One issue of major concern in South Florida is the availability of gasoline following a hurricane. The state passed legislation last year mandating that gas stations should be pre-wired for generators, so consumers can get gas after a storm. Here's what happened and what our Miami public relations firm did about it:
David & Garcia PR has worked with Boca Raton-based Personalized Power Systems, the largest full-service dealer of large generator systems for homes and small businesses in the country, since mid-2005. We have secured numerous local and national media opportunities, including reports in The Wall Street Journal and ABC World News, about the company’s unique role in pioneering the trend in generator systems that power entire homes in South Florida. These reports are prominently featured in the company’s marketing material and Web site (
http://www.personalizedpower.com/), and its advertising has made effective use of the fact that the company’s products and services were featured in The Wall Street Journal.
In 2007 just prior to the start of the hurricane season, PPS alerted David & Garcia PR about the apparent failure of the State of Florida’s new law requiring some gas stations to be pre-wired for generators. The company’s owner explained to us that its marketing efforts to the gas station owners were met with confusion and a general lack of awareness of the specifics of the new law.
After thorough research and analysis, David & Garcia PR reached out to our contacts in the local media,
including reporters at The Miami Herald, South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Palm Beach Post, The South Florida Business Journal, WFOR (CBS4, Miami-Ft. Lauderdale), WPTV (NBC5, West Palm Beach), and others. We presented our findings about the issue and arranged interviews with all of these and other leading South Florida outlets. Our efforts sparked investigative reports throughout the region and forced the State of Florida and Gov. Charlie Crist to step up enforcement of the critical law. Crist, in fact, applauded one of the reporters for bringing our issue to his attention, creating a statewide news story which dominated newspaper pages and television news throughout Florida for nearly a week.
The resulting media coverage prominently featured PPS as the source for information on the gas station generator law, and our client began enjoying numerous sales of its systems to local stations, which have since become a significant part of the company’s business.
--John
http://www.miamipublicrelations.com/
Increasingly, we have found that print reporters are carrying digital cameras, so they can take photos to accompany their stories. In the good old days, we would mail a headshot following a face-to-face interview. Recently, we would e-mail a jpg file. Today, some reporters are saving all those steps by just snapping away on their own.
