IT WORKS!
IT WORKS! hired Axia to promote a multi-million dollar island sale. Axia pitched contacts and outlets that had previously covered Little Bokeelia Island. Axia’s outreach efforts secured more than 100 articles about the island’s purchase.
When IT WORKS! CEO Mark B. Pentecost and his wife, Cindy, decided to purchase Little Bokeelia Island, they turned to their trusted PR partners at Axia Public Relations to generate excitement over the multimillion-dollar sale. The 104-acre private island, located off the southwest coast of Florida, provided an opportunity to make news locally and nationally.
Axia had previously developed and led a successful PR campaign for IT WORKS!, a debt-free skin care and nutrition company, on local and national levels.
IDEAS
Axia knew that the sale of Little Bokeelia Island would be big news, especially in Florida since it was a Florida CEO who purchased the Florida property for $14.5 million.
Axia decided that an initial pitch to gain interest on the day of the sale, with a longer follow-up pitch later, would be the most effective. Axia also saw an opportunity to pitch contacts and outlets that had previously covered Little Bokeelia Island.
RELATIONSHIPS
Axia’s relationships with reporters at target media outlets both nationally and locally were the key to successfully pitching this story.
The PR firm approached and successfully pitched print and TV contacts in the business and real estate industries in the local markets of Bradenton, Sarasota and Tampa, Florida, as well as statewide publications like Florida Trend and national contacts at outlets such as Business Xpansion Journal, Business Insider, Forbes, Yahoo! and the AP.
RESULTS
Within minutes of sending the initial teaser pitch, Axia received positive feedback and interest from reporters. Axia pitched more than 30 national publications and more than 15 local contacts. Ultimately, according to Nasdaq Media Intelligence, Axia’s outreach efforts secured more than 100 articles about the purchase of Little Bokeelia Island, including nine print clips, 36 TV clips and 64 online clips. While the July pitch was a one-time news opportunity, top outlets continued to feature coverage of the sale into November.
Little Bokeelia also began trending on Twitter within hours of the news breaking. Due to our PR outreach, Pentecost even enjoyed interest from individuals who wanted to purchase the island from him – which he politely declined.
IT WORKS! Public Relations Director Kate Carlson said, “We were all very happy with the PR turnout.”
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