NAACP

The Case

The National Association For The Advancement of Colored People’s (NAACP) annual convention came to New Orleans July 7-12, 2001. On the eve of the 4th of July, the NAACP contacted Deveney Communication to secure national coverage through a satellite media tour for both Chairman Bond and President Mfume, scheduled for July 9th (6 days away with a national holiday and weekend accounting for 3 of those days). They wanted to fill their schedule with interviews in the top-50 markets across the country. Each participant would only be available for an hour, allotting for four interviews each.

 

The Strategy

After completing exhaustive research, we disseminated a media advisory to all of the NBC, ABC, FOX and CBS affiliates (which totaled 134 stations). The advisory promoted the reasons for the interview opportunity, Chairman Bond and President Mfume’s availability and some possible topics of discussion.

In addition, Deveney Communication provided on-site support and coordinated eight radio interviews, as well as securing an article to be published in the Louisiana Bar Journal, the bi-monthly publication for the Louisiana State Bar Association.

The Result

In the two days available for the campaign (due to the research, efficient and strategic pitches) Deveney Communication secured and coordinated interviews with eight of the top ten markets, including the top three markets in the country. We also obtained interviews with national stations, including CNN and FOX NEWS National Network, and presented opportunities with MSNBC and “The Capital Gang.”