Strengthening the de Beaumont Foundation's Role as a Thought Leader in Public Health during the COVID-19 Crisis
CHALLENGE
Despite being the nation’s largest philanthropy focused on state and local public health, the de Beaumont Foundation and its CEO and President Brian Castrucci were not garnering national media and visibility around the impactful public health work and communications initiatives to help mitigate the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic and building vaccine confidence.
OUR APPROACH
Working closely with the Foundation’s internal communications team, Burness developed and implemented a strategic media education and thought leadership campaign designed to familiarize leading media outlets with de Beaumont’s ongoing initiatives, newsworthy pandemic polling, and tireless efforts to increase support for America’s neglected public health system.
We positioned Brian Castrucci as an impactful thought leader who provides unique insight on the importance of galvanizing support to revamp America’s inadequate public health infrastructure. Tactics used to implement this campaign included message development, one-on-one media backgrounders, radio/TV tours and regular pitching tied to breaking pandemic news of the day.
RESULTS AND IMPACT
We drafted and placed op-eds pegged to the pandemic in leading national news outlets, including Fortune, Real Clear Politics and Morning Consult, conducted media training sessions, wrote press releases and created social media content for the Foundations’ Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter platforms. Today, Brian Castrucci is regularly quoted in leading national media outlets, such as The Atlantic, The Washington Post, NPR, CNN and Modern Healthcare, among many others.