Now more than ever, our team is honored to be a critical resource for our clients. As PR pros, we are always ready for the unexpected and have answered the call during this unprecedented time. For the past two weeks, our account teams have been working alongside clients to navigate challenging communication decisions and get creative in our storytelling approach.
While we have had to pull back on planned PR strategies, the work we are doing to help our clients communicate effectively during this time is equally as important for the health of their business moving forward. Our belief that we can drive growth through relationships has never rang truer.
Here’s a look at some of our recent work:
While many of our non-profits have had to cancel planned programming, ribbon cuttings, openings and important fundraising events due to social distancing mandates, our public relations work has not halted, but grown in some cases. We’ve been helping to set up digital fundraisers, pitching mission critical work to media, messaging statements of event cancellations, securing PSAs, and advising on how to best use social channels during this time.
To date, the Ronald McDonald House Charities of DC has raised over $2,000 through a Facebook fundraiser calling for items needed to support families. The Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation is leaning on Maroon PR’s social expertise and relationships as they plan to launch a large fundraising effort in support of families in need. House of Ruth Maryland has been communicating important messaging regarding their emergency services, and we are pushing important pitches to media outlets detailing how their services remain essential and how people experiencing partner violence can stay safe while home with an abuser. Our team has also been a much-needed resource for the Maryland Food Bank and the Community Action Council of Howard County as they navigate MANY messages during this critical time for hungry Marylanders.
For other clients, the need for technology to connect people has created new opportunities. Last week our team helped Leap to Digital organize a webinar on COVID-19 and how it’s affecting the home services industry. We secured a leading area economist to be a part of the webinar agenda and used a very targeted Facebook ad to drive registrations by home industry professionals. The ad garnered 432 link clicks and 95,427 impressions.
For other clients facing more critical situations, we are a much-needed set of extra hands. We’ve been honored to help Greater Baltimore Medical Center (GBMC) with pitching their medical experts, crafting messages and keeping lines of communication open with local media outlets.
Outside of critical communications efforts, we’ve been helping clients quickly develop new social media content that is more relevant to the current situation, and having some fun along the way! For example, realizing Big League Chew is in a position to provide distractions for their fans, we quickly put together an Instagram story Q&A, knowing the people are looking to engage! They received 100 questions and the effort resulted in 37,653 impressions. Dash-In, a convenience store and gas station chain, has been deemed an essential business. Our challenge has been to create social content that is sensitive to the request for people to stay home but also makes people aware that they are open for essential needs – food and fuel. And in the spirit of helping baseball fans connect for MLB’s #OpeningDayatHome effort, we created and share video of Cal Ripken, Jr. sharing Opening Day reflections.
And amidst the negative news, there is positive news to be told. For Walmart, we’ve pitched and secured local stories about their hiring efforts.
As we continue to navigate these challenging times, we take pride in knowing that we’re helping clients in a big way! Together, we’re stronger.
