For a company that's just using PR as a means to get a message out, the message had better be good. It should be clear, easy to understand, but most of all, it must say what people want to hear: What can this product do for me and why should I support it?
The PR campaign that Minda Associates (MA) advertising and PR firm in Minneapolis, Minn., created for the Minnesota Department of Transportation, showed how the $25 million, six-mile-long test road called the MN/ROAD, could change the future of road paving.
Located just outside the Twin Cities, the laboratory underneath the test road has top-notch electronic sensors that study the impact of traffic on various pavement designs.
The research examines what type of road holds up the best for the longest time, thereby saving taxpayers future money. MA's mission was to generate awareness for the project and gain local, national and international financial support.
MA was hired in January 1995 for the March '95 launch date of the road. By working with the Minneapolis research firm C.J. Olsen, MA discovered how to reach target audiences through specific consumer and trade media.
MA's target audiences for building potential partnerships were the state departments of transportation, foreign countries, universities and private industry.
MA contacted nearly 300 representatives from key audiences to gauge potential responses to the road and test what audiences were likely to partner with MN/ROAD.
The main objective of the campaign, named "Beyond the Surface," was to communicate in simple terms why MN/ROAD was necessary and show that its staff was superb and the equipment was top-notch. Then, MN/ROAD would be positioned to set up partnerships with other organizations for financial aid, data sharing or donations of equipment.
Because roads crack through the freezing and thawing process of cement, MA used springtime as a lead into the campaign. But the real center of the story was heavy trucks, which contribute most to the breakdown of roads.
About two weeks before the launch, MA sent out "teaser" postcards to its target audiences to create a buzz. On the front was of the card was a flower sprouting up through the pavement with the words, "Cracking Up? When the pavement cracks up, that's bad news for taxpayers." About 10 days later, MA sent out press kits, complete with photos and graphs showing the need for the test road.
Through research, MA included some unusual facts in its press kit. "We found a good hook (trucks), then made the information as graphic and grabby as possible," says Merle Minda, president of MA. The press kit included facts such as, "one 18-wheeler has the same effect on a road as 10,000 cars," and data on how much trucks are used for delivery purposes. MA also created a 10-minute demonstration video with live footage of the instruments and technology used under the road.
This video was sent to target media, and then MA worked with satellite distribution outlet Medialink, in Minneapolis, to create a two-minute video news release (VNR) to send to about 1,300 TV outlets and four different countries. MA made calls and follow-up calls to editors in the trade press and consumer press to set up interviews and arrange times when they could come see the test road at work.
Minda feels that the VNR was important because it laid out the problem, and explained the solution in under two minutes. "We used traditional PR means, took basic PR stock and trade, and really worked our [media] list," says Minda.
The camaign generated more than 5.9 million media impressions in newspapers, magazines (consumer and trade), radio and TV outlets. The VNR was aired on 32 TV stations and was picked up by four countries, including Japan and China. More than 120 officials from states, countries, universities and private industries showed an interest in partnering with MN/ROAD in the future.
MA continues its work for MN/ROAD, which is still in the experimental stage. Minda says, "now we have moved on to marketing, and we're concentrating on targeting private industries now, because they showed little interest before." MA keeps up communications with potential partners, who now include the Departments of Transportation in Finland and Quebec, and preliminary partnerships with the DOT's in South Korea, Mexico and Ontario.
Tom Johnson, public affairs and marketing manager at the MN Department of Transportation in St. Paul, says that the hardest part now is generating news, because "for quite a while there was continuous attention being paid to us by national and international trade media. Now people are waiting for some new accomplishments." His goal now is to "assemble new data and present it in a clear, meaningful and powerful way to the public."
(Minda Associates, 612/332-7313; MN/ROAD, 612/779-5616)
The Minnesota Department of Transportation and Minda Associates, Minneapolis, used a variety of approaches to generate awareness and increase support for the experimental highway research project, MN/ROAD.
Among the tactics:
- A teaser postcard introducing the road problem, and how test road research will help solve it;
- Interviews with media, and invitations for them to see the test road at work;
- Creation and distribution of a video news release; and
- Development of a "Response Fulfillment Kit" for key decision makers. It included brochures, data and a demonstration video.
Hager Sharp in Orange County
Washington, D.C.-based Hager Sharp, a PR and public affairs firm, has opened a West Coast office in Orange County, Calif.
Benito Casados joined the firm as senior vice president to head the office. He was executive director of Hughes Electronics' GALAXY Classroom, an interactive satellite education network for elementary schools.
The new office is located at 9000 MacArthur Boulevard, Suite 500, Irvine, CA 92612, 714/440-7907. (Hager Sharp, 202/842-3600)