Client:             Hebrew SeniorLife

Project:           Brand Positioning & Media Relations for Hebrew SeniorLife

Mission:

• Position HSL IFAR brand as the leading organization for aging-related research
• Position HSL IFAR faculty as experts in the field of age-related research to national health media
• Secure coverage for newly released studies in top tier national media
• Increase awareness of HSL as an organization that is changing the face of aging

Strategies and Tactics:

Promoted the release of three key IFAR research studies over a four-month period from June to September 2011

• Re-hospitalizations of seniors can be reduced by giving patients more information about their condition and better managing their medications
• Despite common perception, “senior moments of forgetfulness” are not to be considered the norm and most older adults experience only a small amount of cognitive decline
• Recent height loss can predict hip fracture risk in the elderly and a simple clinical measurement can help protect seniors from this major public health threat

Identified media targets and developed tailored pitch letters for distribution under embargo prior to each study’s publication in leading medical journals

Enacted a multi-pronged campaign  for each research study designed to target national health and medical reporters

Pitched the announcements under embargo to ensure reporters would have sufficient time to interview IFAR researchers prior to the studies being announced publicly

Crafted media materials that clearly communicated the “consumer” angle for each study. This strategy not only allowed each reporter time to fully understand the information featured in the study, but also created a sense of urgency surrounding the upcoming publication of the new research

Results:

Between June and September 2011, SA secured coverage in top-tier print, online, and broadcast media which resulted in more than 26 million impressions for HSL and IFAR

Secured a phone interview for an IFAR researcher with health editor Melinda Beck at the Wall Street Journal about a new study showing recent height loss among seniors could indicated hip fracture risk

• The resulting coverage was the lead health story on the cover of the Personal Journal section of the Wall Street Journal on September 20, 2011
• The story was also teased above the publication’s masthead on the front page

Secured a phone interview for an IFAR researcher with health reporter Janice Lloyd at USA Today about research revealing that cognitive decline among seniors is not “the norm”

The resulting story ran on the USA Today web site on September 2, 2011

Secured a phone interview for an IFAR researcher with USA TODAY health policy reporter Kelly Kennedy regarding research showing re-hospitalizations of senior patients can be reduced by giving patients more information about their conditions and better managing their medications

The resulting article was placed in the front news section of the June 14, 2011 USA Today print issue

Coverage included news broadcasts on 14 NBC affiliates around the country

Reinforced IFAR researchers as experts with leading national health reporters