Advising
Building a National Consumer Brand
Megabus.com’s industry-leading communication program since 2006 helps the city-to-city express bus company grow to serve more than 24 million customers in 100 major cities across North America. The integrated program by Hanser & Associates communicates the voice of the company’s customers via media relations, social media, events and advertising. Expansion Situation: Megabus.com is the first [...]
Introduction of Korean company (and new facilities) into USA
Situation: For more than five decades, CJ has maintained a reputation as a leading food and consumer product manufacturer in The Republic of Korea. CJ BIO America’s first construction project in the USA—a $320 million lysine manufacturing facility to be constructed at the Ag Industrial Park in Fort Dodge, Iowa by 2014—will employee 170 and [...]
Express bus service builds explosive sales and profitability
Situation: Paramus, N.J.-based Coach USA, a subsidiary of UK-based Stagecoach Group, selected Hanser & Associates in 2005 to launch Chicago-based megabus.com, the first company in North America to offer city-to-city express bus service with fares as low as $1 via the Internet. Megabus.com launched service in April 2006 from its Chicago hub and seven other [...]
Social media success requires strategy?
Last year, we were expecting to see more social media activity meeting expectations. In our third-annual survey, the number remains low at 45 percent, despite a six-point increase in strategy and a 14-point increase in measurement. Indeed, in a lot of ways, the numbers haven’t really shifted from the 2010 baseline. But the presence of strategy still correlates [...]
Mitas Tires rolls into USA with public relations
Situation: Mitas, based in Prague, Czech Republic, is one of Europe’s leading producers of agricultural and industrial tires, operates three production facilities in Eastern Europe and maintains a global distribution network. The company (formerly named CGS Tyres) was prepared in 2010 to announce construction of the Mitas Tires North America’s first ag tire production facility [...]
Public input identifies solution for facility adjacent to state park
Situation: Emmetsburg Community Development Corporation (ECDC), the economic development agency for City of Emmetsburg (Iowa), in 2009 retained Hanser & Associates – and our Des Moines-based partners, TPG Companies, Inc. for financial feasibility and RDG Planning & Design for architectural planning – to produce a feasibility study and actionable plan regarding the outdated clubhouse/community center [...]
Super PR for super-park
Situation: The State of Iowa’s legislature and Department of Natural Resources set public policy in 1999 to develop a “Super-park,” a publicly owned year-round resort facility to be operated by a private management company. Centerville, Iowa-based CVRC&D, the local economic development agency in Southern Iowa on the shores of 11,000-acre Lake Rathbun, needed to build [...]
Managing PR for hotel industry management
Situation: Sioux Falls, SD-based Regency Hotel Management Company & its affiliates own more than 60 properties in 21 states, and Hotel Business magazine has consistently ranked Regency as one of the Top 100 Management Companies. Regency was formed in 1965, has more than 6,000 employees, and operates under various franchises, including Starwood, Radisson, Marriott, ClubHouse, [...]
Institutional rebranding via engagement and conversation
Situation: Upper Iowa University (UIU), founded in 1857, is a Fayette, Iowa-based private university providing undergraduate and graduate degrees to 6,000 students at campuses and centers worldwide. UIU in 2005 hired a new president and wanted to build its brand and increase enrollment. UIU sought a public relations firm to help them get closer to [...]
Smashburger sizzles into Iowa
Situation: Smashguys, LLC, the Iowa franchisee of Denver, Colo.-based Smashburger, a fast-casual restaurant designed to be everybody’s favorite burger place, retained Hanser & Associates to manage their day-to-day communication and marketing in Iowa. PR Action: Smashburger’s first Iowa location opened in September 2009 in West Des Moines. To build pre-opening awareness and word of mouth, [...]