Sometimes, traditional PR tactics are not enough. Over the years, we have developed various events for clients that were used to heighten awareness of their name and service and shape image.

Just a few of them have included:

• An anti-aging expo.  Held at a local hotel, the event was conducted on behalf of a plastic surgeon with the goal of positioning him as a leading name in not only cosmetic surgery, but in the entire anti-aging process.  The event included exhibitors – who paid for the cost of putting on this event – and speakers on cosmetic surgery, anti-aging medicine, fitness and diet.  As a result, the client directly interacted with hundreds of prospects (many of whom became patients) and received strong and positive coverage by local newspapers and lifestyle media.

• An ongoing corporate comedy “laugh-off” series on our client’s premises (a local restaurant).  By transforming what was essentially an “open mike” night into an amateur comedy competition that encouraged stand up comedy aspirants to perform in front of friends and work associates, we brought standing room only crowds into the restaurant on historically slow weekday nights and reaped significant publicity (including stories in The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Bergen Record and Newark Star-Ledger).

• A Dinner with a Doctor series at two inner city hospitals.  The events were conceived as a way to change perceptions by personally introducing people who live and work in the area to the hospitals (both of which are attractive facilities but were perceived by the public as being substandard), their services and their doctors.  These events have generated capacity crowds, brought in patients, enhanced morale on the part of their physicians and resulted in strong publicity.

• A competition was held for patrons to design a mascot for a chain of restaurants.  Paper and pencil were provided at each table, with patrons encouraged to offer their own vision of the chain’s new mascot.  This resulted in well over 500 entries. The best entries were selected by a judging panel and then displayed in the restaurants with patrons asked to vote for their favorite rendition.  This event resulted in strong publicity, patron interest and the creation of a winning mascot (with an actual costume created based on the winner’s design specs)

In addition, we have developed programs with the intent of finding suitable sponsors. This has included the following:

Bud Light Ladies of Laughter

This was a national comedy program for amateur and professional female comediennes that we developed and ran for Anheuser Busch for several years.  Started as an event that we produced at a YMCA in Ridgewood, New Jersey, it soon grew into a popular series sponsored by Bud Light that would be held at leading comedy clubs and resorts throughout the New York/New Jersey area and the Midwest.  It provided the sponsor with an event that generated high traffic and excitement on-premise and hundreds of media impressions, and gave young and aspiring female performers a chance to realize their dreams of performing in front of large crowds and receiving much-needed exposure.

Citibank College Advertising Awards

This is a program that ran for six years with Citibank as the sponsor (and then a seventh year with MasterCard).  At its height, more than 250 colleges participated in a program that encouraged marketing and advertising professors to have their students create an advertising campaign around a specific topic chosen by the sponsor (usually either a specific credit card or a service connected with it).  Each college’s winning entry was then entered into the national competition, with an All-Star team of advertising professionals selecting the eventual winners.  Students won cash awards, as did their schools, and received summer internships.   It proved a good way to reach college students – an important target of credit card companies – in a more creative, less sales-oriented manner; differentiated the sponsor’s message from those offered by competitors; generated ongoing publicity local and national publicity; and gave professors around the country a valuable teaching tool.