Humana Unites with the VFW and VA to Help Feed Veterans During COVID-19
Food insecurity has increased dramatically due to the COVID-19 pandemic, especially among the 18.8 million veterans living in the United States. To help our service men and women during this challenging time, Humana tapped Coyne to help raise awareness of this issue and generate funds that will assist veterans across the country. In partnership with the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) and offices within the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Humana and Coyne deployed the “Uniting to Combat Hunger” campaign as a platform to help food insecure veterans and their families through this pandemic. A campaign strategy driven by earned media relations and social engagement across multiple channels is encouraging people and organizations to donate directly to VA medical centers across the country to provide food, gift cards to local grocery stores or even basic supplies to veterans in need. To learn more and to join us in this mission, visit www.vfw.org/utch.

Memories Made by Intex
As we kickoff summer, almost overnight Intex inflatables “popped” up everywhere in media coverage as a must have brand of the season. As a result of weeks of outreach leading up to the holiday and pitches inspired by summer traditions like backyard barbecues, family swim time and fireworks, the Coyne team started to see many important placements for a range of Intex pool products. Summer float roundups and pool reviews featuring Intex poured in from outlets like CNN, TODAY.com, Travel + Leisure, and Good Housekeeping, with many featuring more than one Intex product! Due to the media recommending Intex in coverage and the increased demand for pools this summer Intex adult and kiddie pools sold out fast. As requests for pool products continued to flow in, Coyne stayed cool and worked to offer up available items to keep the media momentum going. As many look to beat the heat for summer at home and get creative with their outdoor setups, Coyne continues to keep an eye on key dates to keep the brand top of mind with consumers.

#DareToBare with Tree Hut
For the launch of new items in Tree Hut’s popular Bare line – a collection of products for pre- and post-shave – the beauty team leaned into the DIY self-care trend with a mailer meant to help beauty editors as they navigated life with no wax or laser appointments. In a colorful branded box, the team sent a multitude of new items from the line, including Pre-Shave Scrubs, Hydrating Shave Butters and Post-Shave Soothing Mists, along with items to assist in their blissful shower escape – like a sleek new razor, bath pillow and shower drink holder. The mailer was sent to nearly 30 beauty editors that opted-in to receive at their home. Additionally, we commissioned a team of macro-influencers as part of an at-home getaway campaign to post about the Bare line and how it’s saved their at-home shave routine, along with swipe-up links to purchase. We can barely contain our excitement for the content to come!

BNI Helps Businesses Network While Social Distancing
With nearly 300,000 members in more than 70 countries, BNI (Business Network International) is the world’s largest referral networking organization. But how does an organization that relies on weekly in-person meetings continue to operate as millions practiced social distancing and sheltered in place amidst COVID-19? Recognizing that businesses were being impacted by the pandemic and needed to network more now than ever, BNI quickly pivoted to launch bni online™. The innovative online platform helps business leaders connect with others in their community to network, share referrals and provide support – all without leaving home. To raise awareness for the platform, Coyne positioned BNI as the experts on networking, tapping into founder Dr. Ivan Misner to share his unique tips for networking in a world that is not business as usual, with bni online™ incorporated as part of that storytelling. Pitching efforts have focused on national business and business/meeting trade publications, with coverage thus far on Business Insider, Yahoo! Finance and Marketwatch and additional stories slated to appear in The Ladders, Authority Magazine and The Duct Tape Marketing Podcast.

Toy Test Season Continues
Toy test programs are an important way to get recognition from well-respected organizations for our clients’ product priorities. When the pandemic hit, Coyne was in the midst of spring toy test coordination, making it difficult to provide product samples to the programs for their independent testing. To ensure we were still considered for awards, we obtained deadline extensions and the home addresses of toy testers so they were still able to sample the products. As a result, we received numerous awards for our clients, earning top spots on key spring toy test lists. Though it’s still early, some toy test programs are already gearing up for their holiday testing periods. Coyne is thinking ahead and determining best practices to showcase what are sure to be hot holiday toys, from setting up video desksides with the toy testers to shooting in-depth product demo videos from home. By working hand-in-hand with our clients and the toy test organizations, Coyne is confident these toys will be well-received and get the recognition they deserve.

Covid-19 Media Strategies Made Simple
The rule of thumb is to build credibility in good times, so that in times of crisis you can tap into that equity. Our client, Precision Medicine Group, partners with pharmaceutical and biotech companies to help bring new drugs to market – a very pertinent position relative to COVID, but also highly competitive for media space within the current environment. Having spent the past three years building awareness and credibility of PMG executives and thought leaders among key reporters, we worked closely with the client to help convey their perspective and current initiatives. Once we did, we made a simple offer to key media with a reminder of PMG experts and their areas of expertise, leaning on the reputation we’d established over the past 36 months. No hard sell, just an offer of expertise and availability. As a result, we secured 25 placements and generated nearly 7 million impressions in key industry and business media for PMG, including an opinion piece for PMG president Chad Clark titled “Clinical Trials: Today’s transformations for COVID-19 are Tomorrow’s Standards.”