Quinn & Hary Marketing was contracted by the City of New London in May 2013 to address a variety of challenges within the City, and we delivered on multiple levels.
Our first objective was to inform public about New London’s unique cultural elements and exciting community events. Secondly, we were tasked with encouraging visitation to New London to experience the glorious waterfront, rich cultural scene, fascinating historical sites, vibrant arts community, and fabulous recreational activities.
In collaboration with 13 non-profit organizations in New London, we developed a target media list and creative multi-faceted messaging to reach media locally, regionally and nationally. As a result, Q&H generated positive media coverage for New London through the placement of feature stories, “sidebar” and human-interest stories, photo opportunities, and media interviews, resulting in 150,000,000+ print/online impressions with an editorial value of $1,000,000+. Media coverage included The Huffington Post, MSNBC, The Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe, Hartford Courant, Providence Journal, Connecticut Magazine, The Valley Advocate, New Haven Register, Connecticut Post, and The Republican, just to name a few.
Q&H also developed a public event called “Celebrate New London” to honor the historic relationship and shared tradition of diversity, education, and maritime heritage between the City and US Coast Guard Academy. Programming included special recognition of scholastic honors, unique family entertainment and complimentary football tickets provided to New London public schools students and their families. We developed a marketing partnership with The Day to create a special event program for the event; drafted and distributed press announcements; pitched pre/post media coverage; created flyers, posters and other collateral materials; and distributed as a special supplement in The Day newspaper. The end result was a successful multi-faceted campaign that nearly broke the single game attendance record for the Academy and generated positive media exposure for the Academy and the City’s shared goals and messaging.
Based on our successes, New London’s City Council recently passed a unanimous vote to continue our efforts for the city for the 2014-2015 fiscal year. They have wholeheartedly endorsed our aggressive public relations and communications plan to continuously make the public aware of the City’s offerings. Other municipalities should take a page from the City of New London’s playbook and hire Q&H!
