challenge:
FRED Leadership, a nonprofit organization dedicated to leadership development, enlisted dovetail solutions services in preparation for its annual leadership forum, which was held in Denver in the fall of 2015. The organization, previously called FRED, Inc., was renamed by dovetail solutions to make a key distinction between the FRED Leadership Forum, the annual event, and FRED Leadership, the umbrella organization. Despite being well respected in the executive leadership development community and among a strong following of previous participants, FRED Leadership had little knowledge, experience, nor involvement in the Denver market. The organization urgently needed to increase its brand and recognition in the community to continue the momentum and success of previous forums, built in part on the practice of maximizing regional connections from the host city. Additionally, FRED wanted to emphasize its presence as a Denver-based organization to enhance regional relationships and sponsorships with corporate and leadership entities. The intimate size of the forum, capped at 80 participants per year, also limited the organization’s reach, which in turn presented a challenge to find the most targeted audience, engage and convince them of the forum’s legitimacy, in a limited amount of time.
strategy:
dovetail solutions tackled this project with a multi-faceted media, social media, and Strategic Community Investment (SCI) approach to boost recognition for the organization and the event. dovetail solutions created a communications strategy to refine FRED Leadership’s new name, target audiences and mission. dovetail solutions launched a social media campaign to engage with key contacts and influencers and to generate highly visible conversation about the organization and the forum through Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. dovetail solutions also helped to connect the organization to local and regional leaders by assisting with the orchestration of a sponsor summit, which gathered sponsors, potential sponsors and local notable speakers six months prior to the forum. dovetail solutions also led media relations engagement efforts to ensure local as well as national media was aware of the organization, its thought leadership and areas of expertise, the upcoming summit and notable speakers and participants.
results:
In the months leading up to the forum in Denver, dovetail solutions successfully increased awareness of FRED Leadership’s brand and annual event. dovetail solutions secured Governor John Hickenlooper as a key speaker and arranged for renowned historic preservationist Dana Crawford, Downtown Denver Partnership Executive Vice President John Desmond and RTD General Manager David Genova to serve as expedition hosts and speakers. Through dovetail solutions’ campaign, FRED Leadership’s social media engagement with key contacts, sponsors, speakers and influencers rose steeply on all platforms. dovetail solutions also secured media coverage of the event by The Denver Post and the Denver Business Journal. As well, dovetail solutions provided a comprehensive review and analysis of the organization’s website to update and align its online presence with its current goals.