The Virginia Dental Association (VDA) and its foundation had a big week of statewide press coverage February 23-27.
Among the highlights: we encouraged Natalie Faunce, an news anchor at WSLS in Roanoke, to receive an oral cancer screening live on the set! Watch the clip here.
Behind it all, there was a concerted public relations effort from the team at Rubin Communications Group. The six media hits came from two separate events, one in Roanoke and another in Suffolk (Hampton Roads).
Roanoke: “Where’s the Chair?”
The VDA placed a portable dental chair in a popular lunchtime destination in downtown Roanoke to catch people by surprise and offer free oral cancer screenings.
Suffolk: MOM Project
The Virginia Dental Association Foundation (VDAF) staged a free dental clinic for hundreds of people at King’s Fork Middle School. Dentists, hygienists, dental assistants and dental students provided cleanings, extractions and restorations or fillings.
Media coverage for “Where’s the Chair?”
- The Roanoke Times — Association offers free oral cancer screening
- WDBJ (CBS affiliate) — Dentists check for oral cancer in downtown Roanoke
- WSLS (NBC affiliate) — VDA member Dr. David Black performs oral cancer screening live on the set
Media coverage for MOM Project
- The Daily Press — Free dental care for hundreds in Suffolk on Saturday
- WTKR (CBS affilliate) — Over 600 adults received free dental care in Suffolk
- WVEC (ABC affiliate) — Helping under-served dental patients (video aired on TV but did not appear online)
How did we land the coverage?
In Roanoke and Suffolk, we began with a press release:
Roanoke: VDA to Bring Wheres the Chair Campaign to Roanoke Feb 24
Suffolk: Free Dental Program to Provide Care in Suffolk on Feb 28
We didn’t just send the press releases to media outlets in each market, sit back and wait. We got on the phone, worked our relationships and talked with reporters and producers about each event, why it mattered and why they should consider the story.
In the days preceding each event — and the day itself — we jumped on the phones, checked on the reporters and made sure they still planned to come.
Our extra effort paid off as the VDA and VDAF received coverage from multiple media outlets in both markets.
The Big Takeaways
1. To capture media attention, you need:
- A creative idea (ex: “Where’s the Chair?”) with strong visuals. The media loves compelling pictures and video.
- A tightly-written press release with all relevant information.
- Determination to follow up with all relevant reporters to push for coverage.
– The story alone will not bring out the media. Reporters are people busy who often have several options of what they will cover on a given day. (Polite) persistence is key.
– Make sure you thank the reporters for their efforts. With “Where’s the Chair?”, we sent a handwritten thank-you note to Natalie Faunce, the reporter at WSLS who received an oral cancer screening live on the set. Natalie went above and beyond with our oral cancer awareness, and she needs to knows how much we appreciate the effort.
Also, it’s possible we will need Natalie down the road on an entirely different story.
Relationships are everything.
How can we help YOUR team with media coverage?
Email me at danny@rubincommunications.com, and let’s start the conversation.
