Case Studies

Goals

• PennWell Publishing wanted mainstream media coverage for its publication, Oil & Gas Journal – a bible of the petroleum industry, which was celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2002. Ward Creative Communications was contracted to help the publication gain widespread recognition of its century of success.
  
  
• The client wanted to target non-trade press in Houston and Tulsa, and was particularly interested in gaining television coverage and exposure in the national media.

Strategy

• On less than $15,000-budget, Ward Creative determined the best approach to appeal to a more general audience was to tell the history of the oil business through the pages of Oil & Gas Journal, creating specific pitches to national, Houston and Tulsa media outlets.

• The agency developed comprehensive media materials, including a press kit that covered the oil & gas industry’s history; background information on the owners, publishers and editorial staff; and events to be held in May of 2002 by PennWell celebrating the 100th anniversary.

Results

• In the days immediately before and surrounding the May 2002 anniversary celebration events, the agency contacted media in Houston, Tulsa and other major cities influenced by the petroleum business. Simultaneously, WCC began a campaign to gain national recognition via “pitches” to various publications and the Today Show on NBC. We decided the Today Show’s meteorologist Willard Scott might be interested in the 100th anniversary as part of his celebration of 100-year birthdays for individuals. The Today Show, alone, in ad equivalency would be worth an estimated $40,000.
  
  
• The 100-year anniversary was featured on Tulsa’s CBS-TV affiliate, the Fox TV affiliate in Houston and on national television via the Today Show, with Willard Scott donning a yellow hardhat emblazoned with the Oil & Gas Journal logo.
  
  
• The Oil & Gas Journal also received excellent recognition in two feature articles in the Tulsa World (including a color photo of current members of the founding family).
  
  
• Numerous other publications covered the 100-year anniversary, including the Houston Chronicle, and PRWeek did a half-page profile on the Oil & Gas Journal, which included a color photo and an interview with the editor.
  
  
• The agency garnered almost ten times the client's investment with a more than $140,000 advertising equivalency through the public relations effort.