Case Study:

Public Relations: Europe to Cincinnati

The situation
Media coverage and promotion were needed in Europe to attract people to the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra’s concerts in Germany, Spain and Poland. However, budget restrictions prevented the hiring of a PR agent in Europe.

The strategy
The foremost plan was to increase the visibility and reputation of the CSO, internationally and locally. The methods were:

1. identify and promote all opportunities to target European media;
2. focus on the conductor and soloist in interviews;
3. keep news of the tour in front of the Cincinnati public all the while to increase its reputation locally.

The execution

• Advance press releases about the tour were distributed globally, and complete media kits were distributed to all media in the cities on tour.
• Rose fostered relationships with concert presenters in Europe to engage them in the efforts to promote media interest.
• Interviews at numerous Spanish newspapers were arranged months before the tour.
• Radio interviews were conducted in Germany and Poland during the tour.
• Through collaboration with the Sister City organization, a VIP reception was held for the orchestra in Munich that attracted media as well as public officials.
• Working with German contacts, we ordered "placards" (large posters) to be printed and placed in subways and public places to promote the concert in Berlin.
• To increase visibility in Cincinnati, we engaged WCPO-TV/Channel 9 to create and host (without charge) the CSO’s Virtual Tour on the Web, chronicling the complete travels of the CSO on its European tour. To showcase the orchestra, we featured selected members as "tour guides" and invited the public to log on and send comments to the CSO in Europe.
• To reach out to schools and children, we created a series of cross-curricular educational projects for students on the CSO’s Virtual Tour website, and promoted it to teachers

The results

• News coverage in all tour cities in Spain, Germany and Poland, generating 34 newspaper stories abroad.  
• Radio interviews in Germany and Poland
• Sold-out concerts in nearly every city.
• Increased sales of CSO recordings in Europe.
• Coverage in Cincinnati media and heightened visibility.
• Comprehensive website (provided free) for the CSO Virtual Tour, featuring 120 web pages with video and audio, and attracting thousands of ”hits.”