When the Toronto Transit Commission's workers threatened a strike, transit company GO Transit viewed TTC's crisis as an opportunity to attract passengers who wouldn't be able
to get their usual ride to work. The company immediately began a major media relations campaign, primarily to drive consumers to its Web site, where they could find information on
transportation to fit their needs.
The PR team knew it would be fielding a huge number of media calls, but team members didn't have to look outside for help in sorting or responding to the increased media
attention. Staffers in the company's call center are routinely trained to handle media calls as well as customer inquiries and were able to step in to supplement the team's
resources. GO scored twice with this campaign: The company made wise use of another organization's strike to draw attention to its own services. And because of the company's
standard policy on training employees to deal with the media, the strike response required no additional expenses beyond employee time.
Editor's Note: This strategy comes from the just-published PR NEWS Book of 100 Best Case Studies in PR, a compilation of our top case studies on media relations, crisis
management, community relations and more. To reserve your copy or to find out if you are featured in this must-have resource, contact Amy Urban at [email protected].