“The GOLA Campaign”
A Public Relations Case Study from NewsMark PR
Undertaken for the Greater Orlando Livery Association
Here’s a summary of one of the many winning campaigns for excellence in media relations and publicity undertaken by NewsMark Public Relations.
The media coverage archive (below) underlines the impact of just one aspect of the services we employ every day on behalf of clients – our tenacity in media relations. The art of crafting a great story and the ability to penetrate into breaking news in a way that impacts on influential media and their audiences.
The Challenge
Faced with what it believed to be “unfair business practices” at the Orlando International Airport, the Greater Orlando Livery Association (GOLA), the largest membership organization of limousine operators serving Central Florida, retained NewsMark Public Relations.
GOLA strongly believed that the Aviation Authority’s contract with Walt Disney World and the introduction of the Disney Magical Express at the Orlando International Airport established an unfair business practice by giving Disney exclusive and unprecedented access to travelers.
The Work
We set out to raise national awareness for the services of GOLA and encourage the press to more closely examine the airport ground transportation contract with the Walt Disney Company. NYSE: (DIS)
We began by pitching the press on the urgent call from GOLA to meet with the airport’s chief executive who up until that point had not responded.
When a number of high-level meetings that followed with senior airport executives produced no satisfactory results for GOLA we again alerted our press contacts including the Associated Press, which provides news coverage to thousands of daily newspaper, radio, television and online portals.
High among GOLA’s concerns was the view that Disney’s access to the third level of the Airport terminal was a material breach of the terms and conditions of the contract, by Walt Disney. We publicized GOLA’s view on the potential long-term negative impact on the city as a whole and the formation of a coalition against unfair business practice. This included the organization of a well attended news conference and rally at the Orlando International Airport which attracted newspaper, radio and television reporters.
The Media Response (click images below to view)
Top media hits included newscasts on all local network television affiliates of FOX, ABC, CBS and NBC.
The overall result: Local news development with wide ranging national implications that became a headline news story. The Orlando International Airport has since revoked access to the airport’s third level by representatives for the Disney Magical Express.
GOLA was awarded “Association Of The Year” at the Annual LIMO DIGEST SHOW.
Click on the images above to sample the many positive news reports for GOLA that our campaign helped generate. The links directly below can be followed to the archive of some our positioning press releases and additional news reports:
Greater Orlando Livery Association Retains NewsMark Public Relations – ORLANDO, Fla., /PRNewswire/ — Mark Hopkinson, NewsMark Public Relations CEO and former head of the radio and television division at the British …
Orlando airport limits where Disney workers can greet tourists – USA Today – Walt Disney World workers can no longer greet tourists on the arrival floor of the Orlando International Airport, a decision officials made after limo and taxi drivers complained it gave the theme park resort an unfair advantage. …
Former US Attorney Calls on Orlando International Airport to…terminate a ground transportation contract with the Walt Disney Company – Cites Unfair Business Practice at Airport…
Disney’s free buses leave cabs in lurch -Sun-Sentinel, FL – … You’ve got a large Mouse, and this Mouse casts a very large shadow,” said Mark I. Hopkinson, a public-relations consultant retained by a group of limo drivers. “It’s a David and Goliath story with the images reversed …
Greater Orlando Livery Association Seeks Hearing on ‘Unfair Business Practice’ … Press Release