Case Studies

The Client

International opera star Ruth Ann Swenson is one of today’s top three American sopranos and has been a leading diva at the Metropolitan Opera Company for the past 15 years. She has sung in every major opera house throughout the world and has many recordings in her discography.

The Situation
Ms. Swenson had not made any pro-active public relations efforts for 12 years. She is a naturally shy person and uncomfortable with the press. In recent years, the opera world began to favor slimmer, younger singers, and the new director of the Met did not renew her contract.

In October of 2006, Ms. Swenson was diagnosed with breast cancer. While she was adamant that her diagnosis not be disclosed, ByGeorge saw it as an opportunity to launch her back into the public eye and saw the need to “go public” as a way to protect her from rumors. We alerted the Associated Press by which the news went around the world.

We also pitched USA Today, Parade Magazine, the New York Times’ opera critic who’d long been loyal fans; we targeted freelance writers, securing a cover story in Classical Singer; we solicited health-related publications, netting her USA Today’s Health Report, Heal Magazine, and Cancer Survivor; and we worked with the Komen Foundation so she could sing at their events.

The Results
We garnered over $1M dollars in approximated publicity value, i.e., the advertising dollar equivalency for the press coverage. The success of our campaign designed to put a positive “spin” on Ms. Swenson’s career allowed her to go from opera heroine to real-life heroine and from a publicity shy artist to a cancer survivor and spokesperson for the need to find a cure for breast cancer.

The Client

Just Born, Inc., a family-owned candy company located in Bethlehem, PA, manufactures megabrands Mike & Ike, Hot Tamales, and Peeps, the sugar--coated marshmallow chicks of Easter basket fame.

The Situation
About to launch its new blue Peep, the company was also celebrating its 75th anniversary. We combined the two to build a stronger publicity platform, anchoring the new Peeps to the anniversary. We also capitalized on blue having been named the “color of the new millennium” by the Pantone Color Institute, designing a national PR push to raise consumer and trade product awareness.

The Results
In a six month period, Just Born, Inc. was on every major network and cable television program, including The Rosie O’Donnell Show, CBS News, Today, CNN, The Food Network, et al., was featured on ABC Talk Radio, CBS Radio, and achieved enormous coverage in every major daily, most women’s and kids monthlies, and on all wire services, resulting in over a half a billion impressions and $4M in advertising dollar equivalency. The campaign won the 1998 Silver Anvil Award, the “Oscar” of the PR industry. Trade show exposure increased sales and engendered requests for similar products for Halloween and Christmas, spawning marshmallow ghosts and candy canes.

Tidewater Workshop,

The Situation
In its 10-year history, the company had never employed a PR strategy to garner press coverage or build national brand awareness. While it sent its catalog to thousands of recipients, it wanted to be known as the leading manufacturer of affordable garden furniture and the “authority” on backyard living. Our strategy was based on affordable cost, free shipping, and elegant product design. We distributed a “10 Tips Creating a Beautiful Backyard Garden” news release to the national press and arranged one-on-one media blitz for the company’s CEO to Manhattan, Des Moines, and Los Angeles.

The Results
In just one year, Tidewater Workshop appeared in nearly all women’s, garden and interior design publications, including Good Housekeeping, The Wall Street Journal, Family Circle, New Jersey Life and Today’s Homeowner, and was featured on CNN, CNNfn, Rosie O’Donnell, NJN and WMGM-TV, as well as in such trade publications as Wood Digest, Entrepreneur, and Catalog Age. The “10 Tips” were featured in over 1000 daily and weekly newspapers netting 100M impressions and $2M in advertising dollar equivalency. The Wall Street Journal alone generated over $100,000 in sales.

The Situation
Purchased by Regent Hotels and having had multi-million dollar renovation, the hotel wanted a new identity and to recapture socially prominent and celebrity travelers, who left when it lost is luster. After Touchstone Pictures’ filmed Pretty Woman at the hotel, we ran with the enormously popular reaction to the film, capitalizing on its US opening, in-flight, worldwide, and cable debuts, and finally TV network release, allowing the to film carry the hotel on the crest of each wave of its publicity.

The Results
In one year, the hotel was on the map as “The Pretty Woman Hotel,” featured on scores of TV news and entertainment shows worldwide, including Barbara Walters’ Oscar special, worldwide lifestyle and celebrity publications. The campaign netted over 2 billion impressions and $10M in ad dollar equivalency. The hotel is now an international icon, with tourists stopping to photograph “The Pretty Woman Hotel,” is on the Hollywood Celebrity Bus Tour, and a replica is on MGM’s Orlando Studio Tour.