Public relations firm helps client make national and regional headlines based on Sample findings

Gaughan & Swann surveyed Sample respondents for newsworthy findings that were reported on 50 TV channels and carried in national papers such as the Wall Street Journal and USA Today.

Gaughan & Swann, a public relations consulting firm in Atlanta, provides out-sourced PR and advanced media tactics for a range of technology companies. Mike Neumeier, APR, Managing Director, works with companies looking for a robust media-relationship program but that don't necessarily have newsworthy stories.

Research among cell phone users creates news
For Sprint, one of the countries leading integrated communications company, Gaughan & Swann was tasked with developing research the company could use to advance Sprints thought leadership role. "This type of research is what the media find attractive," Neumeier says. July was national cell phone month, so the team decided "Why don't we put out a definitive survey on cell phone etiquette?"

Gaughan & Swann constructed a survey about cell phones usage -- what people thought was appropriate and what people found inappropriate or rude.

Regional respondents provide local angle for media
They fielded one survey nationwide, and then launched regional surveys in 15 major metropolitan areas in the U.S. Each survey was created using Zoomerang online survey software and sent out to the required respondents through Sample, Zoomerang's survey respondent service. "The media want news that's as localized as possible," Neumeier says. By having a national survey, as well as more geographically targeted respondents, "it gave Sprint's local PR professionals more to work with," he says. For example, the media in San Francisco could compare the results of respondents in their city with those nationwide.

Survey results generate news coverage and increased web site traffic
"We asked 32 close-ended questions," Neumeier says. He left the surveys open for up to one week. "We received more responses than we anticipated," he says.

The nationwide survey was sent to US adults aged 18 and above who are cell phone users. The respondents from the 15 metropolitan areas were selected by area or zip code. "Once I got back 100 responses in each survey, the rest of the responses just confirmed those results," Neumeier says. He was confident in the consistency of the results.

From the survey results, Gaughan & Swann drafted a survey news release and media pitches for Sprints internal and external PR team to use peak the interest of the media they were working with. Working with the research provided by Gaughan & Swann, Sprints PR team produced a video news release featuring an etiquette expert and distributed via satellite to TV stations across the U.S. The news release went out at the end of the first week of July. "More than 50 TV stations picked up on the story," according to Neumier. Sprint also received coverage in the Wall Street Journal (twice), USA Today, The San Francisco Chronicle, Reuters, Fox News, ABCs 20/20 and the Associated Press, among others. Sprint was particularly pleased with the regional coverage. For example, every local TV station in Dallas did a piece on the release of the national and local survey findings.

"As a call to action the news releases drove the media to a special Sprint etiquette web site that let the viewer test his or her own cell phone etiquette. We based this online test on many of the same questions we asked in the national surveys so those taking it could better gauge their etiquette against the national sample," Neumeier says. More than 15,000 people have visited the web site to take the test. From the same site visitors could access Sprint Wireless etiquette tips and product information.

Speed of Sample contributes to success
With the aggressive timeline of less than 30 days Gaughan & Swann had to meet an early July launch date, "we really needed things to go quickly for us," and they did. The survey in Atlanta, for example, was launched on June 22, after which the respondents had to take the survey and Gaughan & Swann had to analyze the results, all to meet the July Cell Phone month deadline. When working with Sample staff, "the competency level was extremely high," Neumeier says. "They took the burden off us. They're a one-stop shop. Very convenient and efficient." He was particularly impressed with "the speed and the consistency of the results."