June 24, 2020
This spring, our team was tasked with driving media coverage for client, Monte Nido & Affiliates, which was entering the Chicagoland market for the first time with two new residential eating disorder facilities. Little did we know, the openings would occur just a
s focus shifted to a global health pandemic.
With our initial, pre-coronavirus pitching, we landed coverage in major outlets like Chicago Sun-Times, Crain’s Chicago Business, Daily Herald and WBIG-AM.
Then the coronavirus outbreak drastically changed not only our everyday lives, but the healthcare media landscape. The news cycle was focused on covering COVID-19 around the clock. We had to get creative and shift our pitching strategy. We dug in and did research, and learned about the unique impact that quarantine and stay-at-home orders were having on people with eating disorders, especially adolescents who had lost their regular routine of attending school and activities.
For the opening of Clementine Naperville in June, which offers programming for girls ages 11 to 17, we focused on the impact coronavirus was having on adolescents with eating disorders, and tied in the new resource that would soon be available in the area. This pitch resulted in coverage from WFLD-TV (Fox Chicago), Daily Herald, Glancer Magazine, Naperville Sun and in an upcoming issue of Chicago Parent.
In total, we generated 12 stories that led to almost 16 million impressions, far surpassing our original goal of 5-6 placements. This is a great reminder of why it’s so important for PR pros to make sure stories have a tie to current events when working with the media.