I attended an interesting seminar today at the local library. It was laid on by post graduate students at the Seneca College Corporate Communications program. Featured speakers were Terry Fallis of Insidepr.ca and Tara Wood, Public Relations Manager, World Wildlife Fund Canada and SaveOurClimate.
The real power in today’s seminar that struck me, lies in the notion of media relations as an ongoing activity, so the example here is a one time event, and with that in mind …..
The topic was media from a PR perspective, and to both describe the new tools (InsidePR) and use them (WWF).
The WWF example was very transparent, with their results, which I summarise here.
- total cost $10,000
- results nearly 11 million media impressions
Some notes from their presentation. I am not evaluating the concept … that’s not my thing – this is only summarised to outline what they got for their $10,000.
saveourclimate.ca
TagLine: ignoring global warming wont make it go away
tv, radio, print ads
Concept: 3,000 black balloons in city square, each representing the amount of hydrocarbons each person is responsible for per day
Agencies: Cundari
- blog strategy
- event management
newmindpsace.com
- event logistics
- engage network members
Examples of the media campaign
- business cards with URL – simple design
- Traditional media
- T-shirts
- media advisory
- Social media
- wwf photographers
- flickr – 180 pictures tagged appropriately
- del.icio.us
- online media kit with key focus on flickr, del.icio.us and the wwf blog
The results in that horribly old media metric of 11 million impressions, related primarily TV and blog views. Newspapers missed the boat almost entirely, except for the Toronto Star.
To round this out, I go back to Terry’s presentation which preceded. He noted that the Globe and Mail charge $75,000 for a one day, full page spread. That prompted the best quote of the day from Terry … why not use that $75K to hire one person for a year, to work “new media”.
Anyhow … thanks folks for a great seminar, and double thanks for doing the whole thing in about 2 hours including a break – simple, clear, concise and focussed. Execution, and timing were laser focussed.
Finally, thanks to CNW who sponsored the event, including.
Bankwatch 
Thanks for the great feedback, Colin. I am so pleased you enjoyed the event and to have met you. The results achieved by Tara’s campaign certainly are (and were!) remarkable. I hope to one day be part of something like that. Again, thank you for joining us that day and please keep in touch.
Cathy