Case Study: PR Packs a Punch With Spokesperson Laila Ali in Knockout Campaign for the American Kidney Fund

Cone and the American Kidney Fund’s “Pair Up: Join the Fight to Prevent Kidney Disease” campaign launch event in NYC’s Times Square engaged the public with free health screenings. Photo courtesy of Cone Communications

Organization: American Kidney Fund

Agency: Cone Communications

Timeframe: April 2010 - Sept. 2011

Kidney disease is a serious and increasingly common condition that affects as many as 31 million Americans. Because its symptoms can go undetected for years, the disease is often referred to as a silent killer and can lead to heart attack, stroke, kidney failure and even death if left untreated. Yet, with proper detection and care, most cases could be prevented.

The American Kidney Fund (AKF) was founded in 1971 with the purpose of fighting kidney disease through direct financial support to patients in need, offering health education and prevention efforts. Today, the American Kidney Fund has grown into the nation’s leading provider of charitable assistance to dialysis patients.

RALLYING FOR A CAUSE

In April 2010, the AKF approached Cone Communications to create a national health education initiative that would raise awareness of this unknown health issue and rally Americans to join the fight against kidney disease. In particular, AKF wanted to focus on increasing awareness of the leading risk factors—high blood pressure and diabetes. Right from the start, AKF’s objectives were clear:

• Increase awareness of and action against kidney disease among at-risk populations.

• Enhance AKF’s leadership positioning.

• Generate national media coverage with a goal of 65 million media impressions.

• Lay the groundwork for additional national attention for kidney disease and AKF’s mission.

RISE ABOVE THE CLUTTER

With a mandate in place, Cone immediately identified two challenges. First, Cone needed to garner attention and media interest in a little-known and often misunderstood disease. The campaign needed to not only put kidney disease on the map, it needed to create a sense of urgency around the importance of understanding it and its risks to inspire consumers to take action.

The second challenge, says Amy Russ, VP, Cone Communications, was to create a campaign that would receive the proper attention in an already cluttered space. “Consumers are hit with a barrage of health messages every day,” she explains. “So, the question we faced was how do we break through that noise and provide clear and simple messages in a way that would create a sense of urgency. We didn’t want to scare consumers, we wanted to empower them.”

FINDING YOUR TARGET

Initially, AKF met with Cone’s Cause Branding team, headed up by senior VP Pat Hurley, which was tasked with sketching out a winning strategy.

“When we met with the Cone team, their expertise was evident and we felt comfortable that the partnership would be a good fit for us,” says Tamara Ruggiero, VP of communications and marketing, American Kidney Fund.

One of the most important goals of the campaign was to identify a clear target audience. Through Cone’s research, results showed that although women are only slightly more likely than men to have kidney disease, they are also most often the driving force behind their family’s important health decisions. Therefore, women have the unique ability to help raise awareness of the disease.

In order to achieve its goals, Cone outlined several strategies, including:

• Leverage women’s interest in the health of their loved ones to get them to learn about—and take action on—kidney health.

• Empower women who care for at-risk loved ones to spread the awareness message by providing them with tools and information.

• Leverage a high-visibility launch event to draw attention to the campaign.

• Identify a celebrity spokesperson to draw national media attention to the issue and introduce AKF to a wider audience.

• Use survey results to underscore the issue and create news hooks.

• Tailor story angles for specific media targets.

After careful planning and deliberation, the team had its “Pair Up: Join the Fight to Prevent Kidney Disease” campaign in place.

“This title evokes the call to action,” explains Hurley. “Namely, that we are asking women to join with someone else in preventing kidney disease, whether the specific action is passing along information, coming to an AKF screening, or participating in an AKF walk.”

The title is also a play on the fact that kidneys come in pairs, adds Hurley. The intent was that the name “Pair Up” would lend itself naturally to sponsorship opportunities.

Enter Cone’s Brand Marketing team. Cone was now ready to move forward with a high-profile launch event, featuring athlete/health and fitness champion Laila Ali as spokesperson, and some aggressive media outreach.

CHOOSING A CHAMPION

A key element to garnering high-level national media attention for AKF was finding a high-profile celebrity to champion the cause. With a background and career that already promoted good health, Laila Ali seemed like a natural choice (see the sidebar for spokesperson tips).

“Laila is extremely relevant and relatable to the target audience of women,” explains Russ. “She has a personal connection to kidney disease. Both of the risk factors—high blood pressure and diabetes—run in her family, so it was an issue near to her heart.”

Cone also leveraged Ali’s social media channels—she has a huge following on Facebook and Twitter and was able to create plenty of awareness.

JOIN THE FIGHT

In September 2011, Cone and AKF launched its multifaceted Pair Up campaign, which:

â–¶ Engaged Ali as the celebrity health champion.

â–¶ Conducted a national survey to underscore the issue and illustrate the need for greater awareness.

â–¶ Hosted a high-profile launch event in New York’s Times Square featuring a highly visual Pair Up-branded billboard at ABC studios as backdrop for the launch. The event (pictured) drove consumer awareness and education through multiple touch points, including free health screenings, sampling and engaging consumers to take the Pair Up Challenge, an online interactive quiz.

â–¶ Created online resource, PairUpNow.org, featuring the Pair Up Challenge along with many additional resources, including educational materials, and patient advocacy information.

â–¶ Aggressive media outreach delivered national coverage, including in-studio interviews with Ali on Good Morning America and Access Hollywood Live.

â–¶ Executed satellite and radio media tours with AKF president and CEO LaVarne Burton to drive awareness via regional broadcast outlets, reaching 3.9 million plus consumers.

â–¶ Distributed a PSA with Ali delivering a compelling call-to-action.

According to Russ, “PR was a key driver of the campaign. It wasn’t really supported by advertising or marketing, so it was up to our public relations efforts to deliver maximum awareness and visibility for this issue.”

GOOD IMPRESSIONS

By November 2011, Cone had hailed the campaign a success. In less than two months, the campaign delivered on all objectives, including:

• More than 260 million national media impressions, more than quadruple the goal of 65 million.

• Increase awareness of and action against kidney disease.

• 13,000 consumers visited PairUpNow.org; nearly 1,300 people have taken the Pair Up Challenge.

• High-profile national launch of awareness campaign emphasized AKF’s legacy and leadership.

• Media coverage, positioned AKF’s Burton, as a key national advocate for kidney disease awareness.

Cone’s work included market research, brand development, Web site guidance, survey implementation, media outreach and extensive logistical planning for the launch event in Times Square. “We were in touch with Cone on a daily basis throughout the 18-month period in order to develop this campaign successfully,” says Ruggiero.

Pair Up had proven to be highly effective in raising awareness of kidney disease, sparking dialogue among consumers, media and influencers and directly engaging thousands of Americans to learn more about the risks associated with the disease. PRN

 

CONTACT:

Tamara Ruggiero, [email protected]; Amy Russ, [email protected]; Pat Hurley, [email protected]; Lori Raimondo, [email protected].