menlo-college
From early 2015 to late 2016, we were the public relations firm for Menlo College, a small institution located in Atherton, California. Our assignment included finding and placing stories about their research, students, alumni, courses and executive leadership. When we began, the College had just dropped their football program, which had received unprecedented and mostly negative coverage. So we needed to quickly shift the narrative towards more favorable stories. The most visible publicity included a front-page story in the San Francisco Chronicle, “Tiny Menlo College Like Home for Saudi Elite,” about the history of the college attracting members of the Saudi Royal Family, including a prince who was currently enrolled. This story was forwarded and posted to alumni around the world and the local CBS affiliate followed up with a two-minute story. Editorials and Op-Eds were also a major focus as we placed stories for the faculty in the San Jose Mercury News, San Francisco Chronicle, Inside Higher Ed and other publications on a variety of topics ranging from women’s issues, election coverage, police shootings and more. We also led the efforts for book publicity for the president of the college with interviews on Bloomberg, higher education publications and live interviews, twice, on “Good Day Sacramento.” We were also asked to lead the efforts for sports publicity for the highly-ranked baseball team as they entered the playoffs. This resulted in stories in the San Jose Mercury News, San Francisco Chronicle and local TV.