Calling All Survivors

The Problem: A local non-profit is a national health awareness 501(c)3 organization located in Columbia, SC and serves survivors of sexual and intimate partner violence in marginalized and isolated communities. The organization provides prevention, intervention, educational awareness, and leadership opportunities. The non-profit focuses their work specifically in the following areas: Communities of Color, Churches, Rural, Low-Income, College Campuses, Foster Care, and Military. The Non-Profit retained The Crawford Austin Agency to handle the media relations around their inaugural summit in April. Two factors were critical in creating a media strategy around the summit: 1) How many people in Midlands area (Columbia, SC and nearby cities) are affected by sexual assault and partner violence and of those, what percentage fits within the non-profit’s service areas; 2) would the non-profit be considered an authority on the subject matter. We gathered statistics from South Carolina Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault and realized that the largest percentages of our target demographic existed in the Midlands area, which made our target media market Columbia, SC.

The Solution: The biggest challenge when planning the media coverage for the non-profit, was crafting the story of the non-profit and differentiating the organization from other local sexual trauma organizations.  The separation was a double-edged sword because the largest local sexual trauma organization in the state was also a partner organization.  Therefore, the decision was made to use the strength of a larger non-profit in order to add credibility to your client but when designing the branded materials (graphics) and marketing materials, our client would be positioned as the creator (lead agency) of the summit. The second planning component was making sure we secured media coverage across multiple platforms and ensured that the media outlet’s audience composition reflected our target audience. From our research, we realized that marginalized communities are less likely to disclose or seek services from organizations, therefore the need to educate the public about the summit would provide those individuals an opportunity to have a shared learning experience and obtain information in a less stressful environment.  In addition, time was spent gathering key statistics for the press release in order to ensure media outlets understood the need for a The summit. A key tactic used in securing media coverage was to emphasize the harsh statistics around dating violence and sexual assault.  We led with statistics in each pitch email and press release. The partnership with a larger non-profit was emphasized and a staff member was invited to participate in the media interviews.  Sponsoring organizations and companies were also emphasized.  The conference title sponsor was also invited to participate in secured interviews to discuss the health implications of sexual assault. The target interview timeline was restricted to the two weeks leading up the summit, in an effort to capitalize on the frequency of media interviews and keep the event “top of mind” to station viewers. 

The Results: During the two weeks leading up to the conference, The Crawford Austin Agency secured media interviews for NBC, Fox and CBS Affiliate, which has a 100% success rate. The agency also secured two radio interviews, which resulted in a 200% success rate.