In the fall of 1993, OshKosh B'Gosh, the well-known Wisconsin-based maker of children's clothing and adult workwear, approached Laughlin/Constable Public Relations, Milwaukee, with a tall order: craft a centennial campaign promoting the roots of the firm as a workwear manufacturer and its image as a producer of high-quality, durable clothing.
The official response of the PR firm --which has had a long-standing relationship with OshKosh --was to begin by poring through the company's archives and gathering and analyzing old ads and historical product information as well as current data from recent market research.
Laughlin/Constable staff had unofficially been gathering information on how other companies had celebrated their centennial long before OshKosh formally contacted them.
The homework paid off. The team uncovered a thread that would become the key to the campaign. It became apparent through volumes of letters written over the years by consumers that OshKosh possessed a tremendous amount of company loyalty. Letters which suggested that families passed OshKosh garments down through families, and sometimes, generations, often keeping the garments after they had been outgrown.
The team at Laughlin/Constable wisely distilled this piece of information into the essence of their campaign.
"The challenge was, how do we communicate OshKosh's history to celebrate our centennial?" said Christel Henke, vice president, account supervisor, public relations. "Oshkosh started as a workwear company, and people weren't aware of that."
To help OshKosh capitalize on the well-documented customer loyalty, Laughlin Constable created a contest, in which all of America would "Search for the Oldest Bib Overall," the name of the campaign launched in January 1995.
The search asked customers to look in their closets and attics to see if they could find an old OshKosh bib overall, and to send a photo of what they found to the Laughlin Constable. Ultimately OshKosh company officials, including OshKosh CEO and president Douglas Hyde, would judge the entries with OshKosh museum officials, and then award $1,000 to the winner at the company's centennial picnic celebration.
Though there is always a risk in basing a campaign on the anticipated cooperation of the public, the strength of the concept was sufficient to generate coverage on its own, said Henke.
"Even if we didn't end up with many entries, it was an interesting story, looking for an old pair of bibs, and we believed it would generate interest as a news story," said Henke.
The firm believed correctly. Instead of newspapers giving the story a blurb's worth of coverage lifted from the press kit's press release, national media such as NBC's "Today" show, ABC Network Radio --even the National Enquirer --picked up the story and ran it as a feature. Ultimately, news of the campaign generated more than 50 million media impressions through more than 400 print and broadcast placements during the eight-month campaign.
The campaign was carefully orchestrated in three stages to encourage and sustain media coverage. Theactual execution involved several elements: a well-crafted, highly visual press kit with previously unpublished historical photos of the classic bib overalls, pictures of different buttons that were used in the manufacture of the garments since 1895, and background information on OshKosh's entry into children's clothing.
The call for entries was done through a wire service, and the press kit went out to key consumer magazines and all daily newspapers with a circulation of more than 25,000.
"The press kit had a lot of visual appeal, because we used a lot of great archival photography," said Henke. "Newspapers ended up profiling the company --which is exactly what we wanted them to do --and the photos helped to achieve that."
Then, three months later, an mid-point mailing was done to smaller, regional publications, including country-living, senior, antique, railroad, and history publications. This time, the mailer included an updated press release -- with excerpts from some of the testimonial letters that customers had written along with their entry form.
Fifteen finalists were chosen out of more than 500 entrants, and OshKosh officials were teamed with OshKosh Public Museum historians, who examined the 15 garments for authentication, based on garment design, buttons and fabric. The campaign uncovered by accident what company historians believe may be the company's first pair of children's bib overalls ever produced - sent in by a 89-year-old man, Clyde Mehder, of Sarasota, Fla., whose uncle had been a tailor at OshKosh at the turn-of-the-century. Medher was ultimately was chosen as the winner.
The campaign generated print and broadcast ad equivalencies of more than $1 million, for a return on investment of 1,100% -- all on a budget of $90,000. The campaign also garnered nine industry awards, including five that have been national in scope.
"OshKosh is not the first company to do a search [campaign], but customer loyalty made this campaign a natural," said Henke. "There aren't any new ideas, but coming up with a fresh way to do an idea is why this works. It had strong customer loyalty, and just the right spin." (Christel Henke, Laughlin/Constable, 414/272-2400; OshKosh B'Gosh, 414/231-8800)
Harold Burson Imparts Words of PR Wisdom New York - Harold Burson, chairman of the world-famous PR firm Burson-Marsteller (BM) recently shared his insight on the state of the PR industry. And when Burson talked, every one of the some 50 attendees at the Media Relations '96 Conference here seemed to listen.
BM, which boasts 70 offices in 34 countries, is particular about both who it brings on as clients and who it brings in as employees.
"We brought a degree of integrity to our business principles... we aren't in it for the glory, but to serve our clients and maintain long relationships," he said. Burson discussed how, in an industry where most firms can only grow to a certain point, BM has expanded profoundly since its formation in 1953.
And he touched on what he considers the key to client relationships: partnerships. BM doesn't work with any clients that don't have their own inside PR/media relations/communications person, he said, opining that an outside PR firm can't replace an inside PR firm because there needs to be someone representing the client.
"We serve as an extension of the client team, not something that is added on," he explained.
When he first started BM, Burson recalled that a PR hopeful couldn't get an interview at a firm without having some news experience writing for a publication.
The scope is much broader now, versus 30 or 40 years ago, when press relations experience accounted for more than half of the requirement for getting a PR job.
Now people who are considered superb PR professionals have the ability to man
large organizations, said Burson. Healthcare and food manufacturer professionals are potentially good PR people, and represent industries that are being heavily recruitedby BM. Said Burson: "It's one thing to be able to counsel clients, but can he/she build a business?"
When deciding whether or not to revamp an established, older business in order to compete with new, up-and-coming firms, Burson said that "sometimes you have to destroy what you've built and start over on a new base. No company should take comfort and say, `we're here and we're happy staying where we are.'"
The Media Relations conference was sponsored by by Bulldog Reporter and The National PR Pitchbook. (Burson Marsteller, 212/614-4000)