Using Our Expertise to Help a Family Through a Crisis into Creating a Legacy

Background: Describe the product or service for which the CBI was developed. (50 words)

− When we discovered on the day after the December 14, 2012, massacre in

Newtown, Conn., that a former colleague is cousin to Alissa Parker, mother

of slain 6-year-old Emilie, we offered our help pro bono

The Challenge: Describe the marketing/business challenge and the objectives. (100 words)

− The Parkers were quickly overwhelmed by three groups: media wanting

interviews, people wanting to help and hateful conspiracy theorists

− As the crisis unfolded, our objectives were to relieve a heavy load from Alissa

and Robbie as they focused on grieving; shield them from the dark side of

being part of such a public story; and make sure we got the right messages

to the right media outlets. Those goals are the same today, as we offer media

relations support, assist the family during pop-up crises and help develop

ideas for how the Parkers can turn the tragedy into Emilie’s legacy

The CBI Idea: Please describe the CBI and its execution. What was innovative in both the concept and the execution? (150 words)

− The CBI was to take the evilness of the Internet trolls and “truthers” and

counter it with the purity of a child’s creativity and art and to give the family

something to rally around

− We helped the Parker family incorporate by arranging donation of legal

services and by handling the announcement of the charity, then PR’ing it

over the course of several months, including at national and local events

such as an Ogden, Utah, minor-league baseball game and an event at a

Sikh temple, plus an appearance by Robbie on “Piers Morgan Tonight”

Did you use the CBI development tool in creating this CBI? (If yes, how did the process contribute to the development of the CBI?)

− The Emilie Parker Art Connection was born from the creativity and love

of a small child whose life was cut tragically short. We used the CBI

process as a guide to ensure that Emilie’s kind spirit and character would

show through every aspect of the organization

− The CBI process helped us put rigor and discipline behind the emotional

but very important task of establishing a meaningful tribute to Emilie

Parker

BRAND

RELEVANCE

BRAND

OPPORTUNITY

BRAND

ADVANTAGE

Create a destination for

the incredible generosity

of people wanting to

help the Parker family

Let Emilie’s light shine through the

darkness of the Newtown tragedy

by sharing her joys with others

Create a meaningful

legacy for Emilie Parker in

the face of a horrible

tragedy

PROSUMER The media, public, and friends

and family of the Parkers

clamor to find a way to help the

family of one of the Newtown

tragedy’s young victims

BRAND Emilie Parker’s life was marked

by creativity and joy that she

expressed through her love of

art

CATEGORY An unspeakable tragedy

horrifies the nation and a small

town and robs a family of their

young child

A YOUNG ARTIST’S FINAL MASTERPIECE

OF LOVE

Creative Expression

− Insert creative across all relevant disciplines: TV, print, posters, DM, leaflets, digital, social media, etc.

(An integration board is uploaded with our entry.)

Results: How did this CBI transform the brand?

− Our opening and promoting of the social communications channels helped family and friends

process the loss of Emilie. The Facebook page has 318,000 likes, and more than 1 million people

saw the most popular post through sharing (it had more than 249,000 likes and 17,000 shares).

The website has garnered 181,000 unique visitors and more than 855 comments

− A CBS interview we placed in March opened a media floodgate—for 22.1 million media

impressions and 1.8 billion Twitter impressions over one weekend—partly because the Parkers

revealed their debate-changing meeting with the shooter’s father, which our agency arranged with

the Lanza family representative at Edelman. We’ve garnered 65 million total impressions from the

top half-dozen stories about the Parkers alone (CBS, plus “Piers Morgan,” a syndicated AP story,

and local press in Utah and Connecticut)

− Moving forward from this unspeakable tragedy, we continue in our pro bono efforts to help the

family manage their social media presence and develop the Emilie Parker Fund into its next

iteration of paying tribute to Emilie. In the end, making a difference for the Parkers and helping them

move beyond the crisis to become advocates for school safety and other child-related initiatives

was the best result we could have achieved

Results: Please provide results to show that this CBI facilitated profitable growth. − Our work with the Parkers is fortifying our reputation as an agency that can act quickly and

effectively, especially using various social channels and influencers, in the face of great crisis and

with causes that make a difference. In business terms, this case is about reputation. In personal

terms, it is helping us to feel helpful. This kind of work highlights our ingenuity and collaborative

nature while doing something good for people around us

− The horrific killings at Sandy Hook Elementary School were easily the largest worldwide media

story of 2012, and gun violence and gun control continue to dominate discussions across the

Internet, in large buildings in Washington, D.C., and in dining rooms across America and the world.

Through the Parkers and our focus on turning a tragedy into an opportunity, we believe we are

helping to set an example for how strategic open communication can lead to real change

− As a footnote: This Newtown connection bonded us to Aaron Sherinian, who awarded Havas PR

the United Nations Foundation business. Thus, the UNF, #GivingTuesday and Newtown are all

linked

List all communications channels used in this campaign. How was this CBI integrated across media (online and offline) and across marketing disciplines?

− Targeted pitching to media

− Targeted media placements

− Family-issued statements

− Website (building and designing one version for crisis management, one for

legacy building)

− Facebook (promoting a page started by family friends)

− Twitter

− Public speaking engagements

− Cause efforts

Do you have your client’s permission to present this work? If so, please attach written consent.

The Parker family is in isolation this week and next because of the anniversary

of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings. We will secure their

permission at a later date

− Name of office: Havas PR North America

− Client: The Parker Family

− Brand: Emilie Parker Art Connection

− Category: Other

− The CBI: Using Our Expertise to Help a Family Through a Crisis into Creating a

Legacy

− First and last names and titles of each person/team member who contributed to

the CBI:

− Marian Salzman, CEO

− JoMarie Fecci, Creative Director

− Angie Argabrite, Senior Vice President, Editorial

− Cindy Tanenbaum, Media Relations Specialist

Please fill in the information below with regards to this CBI in particular: