The buzz around sustainability is so loud it can drown out even the biggest voices out there. So what to do if your company or client has something big to share?
This was the big question faced by Sabina Covo Communications, a fully integrated PR and business consulting agency specialized in pioneering communication with a focus on U.S. Hispanic and Latin American markets.
In their recent partnership with J&J Green Paper, as they launched their groundbreaking sustainable packaging initiative in collaboration with Arcos Dorados, the world’s largest McDonald’s franchisee. Equipped with a robust set of PR tools, including Prowly, they hit all their goals and got their client a big win by attracting investors in a highly competitive market.
In this article you’ll learn all about the:
- PR Agency’s Strategy and Planning, including challenges and key messages
- Execution of their winning PR campaign
- Campaign results and big wins
Crafting a winning strategy in a highly competitive landscape
Starting off, the PR agency faced a highly competitive landscape. The topic of sustainability is vast and the niche of sustainable food service packaging has its fair share of voices vying for attention.
To get their slice of the pie, the PR Agency needed to craft precise communication. Define clear aims. Establish their key messages. And be absolutely sure of who their target audience was and how to reach them.
Facing the challenge of a highly saturated market
With numerous plastic alternatives already dominating the conversation, it was important to communicate how the client’s new product stood out.
What made it different from other options already on the market? Why was this, with so many other options out there, a game changer?
Answering these questions and more required very clear and concise communication. Not only of what the product was, but how it was going to impact the market. And don’t forget the roles of the stakeholders. There was a lot to say and truly very little room to say it.
"We are thoroughly enjoying working on the PR campaign for J&J Green Paper, as it has been a continuous learning experience. One of the challenges was ensuring complete alignment with the Arcos Dorados Argentina communications strategy. After numerous edits and revisions, we successfully released a compelling communications piece that effectively showcased everyone's role."
- Sabina Covo, Director
A PR strategy based on hard numbers
With its aim to successfully launch Janus, a sustainable packaging product developed over the past decade, the campaign had a clear roadmap to success:
1️⃣ First, to generate awareness. The PR agency’s campaign needed to secure a share of voice to ensure the right people knew all about the new product’s arrival on the market.
2️⃣ Secondly, the client was putting out a brand new technology. So explaining precisely what it is was critical. What it was, how it was made, and the impact it would have on the market was all new ground that needed to be covered.
3️⃣ And finally, the PR agency’s communications needed to showcase the product’s market potential for stakeholders and investors. That means hard numbers to illustrate real results.
The goal? To ensure the product’s smooth implementation in McDonald's restaurants all across Argentina.
Sabina Covo’s 5 Key Messages
In support of this strategy, the PR agency produced five key messages to span across their communications.
The first to highlight the important role of each stakeholder:
- J&J Green Paper Commends Arcos Dorados for moving towards a more sustainable future.
To explain precisely what was arriving on the market:
- JANUS® is an all-natural coating that creates a barrier to grease, water and oxygen when applied to paper for food packaging, like wrap paper, boxes, cups, utensils, K-cups, and straws.
- The organic JANUS compound is 100% biodegradable, backyard compostable, repulpable and recyclable.
And finally, to showcase the real, measurable results:
- The largest McDonald's franchise in the world that operates the brand in Argentina began to implement a change in the primary bags and wrappers of hamburgers.
- JANUS replaces the current coating standard – petroleum-derived polyethylene – offering a solution to single-use plastics and PFAS chemicals, each a well-known health and environmental hazard.
Finding your target audience
The most perfectly crafted message in all the world will come to nothing if it doesn’t reach the right ears.
To ensure the product’s successful implementation, there were three major groups that needed to hear what the client had to say.
1️⃣ The primary focus was to highlight the financial opportunities this new product presented to potential investors. But this alone would not guarantee success.
2️⃣ To support this and other goals, the key messages also had to reach the general public. Raising awareness generates buzz and guarantees a greater share of voice.
3️⃣ Finally, there was a need to reach potential clients. Those who would promote the adoption of similar sustainable solutions. And who may seize upon a new opportunity for sustainable practices.
Knowing who they needed to reach, what they wanted to say, and understanding the demands of a highly competitive conversation, it was time for Sabina Covo to set to work.
Equipped with a robust set of tools, enhanced by powerful technology like Prowly, and with a mind full of creative elements, the PR agency was geared for success.
A PR Campaign that geared McDonalds for a more sustainable future
The next step? Choosing your channels of communication.
You want to be where your audience is. Get features in the outlets they read.
Your first point of contact is the journalists who write for them. So you’ll need their up to date contact info for a start.
Prowly’s media database keeps over 1 million journalist contacts from around the world up to date and at your fingertips. But that’s not the best part. With handy filters and an AI Assistant, you can easily find the right journalists to reach out to and even check out examples of their articles before you pitch them.
With these in hand, backed by solid partners, with just the right media to enhance your message, and powerful technology by your side, you’re on the road to success from the word go.
#1 Securing media placements in Yahoo! Finance and more
With their target audience in mind and several goals ahead, the PR agency set out to establish a list of journalists and reporters covering their main target groups.
The campaign sought out environmental reporters to cover all the details of what this JANUS was and what impact it would have on sustainability in the food packing industry.
Such as this juicy feature in Industry Intelligence Inc:
You can check out the full environmental report here.
The campaign also addressed journalists and reporters covering their potential consumers, reaching out with the aim to inform their product’s client base.
As seen in this publication from Packing Strategies:
These outreach activities covered a broad sweep of the client’s target audience This ensured both comprehensive coverage and awareness. But its primary goal required a slightly more specialized approach. So the PR agency also reached out to the financial media to inform potential investors of this new opportunity.
Producing articles like this piece from Yahoo! Finance:
Thus Sabina Covo Communications courted effective channels to reach their target audience where they were. Appearing in financial, environmental, and consumer outlets to ensure comprehensive communication across all aims and goals.
Try Prowly’s AI enhanced media pitching today
#2 Crafting the perfect press release and stunning visuals
First off, the bread and butter of every successful PR campaign, the PR agency backed its message with an effective and comprehensive press release. You can read the full press release as published here, by J&J Green Paper.
In it, they neatly cover all their key messages. Detailing the technology behind the new product as well as its potential impact on the food packaging industry and sustainable packaging of the future. Not falling short in covering the real life impact as the new product is adopted and released across all McDonald’s locations in Argentina.
Prowly’s AI assistant is equipped to help you write the perfect press release for any campaign.
But why stop there? Sometimes it’s better to show than tell. And how better to do it than with a short video to prove the point? And so, It’s NOT 1984, published on youtube.com, was produced to fully showcase the client’s message.
To get the big wins, you have to put in a little elbow grease. Writing and drafting the perfect press release and assembling a robust list of journalist’s contacts is no joke either.
But with the right tools and technology on board, like Prowly’s AI assistant and robust media database, these tasks can be made smooth and simple.
#3 Fostering partnership with the world’s largest McDonald’s franchisee
Though the PR agency’s direct client was J&J Green Page, a big benefit came from Sabina Covo’s collaboration with Arcos Dorados, the world’s largest McDonald’s franchisee and first adopter of the new technology.
They played a key role in sharing their communications strategy so the full PR campaign could reflect their core values and goals, bringing the full band of communications in line with the target audience. Enhancing the campaign’s effectiveness in smoothing the rails for an effective product launch.
#4 Choosing the right technology and tools to enhance your message
But of course, they didn’t do it alone. Every PR agency worth its salt has a toolbox filled with the essentials to get the job done. With the right tools and technology by your side, you can turn any campaign strategy into success.
The campaign itself used several tools and platforms to build their success. These included a newswire to distribute their press release as widely as could be, LinkedIn for planned outreach to journalists and reporters in their respective niches, and Prowly to handle the breadth of their media management and provide a robust media database fit to the task.
Prowly enhanced this process by helping Sabina Covo find all the right journalists they needed for their outreach program, all tucked into Prowly’s rich media database of over 1 million media contacts.
You can find more testimonials about how Prowly can enhance and enrich your PR campaign strategies here.
But don’t take our word for it.
You can try Prowly today and test out its media database entirely free for seven days.
Campaign results and the big wins - a summary
Over the course of its execution, the campaign received extensive media coverage.
Namely 571 direct publications as earned through the newswire service, pitching and organic posts. But most importantly, and keeping in line with the campaign’s goals, it successfully generated investment benefits for J&J Green Paper to help smooth the product’s successful launch into the market.
These successes were further affirmed by the client, who gave direct positive feedback and testimonials highlighting the agency's success in raising awareness and driving interest in their new sustainable packaging solution.
These days, the Sabina Covo team is working on earning new consumer media for J&J Green Paper by securing interviews.
The future goal? To further educate the public and build the brand's reputation. Positioning J&J Green Paper as brand leaders in the sustainable packaging industry, ensuring continued growth and recognition.
"Translating and adapting the release to Spanish and Portuguese required numerous edits and revisions to ensure it made better sense in each language. We are now in the process of releasing the news to other countries around the world."
- Hilda Juan, Account Director
Access a rich media database of over 1 million media contacts and an AI assistant to help you craft the perfect press release today with Prowly.
