With 1,160 TCC and Wireless Zone stores across 41 states, Round Room LLC is the largest Verizon Authorized Retailer in the U.S. as well as one of the Indianapolis area’s Fastest Growing Companies. Dittoe PR started working with its subsidiary TCC in 2010, and over the years, we have expanded our scope to handle PR for many of Round Room’s portfolio companies.
In addition to promoting TCC from coast to coast to get customers into the stores, Dittoe PR also works relentlessly to secure media coverage for its “Culture of Good” movement in which the company makes ongoing investments in the communities where it operates. So far in 2017, Round Room has hosted three large-scale nationwide initiatives and will conduct a fourth later this year.
The annual backpack giveaway
The most recent Culture of Good event hosted by Round Room was the fifth annual School Rocks Backpack Giveaway on July 23. This initiative kicked off in 2013 when TCC donated 60,000 backpacks at 400 of its stores across the U.S. Since then, the event has more than doubled in size and is now hosted at nearly 1,000 TCC and Wireless Zone stores nationwide.
During this year’s giveaway, a whopping 172,000 backpacks full of school supplies were handed out to ensure children across the U.S. are well prepared for the start of the school year. TCC and Round Room, together with their partners, have donated 505,000 backpacks through the annual initiative over the last five years.
Where PR comes in
Dittoe PR’s goal each year for the backpack giveaway is to get customers lining out the doors to pick up their backpacks. Getting the word out in nearly 1,000 markets is no small feat. It takes weeks (even months) of preparation and execution.
It all starts with research. We spend hours upon hours making sure we know all of the local and hyper-local media outlets in every city where the giveaway is taking place. After we build out a list of the targeted media, we have to find the best contacts at each outlet—another time-consuming, yet imperative task.
We then carefully tailor our outreach to each reporter and editor based on their interests and geographic coverage areas. By personalizing our media outreach based on the writers’ previous stories, beat or a reoccurring column, we’re able to provide them with all the necessary information to tell their readers about the backpack giveaway. We also work with each outlet as needed to provide additional information and images and coordinate interview requests with Round Room leadership.
Why Dittoe PR is different than other agencies
For an event of this scale, many other PR firms would simply write a press release containing the basic event information, blast it out to thousands of writers, and then cross their fingers it gets picked up. This practice results in only a fraction of the media coverage Dittoe PR secures through tailored media pitching. Plus, our personalized outreach is key to forming ongoing relationships with media members. When we go back to them for another story idea, they remember (and appreciate) our personalized approach and are eager to work with us again.
Proof our approach works
Dittoe PR earned a total of 565 pieces of media coverage for the 2017 School Rocks Backpack Giveaway, with nearly 1 billion media impressions! More than 200 print outlets shared the news, and it appeared online in more than 350 news outlets. The total ad equivalency (how much it would have cost for Round Room to buy advertising placement in all of these outlets) was more than $1.2 million.
While we’re proud of our results for the backpack giveaway, we’re even more proud to be part of such an impactful initiative for kids and families across the country! If you are interested in learning more about how Dittoe PR can assist with outreach for your next event, contact us today!
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