Case Study: Adab Trust
Introduction
Adab Trust is an organization dedicated to increasing graduate level employment outcomes for students from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BME) communities.
In order to help BAME students attain their career aspirations and tackle the issue of under representation of BAME graduates in graduate training programmes and within positions of authority within large firms, The Adab Trust builds strong relationships with its students.
Programme Objectives
The Adab Trust’s campaign objectives were as follows:
- To highlight Adab Trust’s case studies and projects
- To pique the interest of stakeholders and funders that could invest in Adab Trust’s vision
- To formulate a long term media strategy that will continue to reinforce Adab Trust’s goals and mission statement
PR Strategy and Tactics
The first course of Adab Trust’s campaign involved devising a strategy that would highlight the organisation’s best case studies and projects. Unitas Communications began this process by researching and drafting a profile of Adab Trust’s previous media engagement, using these findings to then devise a strategy that would work well the Trust’s needs and the media landscape. By recognising the loop holes in Adab Trust’s previous media engagement, Unitas Communications was then able to research a cross-section of applicable media targets and set a timeline for these engagements. It was also important to take the news cycle into consideration and look for opportunities to present Adab Trust’s key messages and case studies that the media could easily pick up.
To pique the interest of stakeholders and funders, Unitas Communications contacted trade press, news desks and e-news platforms on a regular basis to secure client coverage. By persistently working on strengthening Adab Trust’s media engagement, Unitas Communications worked on a strategy that highlights all the key messages and achievements of this organization. In addition, Unitas Communications used its links and relationships in the media to position media stories and interviews in magazines and online magazine for ‘soft’ coverage.
The third component of Unitas Communications’ PR strategy included formulating a long-term strategy for Adab Trust. This was done by analysing areas of highest success during media engagement and building a long-term engagement plan based on those best practices. In light of the client’s main objectives and service provisions, Unitas Communications was able to design timely soft and hard news hooks for Adab Trust to carry forward. Apart from building a long-term strategy, Unitas Communications created templates of various media messaging forms including letters to the editor, op-eds and other news packages for the client to take on board for future campaigns.
Campaign Results
During Adab Trust’s campaign, Unitas Communications created an extensive media handing strategy which pinpointed three to five key messages and secured positive media coverage of success stories, directors and ongoing projects from ethnic and student media.
Unitas Communications successfully devised a long-term strategy that proposed a detailed breakdown of appropriate target audiences and relevant media platforms for each. In addition, Unitas Communications advised on various media objectives, new angles to take and core selling point to capitalise on in future campaigns. This included setting up a manual on media handling in the event of a crisis or breaking news.
Evaluation & Next Step
Adab Trust has continued to capitalise on its campaign, and has the long-term strategy to continue to highlight their projects and case studies and acclaim well-deserved recognition.