Photo credit: Jimee, Jackie, Tom & Asha via Flickr cc
One tactic that can be very effective in obtaining media coverage for your company or client is conducting what’s called a newsmaker survey, and then pitching the survey results to reporters for potential news stories.
To illustrate this tactic, I’ll share with you a campaign that I worked on at Thrivent Financial. Even though Thrivent Financial evolved beyond its life insurance roots to become a serious financial planning player, research by the organization revealed that members and prospects were not fully aware of its transformation. While members gave Thrivent Financial high marks for integrity, generous spirit and values, they gave the organization low scores on product performance and customer service. Using findings from our research and insights department, I managed our outside public relations firm in a multi-layered campaign focused on rebranding the organization as a financial institution and providing tangible proof of Thrivent’s financial expertise with a new online retirement planning tool called ThriveQ.
This integrated campaign included: distributing tool kits to 2,500 financial representatives, street teams dropping 5,000 “branded” quarters in downtown Minneapolis/St. Paul, an advertising “takeover” at the Minneapolis/St. Paul airport, working with an outside firm to conduct a “Thriving in Retirement” survey of 2,500 baby boomers, conducting deskside meetings with media in New York, distributing a matte column to media nationwide, conducting a satellite media tour and pitching reporters in six key geographic markets.
Results included: more than 160 million media impressions in media outlets including Reuters and USA Today, 1.73 million paid media impressions, post-campaign research conducted by the organization revealing Thrivent’s brand equity to be at an all-time high with prospects (Those stating that it “has a solid reputation as a financial service company” doubled, while those who believed it “offers a wide range of financial products and services” tripled), more than 22 million media impressions related to ThriveQ, nearly 90,000 ThriveQ site visits, 30 percent of visitors completing the ThriveQ quiz, and of those visitors more than one-fifth registered for future ThriveQ and Thrivent correspondence.
Thrivent Financial used the research from the campaign to design new financial products and remain a source of financial stability through the Great Recession and beyond. The campaign won two PRSA Silver Anvil awards in 2008. In addition, the campaign won two Minnesota PRSA Classics awards.
Tips for promoting research
As you can see, this was quite a comprehensive campaign. Here are some insights that I learned from working on this award-winning campaign.
- Focus on a relevant topic. A survey on the financial aspects of retirement readiness is an appropriate topic for Thrivent Financial to share its expertise. Thrivent Financial members are known for doing good in their communities, so another newsmaker survey that the organization conducted focused on Americans’ preferences relating to volunteering time versus giving money. Other brands who have successfully used newsmaker surveys to generate publicity include: American Express (small business), StubHub (live events) and eBay (gift giving).
- Use an outside firm to conduct research. Public relations professionals aren’t pollsters. To ensure that the survey is credible, using a company that specializes in research is important. The survey experts will know what the appropriate sample size should be and the best way to administer the survey. They also will help you to interpret the survey results to discover what’s newsworthy.
- Share the survey methodology. Reporters are going to want to know how the survey was conducted. Were people surveyed online, over the phone, in person, or some other method? How many survey respondents were there? What is the margin of error and the level of confidence?
- Spread out the promotion. Survey results can provide numerous news angles. At Thrivent Financial, we had an initial push that included a white paper, “Baby Boomers and Retirement: A Generation’s Catch-22.” There were more statistics that made excellent news hooks, though, so we issued subsequent news releases that focused on additional findings as news angles.
If you decide to conduct a newsmaker survey, do it right and you could create tremendous visibility for your organization or client.