CREATING "SUSTAINABLE"MEDIA PLACEMENTS FOR THE CORNELL GLOBAL FORUM ON STUSTAINABLE ENTERPRISE

ISSUE:
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a growing area of interest for today’s MBA students and is a highly competitive discipline among leading academic institutions. The Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University was being left out of the CSR discussion simply because its academic program does not technically fall under the CSR category. However, one of the school’s great strengths is its Center for Sustainable Global Enterprise, which focuses on “The Great Convergence,” a concept which defines the intersection of clean technology and business development at the Base of the Pyramid (BoP). The BoP represents approximately 4 billion consumers with incomes below $3,000 per capita. The Johnson School tasked Coyne PR with educating the media about this extremely important topic and competitively positioning the Johnson School among its peers.

IDEA:
Coyne PR’s assessment of the media landscape indicated that there was an opportunity to create an event promoted through both traditional and social media channels. The Cornell Global Forum on Sustainable Enterprise featured a roundtable discussion hosted by acclaimed interviewer and broadcast journalist Charlie Rose, who led discussions with former Vice President and Nobel Laureate Al Gore, Fisk Johnson, CEO of SC Johnson, and Ratan Tata, Chairman of the Tata Group, as well as key Johnson School luminaries. Coyne PR’s strategy was to drive media attendance to the event by leveraging the star power of the speakers and the relevance of the topic. In addition to generating mainstream media attendance, Coyne PR worked with the PR team from SC Johnson to arrange one-on-one interviews for Fisk Johnson with top-tier media. To create pre/post-event buzz and reach social and traditional media outside of the greater New York City area, Coyne PR developed a social media press release (SMPR) which included videos, quotes from key speakers and background materials on the Center for Sustainable Global Enterprise. Coyne PR also created a “live” account of the event for those not able to attend by posting frequent updates via the Johnson School’s Twitter account and blog channel.

IMPACT:
Coyne PR’s results were “out of this world” as the team secured more than 110 placements, 44 of which represented top sustainability and business blogs. Coverage also included leading dailies such as The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, as well as top business and financial publications such as BusinessWeek, Forbes, Fast Company, CNNMoney and Reuters. Event attendance consisted of representatives from top-tier outlets such as The New York Times, New York Post, USA Today, BusinessWeek, Fortune, Fast Company, The Huffington Post, CNNMoney and Reuters.