What they asked us to do...

In June 2006, American Express launched the Partners in Preservation program (PIP) as part of its ongoing support for historic preservation and other philanthropic endeavors. The five-year, $10 million global program is designed to support the preservation of historic sites around the world. San Francisco was the first city to participate followed by Chicago in 2007. American Express wanted us to:

  • Create national, regional and targeted local awareness of the program and site to drive public interest and participation.
  • Position American Express as a company committed to giving back to the community through historic and cultural preservation; 
  • Help save the landmarks that play a vital economic role in these communities; 
  • Build brand visibility.

What we did...

Twenty-five sites in each city are selected as possible grant recipients, but the winner is decided by a public online vote. The top public vote recipient would receive funding for its restoration project – a share of the $1 million – with additional recipients selected by an advisory committee.

We began with a pre-announcement to reveal the selected city followed by a press conference to unveil the chosen sites. A PR tool kit was created and distributed to the 25 historic sites to help them with their media outreach. The tool kit included a template press release, Partners in Preservation supporting materials, marketing collateral, ideas for media outreach and site photos. To ignite media and public interest in the program, the 25 sites opened their doors to the public for two days for an Open House weekend. A “Hidden Gems” element helped drive media and public interest in sites that were not as well known. For example, in Chicago, a 1893 Viking Ship drew media interest and votes from as far away as Norway. In San Francisco, program partnered with local historical walking tour group, City Guides, with pamphlets distributed on all tours; pamphlets were also available at local merchants and libraries. In Chicago, street teams outreached to locals in high-traffic neighborhoods.

Results...

In San Francisco:

  • Secured more than 51 million media impressions across multiple mediums including over 289 placements in local and national print, broadcast and online/blog hits.
  • Top tier media coverage from Associated Press, Bloomberg, USA Today and Wall Street Journal, in addition to coverage at least twice in ALL major San Francisco Bay Area daily newspapers.
  • Broadcast coverage included all local networks. Additionally, honorary Advisory Committee Chair and San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom discussed the Partners in Preservation program at length on the local FOX morning TV program. Additionally, the City of San Francisco and California State Assembly issued proclamations declaring November 14 “American Express Partners in Preservation Day.”
  • Publicity drove over 200,000 unique visitors to the Partners in Preservation Web site.
  • Campaign helped solidify American Express’ position as a philanthropic leader, striking a chord in a region with great civic spirit.

In Chicago:

  • The PIP program received extremely favorable coverage in all five geographic regions of the campaign via newspaper, television, radio and online hits totaling more than 13 million impressions.
  • American Express was mentioned in the majority of the coverage and praised for its efforts. 
  • Nearly all coverage directed readers to www.partnersinpreservation.com .