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Consumer
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Business to Business
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Travel & Leisure
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Starbucks - Perez Hilton
Who said celebrity gossip pages couldn't be used to our client's advantage? Leading up to the 2008 Presidential Election, Perez Hilton was blogging about all of the free stuff companies were giving away to promote voting on his website, which receives over 1.6 million Unique Monthly Visitors. rbb identified this opportunity to promote Starbucks' special offer for a free cup of the new Thanksgiving Blend coffee for Florida residents who vote on election day. We pitched him via email, and he immediately posted the information on his famous website. Perez also called for Starbucks to do the offer on a national scale and the company quickly obliged,prompting another blog post and hundreds of millions of media impressions, many of which cited Florida as the first state to make the offer. On top of the media coverage Starbucks received, Google released a blog post on election day search terms specifically noting the popularity of "starbucks free coffee," "starbucks election" and "starbucks vote," in addition to prosaic searches like "florida sample ballot" or "where to vote in texas." Though Google called these searches "clear indicators of the caffeine boost" voters need, a more likely explanation is the popularity of the Seattle coffee business' promise of free coffee to anyone who voted. For more information contact tina.elmowitz@rbbpr.com.
Florida Marlins - Guerilla Marketing
The Florida Marlins were heading into their 10th anniversary year as a Major League Baseball team. Unfortunately, very few people were interested in celebrating. With new owners, a losing team, and an undesirable stadium, the fans were quiet and sparse. rbb Public Relations was given the challenge of making people like baseball again. rbb created one-on-one personal experiences for Floridians by bringing the team into the community through a series of interactive events. Find out why the secret service came to one of our press events when we launched a 10th anniversary commemorative dime. See our cool window clings in the streets of downtown Miami. But more importantly, hear the figures of increased stadium attendance and see the editorials lauding the new owners' approach and community spirit. Oh and did we mention that at the end of itall- we won the World Series? Find out about this rags to riches story by contacting tina.elmowitz@rbbpr.com.
"M&M"® Black & White: Rebranding
Everyone knows and loves M&M's. So how do you attract attention to a mature brand and reverse years of flat sales? You reinvent yourself. M&M's unique selling point is in its color. So what would happen if you took that color away? rbb helped M&M's and America find out when Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve served as the platform to announce that M&M's were going all black and white. All lines of M&M's lost their trademark colorful packages and colorful insides. At the same time we launched the great color quest - a national contest to find the six bags of color that would signify the return to colorful M&M's once again. For more information contact tina.elmowitz@rbbpr.com.
Florida Power and Light Company - Home Energy Makeover Program
Florida Power & Light Company is Florida's largest utility and number one in the country for energy conservation programs. When you're already at the top, finding new ways to encourage FPL's 4.4 million customers to save energy is no easy task. rbb capitalized on current reality program trends to create the Home Energy Makeover Program. Working with a third party, FPL conducted energy makeovers for over 50 homeowners in a low-income community in a one-day media blitz. By positioning the company as a good neighbor that helps low-income customers save money on energy bills and generating coverage that created awareness of FPL's energy savings programs, we increased customer participation in FPL's energy savings programs by more than 10,000 participants from 2006 to 2007. Customer research showed that Home Energy Makeovers were the most recalled FPL community events. For more information contact christine.delahuerta@rbbpr.com.
Language Line Services
The world's largest provider of over-the-phone interpretation services was looking for a way to show thought leadership in the Hispanic market. rbb created the concept of commissioning a Hispanic Customer Service Satisfaction study to mirror a popular English-language component. The Ayudeme Hispanic Rage Study was born in 2007 and launched at the Voz Latina Conference in Florida. In addition to major Spanish and English-language media, the piece was a lead generator for the sales and marketing department and a centerpiece of the communication thought leadership efforts. For more information contact christine.barney@rbbpr.com.
Florida Power and Light Company - Storm Secure
In 2005, seven hurricanes made landfall within 15 months in Florida leaving FPL to recover from widespread power outages, as well as a damaged reputation. While FPL's operations team put plans in place to strengthen the electric grid for the future, rbb communicated those plans to a shaken public. The result was Storm Secure, a four-month media blitz in advance of the 2007 hurricane season. rbb brought media into the field and gave them unparalleled access to see the "hardening" process. rbb surveyed media needs and guided the editorial calendars for key media. Our arsenal of media outreach even included a documentary, "Weathering the Storm," and a mock hurricane drill. All media goals were exceeded and FPL was positioned as the leading source of hurricane information in the community. Most important, FPL research showed that overall consumer confidence was restored to pre-storm levels. For more information contact christine.delahuerta@rbbpr.com.
Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden Builds Membership through Chihuly Glass Exhibition
South Florida's oldest cultural institution was preparing to launch Florida's first Dale Chihuly exhibition; however, the exhibition had already received excessive national media coverage at other botanical gardens around the world. Our goals were to draw visitors to the blockbuster exhibition and increase overall awareness for the garden's mission. By launching three phases of communications tactics to keep the 6-month exhibition fresh and newsworthy, we delivered a steady stream of creative angles that reached every beat reporter including business, art, food, garden, fashion, local and general. We also targeted untapped national and local Spanish media. We averaged 40 media hits per month that led to astonishing results; 300% increase in attendance, 700% increase in new members and 400% increase in group tours. For more information contact tina.elmowitz@rbbpr.com.
Emergency/Crisis Public Relations
When a NYSE exchange company with hundreds of nursing homes around the country found that they faced a myriad of local crises on an almost daily basis, it turned to rbb to manage the many unexpected situations which naturally arise and to create a system to manage that part of the business. rbb created a unique SRT (Situation Response Team), and became the principal first responder and media spokesperson for the company. As a result of "outsourcing" its crisis communcations, the company's negative news coverage plummetted, operational issues were identified more quickly and administrators were freed up to focus on the job of delivering quality care. For more information contact bruce.rubin@rbbpr.com.AMResorts – "Flu-Free Guarantee" Campaign
In April 2009, after the World Health Organization (WHO) suggested foregoing non-essential travel to Mexico based on reported outbreaks of the infamous "Swine flu aka H1N1 virus," fear of travel immediately ensued especially among American tourists who accounted for the majority of travelers to the country. Hospitality companies including AMResorts, with Mexico-based brands Zoëtry Wellness & Spa Resorts and Secrets and Dreams Resorts & Spas, began to experience severe economic dislocation. Fueled by additional media speculation, hotel occupancy levels were slashed by more than half from the same period the year before. With more than 70 percent of its resorts located in Mexico, AMResorts, along with rbb Public Relations, jumped into action within hours of the WHO announcement to create and execute an integrated crisis communications plan that would minimize the negative impact. Within days, a multi-brand, consumer-focused program called the "Flu-Free Guarantee" was developed. It made a promise to guests rooted in the company's confidence that its resorts, were safe and flu-free. Should a guest contract the swine flu at any AMResorts' property, they would receive their vacation back times three. According to Lisa Ross, rbb's president, "the strategy behind the 'Flu-Free Guarantee' was not to react to the crisis, but to challenge it head-on, transforming concerns into affirmative outcomes. While others were running from the media, we encouraged our client to proactively communicate and trust that this was the most effective way to promote a message of confidence to its customer base."
An aggressive national media relations campaign helped spread the word and convey AMResorts' assurance that Americans could, in fact, travel safely toMexico. To enhance its impact, AMResorts enlisted direct competitors to adopt the promotion, echoing their confidence in Mexico and helping to speed the country's overall tourism recovery. The results? By June 2009, still in the midst of swine-flu mania, the occupancy rates across AMResorts' 11 properties had increased 140 percent on average from where they were following the WHO announcement. Resorts reported continued increases, with some properties reaching occupancy levels of 96 percent by July 2009. 85 hotels eventually joined the movement AMResorts and rbb started, helping to repair Mexico's reputation and assuring travelers the country was flu-free. Mexican officials honored AMResorts' CEO Alex Zozaya with a major national award. The PR industry also took notice, awarding rbb and AMResorts a Silver Anvil and Silver SABRE for this Travel and Tourism PR campaign.
Costa Maya
The Port of Costa Maya, Mexico's fastest-growing tourist destination and cruise port, was hit by Hurricane Dean in August 2007. Approximately 50 percent of the Port's infrastructure was damaged by the category five storm. The successful, speedy recovery of the Port was ultimately bound to the return of ships and passengers to the area. rbb Public Relations along with the Port's marketing team, quickly began executing a plan to gain the cruise industry's confidence in Costa Maya's ability to fully restore the Port within one year and bring passengers back as soon as possible.rbb's industry knowledge and relationships within the travel and tourism sector served the Port well by significantly increasing awareness among key decision makers and consumers. Additionally, rbb increased Costa Maya's presence at key industry events and further capitalized on partnership with credible and prominent entities like Mexico Tourism Board to help instill a sense of confidence in the Port's commitment to recover quickly. An aggressive communications plan targeting consumer and trade media further supported the Port's goals. The result? Two months ahead of goal and less than one year after its catastrophic destruction, the Port reclaimed 99 percent of its cruise lines and 63 percent of re-routed calls. The Holmes Report awarded rbb a Silver SABRE Award in the Travel/Tourism category for this campaign. For more information contact lisa.ross@rbbpr.com.
