In a city like New York, where there are numerous events and news-breaking occurrences each day, it is definitely a challenge to get the attention of the media and the public -- especially for an event that is essentially a repeat performance.
But that didn't deter The Weiser Group/New York from taking on the task, pro bono, of coordinating the PR activities for The Susan G. Komen's Breast Cancer Foundation's "New York Race for the Cure" fundraiser held this past Sept. 14.
The Susan G. Komen's Breast Cancer Foundation is the nation's largest private funder of research dedicated solely to breast cancer. The race in New York was the seventh time that women participated in a 5K walk/run through New York's Central Park.
The Weiser Group, headed by partner and managing director Robert McGrath, was charged with creating visibility for the race - not only on race day - but in the weeks leading up to it. The increased visibility would hopefully lead to increased participation in the race and to raising more money than in the previous year.
(Money is raised not only by runners paying registration fees, but also through spectators pledging amounts for family members or friends running in the race. Also, through a new feature of the race called "Three Miles of Men," men could pay to register to stand along the race route and cheer the women on.)
The visibility and fundraising efforts were successful on both counts, says communications and marketing consultant Lynne Abraham, co-chair and co-founder of the New York race.
"While we anticipated an increase over last year's enrollment of 12,000, we were blown away by the actual turnout, 18,000 -- a 50% increase," she says. Similarly, this year's race has so far raised in excess of $1 million -- an increase over the $800,000 raised in '96.
Media coverage of the event has been extensive: feature stories, column items, interviews, public affairs programming and straight news coverage were featured by or in:
- The New York Times, The Daily News, Newsday as well as regional and weekly newspapers;
- New Yorker magazine;
- On all of the major TV networks, including NBC's "Today" show;
- On radio stations such as WINS/1010 and WOR-NY; and
- Also, on the day of the race, all of the TV stations in New York covered the race. NBC featured live, on-site pre-race coverage beginning at 7 a.m.
Bang The Drum Early
The Weiser Group became involved in the PR effort for the race in spring of '97, too late to really arrange for coverage from magazines that need long lead times - sometimes a necessity to create effective PR for events.
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The Weiser Group Main Office: Chicago Founded: 1984 Number of Employees: 6 Senior Partner: Michael Weiser Current Clients: Options Industry Council, Conseco, Chase Manhattan, Deloitte & Touche |
"We needed to make sure there was a strong and consistent drumbeat [of PR] not only on the day of the race, but leading up to it," says McGrath. Acknowledging that you can't start PR efforts too early, PR for an event "is like a race - you can run out of steam before you finish," she adds.
Then there was the real challenge of promoting an event in New York, which, as McGrath describes, "is very competitive. There is so much communication/PR going on in this city 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It is a very unique challenge."
In order to break through the New York clutter, McGrath and others worked to "make [the race] not just another event, but to make it an icon, a part of the New York City landscape and culture, the same way the New York Marathon is."
For example, several prominent buildings in the city's architectural tapestry were cloaked in pink lights at night in honor of the race. This year, the Chrysler Building and 30 Rockefeller Plaza joined the Empire State Building in the lighting ritual.
In order to get some big, splashy coverage, the honorary chair, Donna Hanover, hosted a kick-off breakfast at Gracie Mansion in June '97, and made herself available for interviews on TV and radio as the race approached.
Similarly, Al Roker of NBC's "Today" show was the chairman of the Three Miles of Men effort and McGrath sought to leverage the well-known media personality.
"We asked, Where could Al do something that would reach a wide audience?" says McGrath. Roker ultimately talked about the race a few days out on "The Grambling Show," a New York radio program widely listened to by women in theirs 30s-50s. Roker also did a PSA with Jane Hanson.
Overall, McGrath estimates that his firm donated $40K-$60K worth of PR services to the event and says there are many benefits of such pro bono work.
"We are involved with healthcare clients professionally, and we knew we could bring our knowledge to this event," he says. "From a professional skills point of view, it gave us a new challenge -- we can now say we've done publicity for a major athletic event. But the most important thing was this was something where we thought we could make a difference, and that satisfaction carries over into everything you do." (Lynne Abraham, 212/293-0570; Robert McGrath, The Weiser Group, 212/684-4440)