Turning Trade Publicity into a
General News Media Story
- And Timing a News Release for Maximum Impact
 The
Challenge: Oakland International Airport had the lowest fares
of any Bay Area airport, according to a study published by Aviation
Daily, an industry trade publication. The goal was to present this
information in a way to garner positive publicity for the airport,
while also stressing Oakland's conveniences and on-time record —
important concerns to business travelers.
The Solution: We prepared a three-page
press release about the study results, including additional information
about Oakland International's on-time record, economical parking,
alternative transportation and other details. We also compiled the
statistics gathered by Aviation Daily into our own chart highlighting
data for Oakland International. The chart compared Oakland International's
average fares to those on flights originating out of San Jose and
San Francisco, and to national averages. We held the information
for about a week because of heavy news days that included stories
on the Clinton/Lewinski scandal and the United States' bombing of
suspected terrorist bases in the Sudan and Afghanistan, which would
otherwise have detracted from our "good news" story. The
release finally went out on the Business Wire on a fairly uneventful
Tuesday morning.
That morning, we followed up with calls to
all major Bay Area newspapers, television stations and radio stations
to answer reporters' questions.
Results: Within 24 hours of the release,
a radio station and two television stations covered the story, including
a TV segment that lasted nearly three minutes. The story also was
published in two major daily newspapers in the Bay Area, one of
which created its own color chart. All the stories stressed the
airport's convenience and on-time flight record, as well as the
fares.
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