Award-Winning Public Relations Case Studies
Food & Beverage
Professional Services
Healthcare / Life Sciences
Non Profit
Professional Services
Food & Beverage
Higher Education
Healthcare / Life Sciences
Non Profit
Food & Beverage
Bimbo Bakeries USA
Challenge:
Bimbo Bakeries, the largest bakery in the U.S., sought a more active social media presence to help the public connect the parent company with its more well-known brands
Buchanan PR’s Role:
Revamp Facebook presence and launch Instagram account
Tactics:
- Led photo sessions for product content, developed engaging content and created a unique strategy to drive engagement with consumers
- Developed an influencer program through their Instagram account and ran a number of Instagram giveaways
Results:
Boosted brand engagement and created a wider audience reach:
- Facebook: engagement increased by 200%; follower count increased from 2,000+ to 5,000+
- Instagram: engagement rate of 7%; grew follower count to nearly 3,500
Food & Beverage
Yuengling Ice Cream
Challenge:
Yuengling’s Ice Cream hoped to reintroduce its product to the market after a 30-year hiatus
Buchanan PR’s Role:
Create a robust communications plan to reintroduce the product with small budgets, no advertising support and to local markets unfamiliar with the Yuengling name
Tactics:
- Invite a select number of media to the manufacturing facility in northeast Pennsylvania for a tour and first taste of the ice cream
- Provide photos/b-roll for those unable to travel to facility
- Hold weekly contests on social media to grow fan excitement and engagement with brand
- Identify local store to be the first to offer the product
- Offer exclusive to national reporter to visit store and interview those buying/tasting the product
Results:
- Ice cream production moved up by two months due to increased demand
- Two-month supply sold out in 2 ½ weeks
- 280+ grocery stores requested the first batch
- More than 1,500 stories about the ice cream ran over a 12 month-period, including national outlets such as:
- Inc.
- USA Today
- Bloomberg TV
- Associated Press
- Over a 12-year period on social, there was:
- 330+% increase in Facebook likes
- 140+% increase in followers and nearly 300K impressions on Twitter
- 190 followers over a 9-month period on Instagram, from platform’s launch
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Professional Services
Troutman Pepper
Challenge:
Pepper Hamilton (now Troutman Pepper), a nationally recognized law firm, sought to position its Corporate and Securities attorneys as national subject matter experts
Buchanan PR’s Role:
Newsjacking— identify a developing news story and swiftly cycle Pepper into that story as an expert source; in this case, Elon Musk’s controversial tweets on taking Tesla private
Tactics:
- Research reporters who covered the story and the most appropriate Pepper Hamilton attorneys to pitch.
- Immediately pitched one of the firm’s corporate and securities attorneys as a “legal expert” to comment on this story
- Followed Musk on Twitter to quickly offer reporters the attorney “source” after any controversial tweets
- Tapped additional attorneys as story evolved, to ensure client would remain a resource for reporter
Results:
- 50 original stories that were a direct result of the interviews and requests for comments
- 58 interviews or requests for comments resulted in 3,050 stories quoting a Pepper Hamilton partner, in top-tier outlets such as The Washington Post, Wall Street Journal and Associated Press.
- This single newsjacking pitch secured more coverage for the firm than the previous five years of media relations efforts combined
Professional Services
Salveson Stetson Group
Challenge:
Salveson Stetson Group, a nationally recognized retained executive search firm, looking garner additional exposure for their new website from search engines and ensure potential clients could find them more easily
Buchanan PR’s Role:
Ensure SSG had a well-functioning website through a select number of central keywords that allow SSG to optimize its digital visibility and improve its performance on search engines, such as Google
Tactics:
- Conduct an exhaustive SEO audit to determine the overall health of the SSG website
- Identify keywords and search terms used by SSG
- Identify top organic website competitors based on keywords
- Identify best keywords to incorporate into website copy, competitor keywords and best practices to increase search engine visibility
Results:
Our recommendations moved the client to the first page of search results for the top and most meaningful keywords for them and their industry, after originally not appearing within the first five pages
Healthcare / Life Science
AtlantiCare
Challenge:
AtlantiCare, a regional health system in Southern New Jersey, became a go-to resource for the health reporter at USA Today
Buchanan PR’s Strategy:
Newsjacking— identified a developing health news story and swiftly cycled AtlantiCare physicians in as reliable expert sources
Tactics:
- Researched and developed creative health pitches that set AtlantiCare physicians apart from other health experts
- Offered their unique perspective in a timely manner
- Responded quickly to reporter queries and requests for follow-up
- Continued to monitor health news and communicate with AtlantiCare on additional stories to pitch
Results:
- After an initial pitch resulting in a story in USA Today, the reporter returned for sources from AtlantiCare for an additional three stories, averaging one per quarter
- Each story highlighted the expertise in a physician in one of AtlantiCare’s key service lines
- Each of these stories was syndicated to additional outlets for a total of more than 150 placements in outlets across the country
- AtlantiCare became a valuable resource for the reporter, because of our creative pitching and timely response
Healthcare / Life Science
Inclinica
Challenge:
InClinica, a clinical CRO based outside of Philadelphia, wanted to grow its brand through a thought leadership program
Buchanan PR’s Strategy:
Locate and secure opportunities to position CEO as a thought leader in the pharmaceutical field
Tactics:
- Researched organizations that hosted events, targeted at pharmaceutical companies
- Built on initial lecture opportunity by cultivating relationship with that organization’s leader, which granted additional speaking opportunities
- Worked to select events that would prove most fruitful for the CEO to speak
- Worked with CEO to hone speaking topics and develop unique presentations for each opportunity
Results:
- Secured 10 national and international speaking opportunities for CEO
- Buchanan PR maximized exposure for each opportunity by:
- Posting on social media during the lectures
- Drafting blog posts about the presentation topic
- Distributing press releases to relevant trade media
- Securing interview opportunities on the various topics
- Each engagement resulted in 1-2 new business meetings for our client
Non-Profit
Wissahickon Trails
Challenge:
Wissahickon Trails, an environmental preservation nonprofit in Philadelphia, wanted a name change and rebrand to better reflect brand identity
Buchanan PR’s Role:
Conduct research, assess communications and collateral and provide recommendations on name change/brand refinement; design, create and update various collateral materials in accordance with the organization’s rebrand
Tactics:
- Held interviews with several key stakeholder groups to hone precise messaging
- Conducted a full communications audit, including review of existing collateral and message channels
- Reviewed strategic plan and existing research
- Conducted a SEM/SEO audit to assess effective, organic use of keywords by organization and their competitors
- Developed a set of recommendations related to how the organization brands and communicates itself to its key constituencies
Results:
- Buchanan PR created a complete rebrand of the organization, including a new name, and redesigned various collateral materials for the client including:
- Newsletters, brochures and postcards
- Outdoor signage
- Sponsorship and development materials
- Placed a number of op-eds under the new branding name, helping the brand’s reach in the greater Philadelphia area
Non Profit
Foundation to Abolish Child Sex Abuse
Challenge:
The Foundation to Abolish Child Sex Abuse (FACSA) sought to use Pope Francis’ visit to Philadelphia as an opportunity to rekindle the uncomfortable—but critical—discussion of the Catholic Church’s failed handling of the child sex abuse scandal.
Buchanan PR’s Role:
Harness the media as a vehicle to remind the public of the thousands of survivors of clergy sex abuse who have never received justice and shine a global light on a dark and painful topicRevamp Facebook presence and launch Instagram account
Tactics:
- Create a highly targeted media list of reporters, editors and producers covering either the Pope’s visit or the sex abuse scandal
- Pitch FACSA founder as a spokesperson for the survivor community via a news alert and targeted pitches in advance of the Pope’s arrival and during his travels in the United States
- Draft a media statement that Buchanan PR could quickly issue to time-strapped journalists who could easily insert it into their stories
Outcomes:
- Op-Ed authored by FACSA founder ran in the Philadelphia Inquirer; led to additional news stories in the Inquirer and a front-page story in The Washington Post
- FACSA founder invited as a guest on a talk show on NPR’s Philadelphia affiliate
- FACSA founder interviewed by 7 top-tier national outlets, which resulted in 35 placements; he also appeared in 6 international stories including one in the BBC; his prepared media statement was picked up by additional 5 outlets
- Calls-to-action were mentioned in approximately 2/3 of the articles
- Both FACSA and its founder were credited by other survivor groups for advancing the conversation nationwide
- The New York Times used FACSA for background purposes during its research on a major, front-page piece it ran the week before the Pope’s visit and included founder in a follow-up piece
Higher Education
Rosemont College
Challenge:
Rosemont College, a small liberal arts college outside Philadelphia, planned a dramatic tuition reduction
Buchanan PR’s Role:
Revamp Facebook presence and launch Instagram account.Develop an ambitious communications campaign to not simply announce the reduction but expose the brokenness of the college tuition model.Revamp Facebook presence and launch Instagram account
Tactics:
- Create name, distinctive logo for campaign
- Prepare key messages, FAQs, remarks and a presentation for Rosemont’s president, and an infographic
- Share embargoed information with select key reporters and schedule a press conference for the announcement
Results:
- In the first week of the announcement, 62 media outlets ran the story, including The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Washington Post, CNN, U.S. News & World Report and all broadcast outlets in Philadelphia
- The announcement’s Facebook post was shared more than 17,000 times