Seacrest Studios is coming to Children’s Hospital New Orleans
Situation
Children’s Hospital New Orleans is the only freestanding comprehensive children’s hospital in Louisiana and has improved the health and well-being of children in the Gulf South for 70 years. A regional leader in heart care, cancer care, rehabilitation, behavioral health and more than 40 other pediatric specialties, Children’s Hospital is ranked among the world’s best hospitals for pediatric.
On the heels of a $300 million expansion, Children’s Hospital announced they would continue adding to their uptown campus with plans for another multi-million dollar addition in the form of a 12,000 square foot child enrichment center. Named in honor of Walker Beery, a brave boy who passed away following a courageous fight against pediatric brain cancer, Walker’s Imaginarium will be one of the largest and most comprehensive hospital-based child enrichment spaces in the country.
In addition to offering an innovative environment for kids receiving care in the hospital, Walker’s Imaginarium will provide opportunities to invite the community in, creating a unique opportunity where sick and well children can safely interact, engage and support one another through empathy and encouragement, including siblings, families, friends, visiting groups and the community.
Having been selected by the Ryan Seacrest Foundation as the 15th Seacrest Studio location, it will also be home to the foundation’s first studio in Gulf South – and the only one in Louisiana. During the selection process, it was decided that the state-of-the-art studio will be located prominently on the ground level and main exhibit floor of Walker’s Imaginarium. Seacrest Studios will be used to provide a variety of programming opportunities to patients, whether they are physically in the studio or watching through a closed-circuit network from their in-room television screen. Patients will have the opportunity to host their own radio and television shows, watch live musical performances, play games and even interview celebrity guests who visit the studio.
Strategy
Gambel Communications began to craft the public relations strategy for the Seacrest Studios press conference and patient party. The goal of the campaign was to generate additional media attention for Walker’s Imaginarium within the local media market by leveraging the addition of Seacrest Studios.
Based on the research phase of this campaign, Gambel Communications built a targeted media list, crafted a press release, media alert, talking points, gathered media assets and identified spokespersons for post-event interviews. .
To create a fun and engaging experience for patients, their families and the staff at Children’s Hospital, the press conference and patient party would feature a photo booth with a co-branded step and repeat for both the hospital and Seacrest Studios as well as themed props. Additional activities would include snoballs, a dance stage and silent disco.
During the event, Gambel Communications provided onsite support to the media outlets in attendance, ensuring the cameras were well positioned to capture Ryan Seacrest’s pre-recorded message and helped facilitate post-event interviews with key hospital leadership. The atmosphere at the event was contagious and the on-screen message from the set of American Idol was well-received by all in attendance.
Results
Through strategic media outreach and coordinated public relations efforts, Gambel Communication exceeded the public relations campaign goals by securing more than 25 story placements in New Orleans including two full page stories in New Orleans CityBusiness and Gambit Weekly, an online story on nola.com, broadcast stories on WWL-TV, WGNO and WDSU. The local story placements reached an estimated 597.5 million people and were further amplified with a national wire release by Seacrest Studios for a total of 87 stories with an estimated reach of 619.3 million readers. The news stories were shared on social media more than 575 times.
