OVERVIEW

• The Girl Scout Councils of New Jersey wanted to promote the organization’s 100th anniversary in a BIG way
• Host a large scale anniversary celebration to increase both awareness and membership, while engaging alumnae of the program the councils joined together on to power a grand finale: The B.I.G. (Believe in Girls)
• Thousands of Girl Scouts from the tri-state area stormed the park, participating in service projects, 100 activities , and enjoyed evening performances from Grammy-nominated artist Sara Bareilles and pop star Joe Jonas of the band The Jonas Brothers

CHALLENGE

• The official milestone took place on March 12, 2012, and various troops across the state celebrated with local events throughout the year which garnered wide spread media attention
• The B.I.G. Celebration would take place more than three months later on June 23rd
• Additionally The Girl Scout Councils of New Jersey held a milestone kick off event in November where thousands of Girl Scouts “bridged” across the George Washington Bridge. R&J swept the state with media coverage of that event and would need to secure the same high-level coverage for this final event at Liberty State Park
• The event took place in northern New Jersey making it challenging to secure coverage for all regions that the councils represent
• Both events took place on the weekend resulting in smaller news teams

ACTION

• R&J developed a robust  and aggressive media relations campaign designed to maximize the value of this celebratory event and secure  balanced coverage for each participating council, in order to increase membership, engage alumnae, and draw attention to the Girl Scouts’ rich history
• R&J’s relied heavily on media relations tactics to achieve the established objective which included:
  • Tailored broadcast pitches to NYC media printed on boxes of Girl Scout cookies
  • Widespread distribution of pre-event and day-of press releases
  • Use of social media channels, providing talent, sponsors and the client with messaging for all posts and comments
  • Utilized community calendars across the state to raise awareness
  • Media alerts and extensive follow-up via phone leading up to the event
  • Talent fan site outreach and coverage

CONCLUSION

• Highlights: Day of coverage from WPIX-11, ABC, News 12 NJ, The Star-Ledger, The Jersey Journal, The Huffington Post, and The Record
• 367 Placements
• 428,654,357 Circulation