Category: Charity and Not for Profit
Advertiser: THE FRENCH WILL NEVER FORGET
Product/Service: FRANCO-AMERICAN FRIENDSHIP
Agency: EURO RSCG WORLDWIDE PR
Chief Executive Officer: Marian Salzman (Euro RSCG Worldwide Public Relations)
Account Supervisor: Sarah Yansura (Euro RSCG Worldwide Public Relations)
Vice President/Editorial: Angie Argabrite (Euro RSCG Worldwide Public Relations)
Media placement: Press Release - France Today, Associated Conten, The Local, One News Page - July 25, 2011
Media placement: 2nd Press Release & Pre-Event - Agence France Press, Associated Press, Milwakee Journal-Sentinel - August 25, 2011
Media placement: Interviews With NYC Fire Chief Tom VonEssen - CNN Quest, BBC - August 2011
Media placement: Distribution Of Photos - CNN, MSN, Yahoo! News, The Independent, Telegraph, France Today - September 8, 2011
Media placement: 9/11 Tribute Event In Paris - 53 Print/online Articles Including: CNN, CBS News, USA Today, New York Times, Associated Press - September 11, 2011
Media placement: 9/11 Tribute Event In Paris (Cont) - 41 TV Segments Nationwide On The Following Affiliate Stations: ABC, FOX, CBS, NBC, And CNN - September 11, 2011 (Cont)
Summary of the Campaign
Challenge
The US invades Iraq: France opposes. American media cries foul. The long Franco-American friendship suffers. We needed new headlines. So our agency was enlisted to spread awareness of both The French Will Never Forget, a nonprofit organisation strengthening ties between the countries, and its 9/11 anniversary event.
Objectives
• Increase awareness for TFWNF;
• Strengthen the Franco-American friendship;
• Offer French condolences that Americans would see.
Strategy
TFWNF erected a 75-foot replica of the Twin Towers opposite the Eiffel Tower that listed each victim’s name. French-press hits would be easy. But we needed eyes and ears in the US and UK, too. Our detective-work showed that TFWNF’s efforts would stand out, so we accurately claimed it as the world’s largest non-US tribute. And we spun the event into an opportunity to speak of friendship and compassion.
Execution
Among our aggressive outreach, we:
• Developed releases revealing event-details and quotes from US and French ambassadors;
• Secured one-on-ones with former New York City Fire Commissioner, Tom Von Essen;
• Distributed photos of the replica towers in multiple stages.
Outcome
Our agency ignited conversations in social and traditional media — including 231m impressions in the first 3 days. After New York City, Paris was the second-most-covered city worldwide.
The Situation
When the United States was attacked on September 11th, 2001, most of the world was in mourning. But after France opposed the Iraq invasion, a standard cliché began appearing in American media: that the French didn’t remember what the US had done for them during WWI and WWII and were ungrateful.
To reverse this perception, 4 French citizens living in the US formed a non-profit organisation, The French Will Never Forget, to help strengthen the long-standing friendship between the countries. On the 10th anniversary of 9/11, they asked us to help spread awareness of their event honoring the victims.
The Goal
TFWNF honoured the victims with a 75-foot replica of the Twin Towers erected opposite the Eiffel Tower that listed the names of each person. Our goals, related to their effort, included:
• Increasing awareness for TFWNF among French and American citizens;
• Strengthening the Franco-American friendship;
• Offering French condolences that Americans would see;
• Increasing TFWNF’s social presence, especially among 9/11 support groups and American-Francophile interest groups.
We needed eyes and ears through French, US and UK media especially. Our detective-work showed that TFWNF’s effort would stand out worldwide, so we accurately claimed it as the planet’s largest non-US tribute.
The Strategy
Knowing the extensive list of special events happening not only in New York but also across the US, we realized we were up against some tough domestic competition for coverage.
Initially, the day was an event. We spun it into a strategic opportunity to speak of friendship and compassion and worked closely with TFWNF to line up the perfect spokespeople who could 'testify' to this history of sharing important values.
To get help across the pond (underscoring our agency’s emphasis on collaborating with the best thinkers in our global company and with other partners), we engaged our Paris office and a regulator collaborator in London, to help this monumental tribute appear in news headlines around the globe.
Execution
Our aggressive worldwide media-outreach included:
• Starting conversations with media in July to uncover their plans for any anniversary coverage and to seed TFWNF’s Paris event;
• Increasing TFWNF’s social presence significantly by creating a US version of its Facebook page, securing a Twitter handle/hashtag, and encouraging fans to share messages of sympathy (July-August);
• Developing 2 releases revealing event details and quotes of support from the US and French ambassadors (July and August);
• Identifying key TFWNF supporters for interviews;
• Securing multiple one-on-ones with former New York City Fire Commissioner Tom Von Essen (August-September);
• Leveraging pro-bono vendors to capture photo/video footage to share with media (August-September);
• Distributing photos of the replica towers in multiple stages to build an advance buzz;
• Coordinating a brunch for Parisian media to interview TFWNF’s co-founders (September);
• Distributing satellite coordinates to media stations to capture live footage. (We had planned to live-stream the event over social media, but resources were limited.)
Documented Results
Our pro-bono efforts gave TFWNF $9m worth of earned media; all were original articles (no funds for a wire-release). Paris was the second-most-covered city for this anniversary, and coverage of our event totaled 231m impressions in the first 3 days alone:
• 68 print/online placements including The New York Times, USA Today, Forbes, The Atlantic Wire, The Telegraph, the Daily Mail, The Gazette (Montreal), Yahoo News, About.com, Associated Press, Agence France-Presse, Bonjour Paris;
• 45 broadcast segments including ABC, CNN, CBS, Fox, MSN, NBC, Europe 1, France 3, Radio France International.
Resonating with US media especially allowed us to get TFWNF’s powerful message to the American public.
Facebook was flooded with messages from both countries, reflecting a grassroots initiative that appealed to the emotional bond shared by France and the US. We tallied 17,300+ 'tweet-pressions', including retweets and mentions from CNN France and the US Embassy.