AGENCY: Weber Merritt Strategies
CLIENT: Southern Women's Center for Leadership Development
TIMEFRAME: Dec. 3, 2005-early 2007
A prejudiced government made it necessary. A determined community made it possible. Rosa Parks made it famous. Now, 50 years later, Weber Merritt Strategies (WMS) and
the Southern Women's Center for Leadership Development (SWCLD) are making the bicentennial anniversary of the Montgomery (Ala.) Bus Boycott a far-reaching PR initiative to
rekindle the revolutionary spirit of activists around the country.
The Washington, D.C.-based public-affairs firm teamed with the women's center to promote the 50-year milestone of the event that kick-started the civil-rights movement,
especially focusing on uniting past participants with future leaders. The combined efforts will begin with a day-long event in Montgomery Dec. 3; it then will unfold into a
national, 381-day remembrance to match the duration of the original boycott.
"It was largely women and children who boycotted the buses, so I really wanted to highlight this and begin to develop a cadre of young activists in the South who could impact
public policy in their communities - especially around the issues of youth violence and public-school involvement," says Doris D. Crenshaw, executive director of SWCLD. "We'll do
that for a year and then come out with a report to use to continue getting the message across throughout the country."
WMS' involvement began with promotional efforts surrounding a one-time celebration, which snowballed into an ongoing campaign underlining the importance of strategy,
organization and messaging when it comes to long-lasting events.
Strategically speaking, coordinators are trying to garner as many layers of involvement as possible, ranging from local and regional to national participants. And, like any
event hinging on a historic occurrence, timing is everything: A PR campaign that coincides with the anniversary automatically peaks the public's interest and generates media
attention as well as attracts noteworthy, relevant speakers.
"It's timely, so it's newsworthy. We're actually having it in the location where it started. There's a historical purpose for why it's there; we don't have to generate our own
news cycle because there's going to be an interest in this anyway," says Christy Moran, a WMS campaign leader.
Because of the social and political weight of the anniversary, a number of civil-rights activists will participate in the celebration, continuing their support during the next
381 days by giving speeches and hosting symposiums. Confirmed participants include Jacqueline Jackson (wife of Rev. Jesse Jackson); Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.); poet Maya Angelou;
and Coretta Scott King, widow of Martin Luther King, Jr.
"We're trying to broaden the scope by including the political spectrum: civil-rights activists and local Montgomery city officials," says Sean P. Nichols, an Alabama State
University graduate and a key senior staffer at WMS. "Having political and national figures makes the media draw even easier, so it's good to have a representation for each
sector of the industry out there."
In terms of organization, the size of the bus-boycott anniversary campaign offers lessons to senior PR managers who might be presented with an equally mammoth undertaking.
Besides having the campaign's tentacles reach different news outlets and geographic regions, it also is essential to have coordinators who report back to a leader or group of
leaders at headquarters. Moran and Nichols emphasize their involvement with national African American media, including Black Entertainment Television (BET) and
Ebony, but both reiterate the necessity of making the theme clear-cut and the messaging consistent throughout all levels of the organization.
"The theme has stayed the same: saluting the 50th anniversary [of the Montgomery bus boycotts]," Moran says. "It's to help educate the public about defining tomorrow
with the youth of today."
The Montgomery Board of Education is working to get younger people involved in the campaign. One project they will help execute is a poetry contest for children in
elementary through high school based on "what does the civil-rights movement mean to me?" The winner will read his or her poem aloud at the December anniversary celebration.
Events that elicit involvement from the targeted community - in this case, young people - also will garner more media and public attention than those that generalize the
message.
Based on the work of WMS and SWCLD, PR pros are wise to investigate all dimensions of events with historical significance - including timeframe, location, background and
participants - before launching a campaign. That offers the greatest potential for conveying a message that will resonate clearly and effectively.
"Our goal is to ultimately re-educate the country that the civil-rights movement took place in Montgomery, Ala., in December 1955. It didn't start in Birmingham, it didn't
start in Atlanta, it didn't start in Madagascar. It started in Montgomery," Nichols says. "The importance of a program like this is the passing of the torch and continuing Martin
Luther King, Jr.'s dream."
Contacts: The main telephone number for Doris Crenshaw (contact Weber Merritt Strategies), Christy Moran and Sean P. Nichols is 202.261.4012.