We are storytellers—passionate about taking great ideas and bringing them to life. We provide powerful, yet simple, solutions. And we bring our emotional intelligence—the head and the heart—to every project.
In 2006, The National Trust for Historic Preservation and American Express created Partners in Preservation, an initiative to raise awareness for historic preservation through a unique $1 million competition for restoration funding. In 2011, Partners in Preservation came to the Twin Cities, marking one of the largest restoration grant programs ever to visit our region. The National Trust for Historic Preservation and American Express hired LaBreche to execute a fully comprehensive, multi-layered campaign and propel a dominant media story throughout the life of the program.
What happens when 25 historic sites compete for $1 million of restoration grant funding exclusively through Facebook? How do you counsel each site – often resource-stretched nonprofits – to success while inciting, nurturing and sustaining media interest throughout the duration of the competition? You do a lot, and you do it well. LaBreche knew we needed to transform ourselves into a one-stop-creative-services-shop. From negotiating ad buys to orchestrating a kickoff “celebration rally,” to securing and leveraging mayoral involvement, to social media tutorials and grass roots marketing support for participating sites, to old-school guerrilla marketing and man-on-the-street canvassing, creative story-angling and much, much more, LaBreche left no stone unturned for spreading the word about all things Partners in Preservation.
And the verdict is: The reception from the general public, the media and the participating historic sites far surpassed the expectations of both American Express and the National Trust for Historic Preservation. According to Caitlin Lowie, director of corporate communications at American Express, “Press for Partners in Preservation in the Twin Cities is the strongest we have seen yet, both in terms of scale and reach. We were everywhere: TV, radio, online and in newspapers and magazines.” LaBreche secured more than 1,000 media placements (broadcast, online, print and social media) with more than 234 million impressions, exceeding coverage in any of the other Partners in Preservation markets from previous years – Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, New Orleans and Seattle. And true to the program’s core mission of engagement and awareness, within a month of inviting these sites to be contestants in the program, all 25 had established a Facebook page, and, with LaBreche’s coaching and guidance, established ways to rally and grow their constituency for the future.