once an hour every day-all day for 16 weeks (see Appendix C for example of weather boards). The call to action was essentially - "use less of our product and you'll save money!" 69 WEATHER AND AIR QUALITY REPORT TAGS - (CITY TV) CP 24 Toronto Hydro sponsored the Weather and Air Quality reports on CP 24 for 12 weeks (the weather reporter included the message as part of the report). Again our strategic approach was to ensure that we aligned our message about electricity conservation with the weather. Our message was, "Weather brought to you by Toronto Hydro. Toronto Hydro wants you to conserve electricity and save money!" KILL A WATT, NOT A BIRD To supplement efforts in getting business and commercial customers to conserve and to sustain the messages toward the end of the summer, Toronto Hydro partnered with the Fatal Light Awareness Program (FLAP). FLAP is a not-for-profit agency that is concerned with bird safety. Thousands of night-migrating birds can be injured or killed in one night by lighted-buildings and buildings with reflective glass. Over 140 different species of birds have collided with buildings in Toronto alone. With the same end-objective, Toronto Hydro and FLAP launched the "LIGHTS OUT TORONTO" campaign. Both have engaged and secured support from local councilors to help make the campaign sustainable. This partnership will see the creation of new by-laws to make sure that tall buildings shut their lights off, especially during migration season. The Team issued (and will continue to issue) migration media alerts, and letters to large customers. In 2006, all Toronto Hydro buildings will be bird friendly to prevent collisions with our own buildings (see Appendix D for example of letter to customers, media materials and coverage). UNPLUG UNPLUG was a pilot project targeting a more youthful audience. The electricity industry focuses on communicating with homeowners or bill payers. UNPLUG was Toronto Hydro's opportunity to begin educating dependants living at home, renters and residents who pay for electricity through their rent or condominium fees. The UNPLUG campaign was designed to deliver messages via 'texting' (cellphones) or e-mail communications. Participants received conservation info (i.e. if/when the temperature was high, an appeal to conserve electricity; information on events around the city either related to conservation or to encourage people to go out and not use electricity during peak times, etc.) Through flyers, grass roots efforts, media relations and direct interaction, Torontonians were encouraged to sign up to UNPLUG (see Appendix E for samples of materials, messages and media coverage).
6. Implementation and Challenges • Rather than incorporating expensive tactics such as launch events and conventional advertising, the Team used traditional media relations to secure the interest of print and broadcast media. Leveraging the hot weather, the Team used surveys to investigate interesting questions about office behavior. Strategic and timely media releases were used to entice reporters. • The budget was approximately $190,000, not a lot considering the reach and frequency required to trigger mass behaviour change. With limited resources (only one full-time employee), and competing priorities to contend with, the Team was regularly forced into reactive crisis management mode when extreme weather and sudden thunderstorms wreaked havoc on Toronto and diverted attention from our conservation campaign. • This plan was reactive in the sense that weather is unpredictable, so we had to act very quickly when the heat waves hit, then back-off when cooler weather arrived. • By August, the 'Hydro-Lerts" were getting stale, and we needed new angles. So, we introduced additional tactics to maintain momentum. The heat and humidity weren't the only weather problems. Sudden thunderstorms caused widespread blackouts and forced us into short-term "crisis management', especially during the violent August 19 storm when much of North Toronto was blacked-out for up to three days.
7. Measuring and Evaluation The Toronto Unplugged campaign received extensive TV, radio and print media coverage, generating more than 26 million impressions through more than 150 stories. Much of the coverage highlighted Toronto Hydro as a leader in efforts to convey the message of conservation and helped increase awareness of the importance of conserving electricity. The campaign also generated coverage in other markets across the country and internationally (see spreadsheet in Appendix F). Additional success indicators include: • The UNPLUG text messaging program ran from August 17 until September 30 and successfully attracted 859 participants. • Total impressions (media coverage and paid PSA): 52,700,150 + • Web site visits to the conservation section of our corporate page increased 47 per cent in July 2005 when compared to the year before. This indicates a marked interest in electricity conservation and a response to our messages asking customers to visit the Web site for conservation tips. 70 Since media relations was the main component of this campaign, one of our measures of success was "mentions and quality of message coverage". The Team analyzed key message pickup and the tone of articles and they were overwhelmingly aligned with our strategy. We went back to the polls to ask Torontonians directly about electricity conservation over the months of July and August. The results showed: • 93 per cent heard Toronto Hydro's messages about conserving electricity. • Torontonians cite Toronto Hydro as the second most active in promoting energy conservation, second to the provincial government. . Most recall hearing Toronto Hydro's messages about using appliances after peak times, setting their AC at a warmer temperature and using energy efficient compact fluorescent light bulbs. Customer behavior also changed in response to the Toronto Unplugged campaign. • We tracked electricity consumption in the midst of our campaign. During the month of July 2005, Toronto Hydro released eight 'Hydro-Lerts' asking customers to conserve electricity. Despite the fact that summer 2005 was an unusually hot one, Toronto used almost 5 per cent less electricity during the last three days of July 2005 than the same time period in 2004 (see consumption statistics in Appendix G). • We received many calls and e-mails from customers letting us know what they were doing from a conservation perspective and what 'others" could/should be doing (see example of comments from The Toronto Star blog site in Appendix G). • We also received positive feedback on our "Lights Out" initiative and commitment from businesses to conserve electricity and save birds (see Appendix D for customer feedback).
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