ASSETS BY SARA BLAKELY
Challenge:
Spanx, Inc. is dedicated to delivering the highest levels of quality, comfort, and innovation to women through its amazing assortment of footless body shaping pantyhose and other figure enhancing products. Since she started the company in 2001, Spanx founder Sara Blakely has always relied on the power of PR to introduce new products and take ownership of its market niche. When the company decided to launch a new brand in Target stores called ASSETS by Sara Blakely in Spring 2006, PR Director Misty Elliott recognized that creative media relations was essential in raising visibility. Morning drive radio shows are typically skewed female, which provides an excellent grassroots platform for reaching potential ASSETS customers. So, she turned to Shira Miller Communications (SMC) to help execute her vision of an extensive national radio pitching campaign called "ASSETS in America."
Solution:
We collaborated with Spanx to create content for "Assets in America," a fun, interactive survey created to measure how men and women nationwide really viewed their physical assets and those of each other. After the survey launched online, our team pitched radio morning shows across the country on the idea of interviewing Sara Blakely to encourage listeners to participate. Then we pitched follow-up segments where Sara could come back and discuss how their city responded in the survey results - and also introduce the ASSETS brand with special prize packs. The key was ensuring this pitching effort remained pop culture "newsy" and entertaining enough - without being too brand promotional - so media contacts would be interested. The campaign was a tremendous success. A total of 75 radio segments were secured nationwide, with nearly 20% of these hitting the top 30 markets nationwide. If Spanx had paid for this earned media through traditional advertising, the equivalent cost would have been over $350,000 and reached more than 10 million people. This effort proved to be a strong jump start to product sales, which exceeded Target's sales expectations by double-digits. In July 2007, SMC received the National Bronze Anvil Award from the Public Relations Society of America in the category of Consumer Media Relations campaigns for this effort.
