Situation: Kansas City, Missouri-based Populous (formerly HOK Sport Venue Event) has designed some of the world’s most recognized buildings, including 1,000 projects around the globe that contain crowds of people all gathering for the same purpose. Hanser & Associates was retained for PR and litigation support services in 2003 when the architecture firm filed a lawsuit in federal court in Des Moines, Iowa. The firm was preparing to sue a client for only the second time in its history, and wanted to assure that its target audience (municipalities, businesses and sports team owners) knew the facts of the case.

PR Action: We developed message strategy, provided media spokesperson training to the architecture firm’s executives and attorneys, wrote and distributed a news release (in English, Spanish and Bosnian languages) and copies of the lawsuit to media, and coordinated interviews to get HOK’s message out into the government, business and sports community.

Results: Every major print, TV and radio outlet in Central Iowa covered the story on the day of the announcement.  While the architecture firm’s message was heard clearly and received positively by target audiences, the litigant took a “no comment” posture which more positively positioned HOK as an open and trustworthy company.

Posted: January 21, 2009 at 2:48 pm by Ryan Hanser