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Here are a few examples of earned media and publicity campaign strategies we implemented:
For Smallman Galley, the media strategy has been particularly important: engaging local media coverage first, then leveraging those successes to secure terrific national placements (with more in the pipeline). The strategy has paid off so far for Smallman Galley and for the Pittsburgh region’s burgeoning national reputation as a hot-bed of innovation in the food and restaurant space.
First, Think Local
Engaging local media before approaching national outlets was a counter-intuitive approach according to some naysayers. After all, as the nation’s first restaurant incubator, why not a major coast-to-coast PR push from the get-go? Why not capitalize on Pittsburgh’s already being showcased in national press?
Our theory in this situation was that national media would be easier to attract once we had a slew of local posts, articles, and TV links to share, to use as an inducement to coverage: “There’s big news coming out of Pittsburgh — look at all this coverage.”
But also, on a purely practical level, given our team’s long experience with restaurant launches, we were concerned that we’d make a national push for awareness, name the opening date for the restaurant, and then have to postpone the media because the place hadn’t yet opened. Best of intentions aside, delays always occur amid the complexities of contractors, subcontractors, multiple vendors, licensing, and permitting. (And like home-improvement projects, they rarely come in under budget.) Why set up the Smallman Galley team for failure if they couldn’t open as initially scheduled?
So we made a plan: Get open, establish success, flood the local market — and then bring the national guys in. The clients agreed, and we placed our bet.
Coverage Mapping
As we mapped out potential local coverage, we broke it down into three phases that would be ripe for media interest. Judge the results for yourself: here’s the coverage we gained.
Media Coverage Concept Announcement
There was a lot of “new” going on: a new concept helmed by new restaurateurs seeking new cooking talent, so a large part of our messaging and media training sought to build confidence and trust that the project also possessed advisors with deep industry experience (in this case the unimpeachably pedigreed Troiani Family). This first wave of coverage wouldalso serve as a useful recruiting tool, augment other initiatives in attracting the first class of chef-applicants.
Media Placements:
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
New Chefs get a taste of how to run a restaurant
Next Pittsburgh
Restaurant incubator launches in the Strip District–now accepting applications for its first class
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
New galley in the Strip hopes to turn out top chefs
WPXI-TV Our Region’s Business
Smallman Galley: A Restaurant Incubator in Pittsburgh’s Strip District
WTAE-TV
Unique competition concept will bring top chefs to new Pittsburgh restaurant
Restaurant Start-up (starts at 36:29)
Pittsburgh Business Times
Culinary incubators offer place to hone menus
Table Magazine
Meet the Inaugural Class at Smallman Galley
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Smallman Galley to give chefs a boost
When communicating a radical departure from the traditional restaurant model — especially given a multi-month time lag, we knew repetition of the core elements would be key to prepare (and entice) potential patrons: Four diverse chefs dishing out deliciousness in this innovative, incubator environment.
Next Pittsburgh
Eat.Drink.Do. Smallman Galley adds four more reasons to visit the Strip
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Restaurant scene: Smallman Galley will nurture big ambition
CBS Pittsburgh
Restaurant Incubator Opens In The Strip This Weekend
December 18: Pittsburgh Business Times
Five things to know today, and a new food incubator opens in the Strip District
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Hatching new ideas: Smallman Galley food hall an incubator of 4 restaurants
Pittsburgh City Paper
The story behind Smallman Galley’s a broad and quirky beverage program
Pittsburgh Magazine
First Look: Smallman Galley
National Pitching and Placements
Armed with this slew of impressive third-party validation, and two months of capacity crowds, we turned to the national media.
Nearly a year to the day after the announcement of this new concept, the Times’ millions of online and print subscribers were treated to this beauty:
The New York Times
Pittsburgh’s Youth-Driven Food Boom
What we especially enjoy about this article is that it gives due attention to other restaurateurs in town, helping to further position the Pittsburgh region as a culinary leader. As one journalist who works for a prestigious national publication — and not-so- incidentally has been to Pittsburgh and loves it — told us, and this is almost a direct quote: “Every mid-sized city in the country is riding a wave of local, organic, and artisanal — what’s so different about Pittsburgh?”
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Steeltown Entertainment Project is a nonprofit organization building the entertainment industry in Pittsburgh. They develop the southwestern Pennsylvania region’s writers, directors, actors and production crews and they fund capstone projects that put the spotlight on the city. In late 2013, Steeltown and its partners set out to create local and national buzz using earned media strategies to raise awareness of a reality project created by actor Zachary Quinto and producer Chris Moore (Promised Land, Good Will Hunting). We deployed a media strategy to gain investor attention and visibility on the cable network they are courting for national distribution. Early numbers show traffic to the website from social networks has increased 200% over the prior time period. The Facebook page engagement saw the most significant increase with 202.67%.
Media Placements:
The Chair reality TV series from Chris Moore and Zachary Quinto
Toronto Star
New Pa. Reality Series Focuses on Director’s Chair
ABC News
Pittsburgh Reality Show ‘The Chair’ Challenges Hopeful Directors
Huffington Post
Actor Quinto, local groups back ‘The Chair’ film project
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
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We provided a communications strategy for Greater Pittsburgh Nonprofit Partnership’s annual meeting with the goal of increasing attendance from 100 attendees to 350. The communications strategy hit four major channels – email, social media, PR and direct mail. The result: attendance at the event topped 400. Additionally, we assisted with crisis communications as the organization was asked to deal with complicated questions about their stance on UPMC’s status as a nonprofit.
Media Placement:
Peduto pledges Pittsburgh will work more closely with small nonprofits
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
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Romeo Delivers
This cool local start-up needed earned media strategies to raise awareness of their subscription-based services offering creative DIY goods and tips to men during the Valentine’s Day season. The focus wass more on local media and national men’s blogs and outlets.
Media Placement:
Need a little help in the romance department? No fear, Romeo Delivers
Pittsburgh Business Times
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Below are a few fun highlights of stories Asa’s placed in media that have surfaced around the world.
Conflict Kitchen
A popup kitchen serving food from various countries that are in conflict with the U.S. as an educational mission.
Media Placement:
Culinary diplomacy at the Axis of Evil Cafe
Salon
Conflict Kitchen: Making Peace with America’s Sworn Enemies one Sandwich at a Time
Fast Company
One Cold Hand
The placement of Jennifer Gooch’s story in such prestigious outlets gained dramatic and positive exposure for the College of Fine Arts at a critical juncture for higher education arts institutions. U.S. News and World Report was soliciting ranking applications of MFA programs around the United States. Immediately following the appearance of the story in such publications as the New York Times and USA Today, rankings of the MFA program at Carnegie Mellon University improved in several important areas, including overall evaluation.
Created as part of her MFA studies, Gooch’s One Cold Hand project aimed to reunite Pittsburgh’s lost gloves with their rightful owners. Inspired by the many single gloves she saw lying in the streets her first winter in the city, Gooch decided to use the social networking capabilities of internet technology to rejoin the gloves with their missing mates. On the One Cold Hand site, Gooch posted photos and descriptions of the gloves and where they were discovered. If viewers recognized a glove as their own, the glove would be returned.
Media Placement:
Lost gloves seek mates on student’s website
USA Today
A partial list of the largest news outlets that placed the One Cold Hand story, as well as their circulation numbers, are below.
National Daily Newspapers:
New York Times Saturday Circulation: 991,335
USA Today Morning Circulation: 2,293,137
The Washington Post Saturday Circulation: 636,945
Internet Outlets:
Yahoonews.com Visitors per month: 35,000,000
CNN.com Visitors per month: 23,496,897
AP.google.com Visitors per month: 118,573,595
International Placements:
Spiegel Online, Germany Visitors per month: 59,403,704
Corriere della Sera Newspaper, Italy: 830,000
Matichon.co.th Newspaper, Thailand: 600,000
Bus Stop Opera
A Carnegie Mellon Art student developed roving opera’s at Bus Stops in New York City. The pitch was deployed during recruitment efforts and was placed all over the nation.
Commuters’ Conversations Rise To High Art
NPR
Write an Aria, Graduate and, Oh, Right, Get Married
New York Times
The Steelers at the Intersection of Iron City Beer and Art Basel
New York Times