Marketing and Communications

CALIFORNIA STATE PARKS

Los Angeles State Historic Park

California State Parks is in the process of developing “Los Angeles State Historic Park” to be a signature facility for the City.  The interim venue, located on the north end of downtown Los Angeles, currently serves the local community as a site for leisure activities and events.  Marketing & Communications is working in conjunction with Hargreaves & Associates, a world-renowned landscape design firm, to promote their interpretive vision for the next phase of the Park’s development.

COMMUNICATION GOALS

1. Garner support for the project among community leaders and activists
2. Generate positive awareness for the project to support fundraising efforts

CHALLENGES

• Very limited awareness of the Park facility and proposed development outside the immediate downtown area
• “Los Angeles State Historic Park” is a difficult name to remember.  In addition, the site is already well known by the location’s previous name, “The Cornfield”
• Limited promotional budget compounded by the State’s fiscal crisis

Marketing & Communications determined that in order to generate excitement for the next phase of the Park design, gain donor interest, and spur attendance at upcoming community outreach meetings, we needed to create a publicity event that would position the Park as a historical site worthy of being developed into a premier venue for the City.

TURNING A ROUTINE PROJECT INTO BIG NEWS

During our research with California State Park’s team of historians, archaeologists and scientists we discovered that part of their investigative process within the scope of evaluating potential Park renovations was to conduct archaeological research.  In their preliminary findings, researchers had determined that the original train tracks connecting Los Angeles to the Transcontinental Railroad were directly beneath the Park grounds.  The State Park team was planning to conduct an archaeological dig “at some point during the summer” to evaluate the findings as part of their routine research process.

Marketing & Communications saw the potential for developing a press event around this discovery that would help to promote the Park venue amongst broad audiences and position the facility as an important site worthy of development into a signature City venue.

STRATEGY

We developed a press event centered on unveiling the excavation site artifacts of Transcontinental Railroad lines.  Some considerations in the development of our strategy included:

• Timing - We persuaded the team to delay the summer dig to a date post-Labor Day so as to not miss the potential of reaching key audiences that might not be in town in August.
• Prominent Spokespeople - We secured the participation of the Director of California State Parks (who oversees more than 270 parks) as well as the State Park’s Chief Historian and archaeologists to heighten the importance of the discovery and position California State Parks as the institution leading the development project that will turn the Park into a prominent venue for Los Angeles.
• Visuals and Activity - Since we were targeting television news coverage, we requested that the State Park’s archaeological team be scheduled to work at the Park site digs that day.  Upon realizing that the artifacts looked more like rotting beams than train rails, we planned ahead and researched State archive photos and facts that related to the site.  We selected compelling photos and had posters made that were mounted on easels so that the media could readily understand the dig views presented.
• Press Kit - The press kit was designed for a reporter to be able to quickly access key information and “turn the story around” for early broadcasts.  As such, we prepared a main release, an agenda with names and titles of program speakers and archaeologists for easy identification purposes, a fact sheet and site chronology (with key dates highlighted) as well as a HD DVD with historical photos for broadcast.
• Event Teaser - Prior to the actual event, we released a “teaser” story about the upcoming excavation to print media.  Pick up in key dailies helped generate added excitement for the event that spiked media interest for day-of-event coverage.
• Day-of-Event - A tight agenda with each speaker having specific message points to deliver as well as a scheduled descent into the excavation pit by the Director of State Parks for a “show and tell” of the artifacts made for “great TV” and ensured that she was  incorporated into each edited television news story as well as print coverage.  Poster boards featuring historic photos of the Transcontinental Railroad line and station helped explain the significance of the artifacts and provided additional visuals that supported reporters’ stories.
  By scheduling the event early in the day, we were able to offer television media the opportunity to do live stand-ups from the venue for their early local newscasts and prepare thorough reports (including one-on-one interviews) for their afternoon newscasts.
• Results - This publicity stunt garnered nothing short of a trifecta of media coverage for California State Parks.  The story ran several times on every major television station as well as in newspapers and online media sites resulting in immediate and broad awareness of the story and positive positioning of the venue and client.
• Beyond that Day - Not only were we able to “hit hard” with an awareness story, but the resulting media coverage has been incorporated into various reports and promotional packages for this project.

VIDEO