Background
Orthopaedic Institute for Children provides care to patients with musculoskeletal disorders from broken bones to the rarest birth defects, regardless of a family’s ability to pay. In alliance with UCLA Health, OIC is focused on advancing pediatric orthopaedics through medical education and training and globally recognized scientific research.
OIC turned to Kevin/Ross to help increase its name recognition within its local community as well as further enhance its brand within the national healthcare industry. We developed and continue to execute a robust PR program for OIC that includes media relations, social media, issues management and promotion of special events at their West L.A. and downtown L.A. campuses.
The biggest community event of the year for OIC is their Toys and Joy holiday celebration. Now in its 28th year, this annual event has become a Los Angeles tradition that has brought holiday joy to more than 30,000 families. The December celebration includes a visit from Santa (who arrives by LAPD helicopter and brings a gift for every child) as well as celebrity guests from local sports teams, the Disney Channel and others. Kevin/Ross was tasked with promoting this event for the past two years. Our challenge was to obtain local media coverage in a saturated market during the busy holiday season.
Action
- Prepare press materials, including media alert and post-event press release.
- Pitch local media with emphasis on Santa’s arrival by helicopter.
- Use Facebook, Instagram and SnapChat to promote the event to the community as well as post live from the event.
- In advance of the event, work with Disney Channel stars to connect them with OIC on social media, share event hashtags and encourage them to post from the event.
- Create SnapChat geofilter to highlight the OIC brand in social posts.
- Manage press at the event, coordinating interviews with identified spokespeople.
Result
- Nearly 2,000 children and their families from the local community attended the event in 2018.
- Secured local television coverage on KABC, KTLA and Telemundo.
- Received extensive print and online post-event coverage nationwide.
- Disney Channel stars posted from the event.
- OIC grew followers on Facebook and Instagram.
- Social posts were viewed thousands of times with a highly successful and OIC record-setting level of engagement.
