Public and Media Relations

Relationships drive reputation. Cadmus partners with many high-profile clients to deliver effective public and media relations services. We immerse ourselves in a client’s business so we can develop and execute transparent communications that build and protect our client’s relations with critical stakeholders such as:

Employees
Partners
Communities
Government

Because our team of public and media relations veterans has established relationships with journalists, our clients’ stories are not ignored. The team pitches targeted messages about clients’ brands, products, and programs to national, local, trade, and specialized media outlets. For example:

We worked with EPA to develop integrated national marketing and media campaigns, such as the ENERGY STAR^® Change a Light, Change the World campaign and the Cool Your World campaign. These campaigns, along with seasonal media outreach campaigns, reach consumers throughout the year to promote energy-efficient products and practices in a timely and relevant way.
Our work on public and media relations helped EPA exceed its 2004 goal of 60 percent national consumer awareness of ENERGY STAR.
In 2002 and 2003, we partnered with Steve Thomas, then the host of PBS’s “This Old House”, to support the ENERGY STAR Home Improvement Team. Thomas attended local home shows around the nation promoting energy-efficient home improvements and engaged local media to encourage consumer use of ENERGY STAR's Web site.
We executed a variety of public service announcement (PSA) campaigns for EPA’s Climate Protection Partnerships division, including:

national television, print, and radio campaigns for EPA’s ENERGY STAR Program;
sector-specific print campaigns for ENERGY STAR’s Commercial and Industrial (C&I), labeled product, and residential branches; and
consumer-oriented print PSAs to support ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year Awards, EPA’s Climate Leaders Program and EPA’s Mobile Air Conditioning Climate Protection Partnership.

Project Example: ENERGY STAR® Commercial and Industrial Buildings

Commercial and industrial buildings use nearly half of the country’s energy and consequently give off half of the green-house gas emissions—emissions that contribute to global warming. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ENERGY STAR Commercial & Industrial Branch (C&I) combats this by providing technical products and services to building owners to help increase energy efficiency in existing buildings and in commercial building design. In addition, C&I works to increase awareness and understanding of the importance of energy efficient buildings.

The Challenge

At the end of 2006, public awareness of ENERGY STAR C&I buildings programs consistently lagged behind other ENERGY STAR brand products and programs. A new communications director was brought in to the Branch to increase awareness as a means of increasing program participation, and increasing recognition of companies already participating in ENERGY STAR C&I programs.

Our Approach

Recruitment for ENERGY STAR commercial and industrial buildings programs has historically concentrated on building owners and facility- and energy-managers. Prior to 2007, media outreach followed suit by targeting trade publications catering to those professions. Working closely with ENERGY STAR and our team members including a PR firm, Cadmus developed and executed a media relations campaign to increase awareness among both mainstream consumers and C-level executives about the benefits of ENERGY STAR buildings. Using both a top down and bottom up approach, we redefined the C&I message, connected with the overall ENERGY STAR brand, and spread program messaging to both those who could directly effect change (building owners and C-level executives) and those who could strongly influence change by demand (employees and other consumers). Notable media outreach efforts included: Developing “Bring Your Green to Work,” a list of tips demonstrating how consumers can play a role in increasing their work building’s energy effiency. Supporting the Small Businesses and Congregations ENERGY STAR Award by highlighting efforts of award winners in several markets across the country.

Pitching ENERGY STAR Labeled Building announcements in multiple top DMA markets, including Dallas and Detroit.
Pitching the new ENERGY STAR Retail Label to national and regional media highlighting JCPenney stores’ efforts in the Pacific Northwest.
Pitching trade media around a new architect’s challenge to Design to Earn the ENERGY STAR and additional partner challenges throughout the year
Developing, coordinating, and pitching an op-ed and an article about third-party efforts supporting ENERGY STAR

Our Success

Overall 2007 media efforts for the ENERGY STAR C&I Branch resulted in more than 8 million impressions. A comparison between the first three quarters of 2006 and 2007 shows that the number of articles on ENERGY STAR buildings increased by almost 90%, from 284 total articles in 2006 to 532 in 2007. A comparison of ad equivalencies of the articles published in that time period shows a 120% increase in 2007, indicating that ENERGY STAR buildings are being featured more prominently and are receiving more headlines and/or page space. Moreover, the increase in coverage succeeded in raising awareness of ENERGY STAR buildings, contributing to the 25% increase in recruitment in 2007.

Redefined messaging and media training for C&I Branch employees also helped streamline and clarify the focus of the C&I story, and targeted pitching resulted in solid stories that communicated multiple facets of C&I work. Consumer tips resulted in a front-page hit on MSN and was featured on AOL channels. Awards and announcements pitching resulted in extensive national and regional coverage in daily newspapers and websites, NBC and FOX-TV affiliates, and radio broadcasts. An Associated Press filing of the JCPenney retail story was picked up in multiple markets.