Public Relations, commonly referred to as PR, is a communications strategy that helps businesses and organizations share information with their audiences. Successful public relations efforts include relationship building and engaging with your audience, so it is important to understand with whom you are communicating and how to reach your target markets.
When you have a story to tell, you want it to be heard. At WRL, we understand that Public Relations is the foundation for your reputation. We take time to listen to you and learn about what you do in order to help you achieve your ultimate business goals. We integrate your communications strategy through marketing – traditional and digital media, SEO, social media and beyond – to build a PR plan that’s right for you. We become your storytellers so you can establish a rapport with your audience to inform them of who you are and what your company or organization provides. We help you develop and maintain a long-lasting relationship and we measure results through outcomes like increased sales, behavior changes, online reviews and feedback as well as audience engagement.
Here are some of WRL’s recent successful PR campaigns:
North Canton Medical Foundation’s Love Your Skin Stark County Mural Unveiling
Love Your Skin Stark County (LYSSC) – a collaborative art education effort between North Canton Medical Foundation (NCMF) and Ellen’s Effort – aims to bring education and awareness of the importance of healthy skin through a new community mural. It was created by professional artist, Tim Carmany, and mural apprenticeship winner and senior art student at Malone University, Alexa Thompson. The 680 square-foot mural was debuted in downtown Canton’s Arts District (534 Cleveland Ave NW) on Friday, July 5, 2019, with a ceremony attended by community members and supporters of LYSSC.
Press Release
WRL’s team of writers helped NCMF develop and share their LYSSC message with a powerful story angle and a thoughtful press release. We determined which media outlets were best suited for their audiences and when pitched, gained those publications’ attention and were published in print, digital and social medias. A presence in all these platforms was essential to hitting our client’s target industry demographics and to be seen as thought leaders in their respective sectors.
Media Relations for Placement (in Print and Digital)
The news industry is fast paced, and engaging the media can be a challenge. Your story must be compelling and newsworthy in order to gain coverage. The WRL media relations team skillfully shared those stories with the media. See our placement in The Canton Repository article here: Here’s the skinny on Canton’s new skin mural
On Social Media
Social media is not a stand-alone endeavor, nor is it a “be everywhere at once” approach. It should be incorporated into your overall web marketing strategy. WRL’s social media strategists recommended the best social media practices, behaviors and tactics for NCMF’s LYSSC campaign. We set up a Facebook event page to post photos, sponsors and live news events. We developed a social media plan that included cross promotion on NCMF’s Facebook and Twitter pages as well as on all event sponsor recognition pages and we shared on WRL’s Facebook page for additional reach.
Photography
If a picture is worth a thousand words, WRL is here to make sure they are yours. With branded photography, our team ensured that NCMF’s mural unveiling event photos told LYSSC’s story and were consistent with their overall campaign purpose.
GIF
A Graphics Interchange Format, otherwise known as a GIF, is a short animated series of scenes that have gained a lot of traction and engagement on social media over the last couple of years. WRL thought this fun, visual representation of the unveiling would really resonate with NCMF’s audience to bring an interactive aspect to the PR and marketing campaign.
The Vasco Group Open House
The Vasco Group celebrated its continued success and growth with an open house and a ribbon-cutting on June 21, 2019 to commemorate its new facility expansion and renovation. The Vasco Group, consisting of Vasco Asphalt, Vasco Sports and Nidy Sports in FL, has successfully grown in business, in employees and in geography since its inception in 1967. Consequently, a new 1,700-square-foot addition – including two conference rooms, a kitchen and 14 workstations – was built on to its existing 4,000-square-foot Massillon location this year. With the contracting help of Scheetz Companies and Sol Harris Day as the designer, this facility overhaul was crucial because the company needed the extra space to accommodate 25 new hires, for a total of 110 Vasco employees, as well as modernizing its offices to enhance its work environment.
Press Release
WRL developed a well-structured and informative press release to Vasco’s target media outlets. They were picked up and published in numerous print and digital formats as well as being a feature article in Crain’s Cleveland.
In the Media
We skillfully pitched the media on this monumental event for the company and were able to gain significant coverage by many different outlets and a variety of features. See all our placements below:
Alliance Review / Massillon Independent
Larger Crain’s Cleveland Feature
Canton Regional Chamber of Commerce ACTION Newsletter, page 23
On Social Media
WRL cross-promoted Vasco’s media placements on this platform to expand the reach and encourage engagement. This increased brand awareness and company mentions.
Videography & Photography
Our photography and videography team spent all day on-site capturing descriptive visuals to promote Vasco’s Grand Opening to its current employees and team members. The photos and video elements will be used in various marketing and recruiting efforts throughout the next few years.
OMNI OASIS Surgery Center Groundbreaking Event
Expansion is on the horizon for OMNI Orthopaedics. As a local leader in orthopaedic, therapy and rehabilitative care in the Stark, Tuscarawas, Summit and surrounding counties, OMNI aims to increase its reach to improve the overall health of its communities to help get patients “back on track”. That’s why on Saturday, April 27, 2019, OMNI broke ground for their new OASIS Surgery Center in Jackson Township.
This additional surgery center will aid OMNI’s mission of commitment to excellence by pledging to provide the highest quality of orthopaedic care possible. WRL publicized the event for OMNI by completing numerous PR tactics in order to share their mission with the public.
Media Relations
WRL worked very closely with The Jackson Township Trustees and the Canton Chamber of Commerce to share this big news with the appropriate media outlets to gain coverage. OMNI shared the invitation list with WRL and we handled all the planning and event logistics for them.
Advertorial
WRL designed a print ad with the new OMNI brand fully explaining the new features of the surgery center. This advertorial was published in The Canton Repository.
Photography
WRL provided comprehensive photography coverage of the groundbreaking ceremony for use in press materials, social media, collateral, the OMNI website and more.
Videography
Working with our contacts there, WRL created OMNI-branded videos of this groundbreaking ceremony using illustration, animation, icons typography, etc. to promote the new surgery center to the surrounding communities. The high-definition videos used relevant imagery and background music to evoke the connection between OMNI and its patients to showcase what this new facility will mean to the community.
Invite
We created a formal invitation, which included a rendering of the facility as well as the date, time, location and additional information about the event, that was mailed out to all targeted individuals, companies and organizations interested in attending. These included OMNI doctors, staff, media publications, family, local sponsored partners, industry professionals, etc.
Social Ads
Following the ceremony, WRL created targeted boosted and sponsored social media advertisements about the new surgery center’s groundbreaking event. This ad campaign promoted the event with a 15-second event recap video featuring newly branded OMNI logos and cross-promotion with media placements.
Our team of PR professionals brings a breadth of experience from the perspective of reporters, social media experts, strategists and end users. We understand what it takes to make a story go from good to great. We engage the media so they, too, will want to share your message with their audiences. We work harder, and we pitch smarter than the competition. To learn more about how we can tell your story and Think.Create.Design. for you, Contact Us today. www.wrladv.com
