Save the Park... Stop the Toll Road
MEDIA RELATIONS AND SOCIAL MARKETING
CHALLENGE
Raise Awareness Throughout California About a Proposed Toll Road Being Built Through One of California’s World-Famous Beaches, and Influence the California Coastal Commission’s Vote on the Foothill Toll Road Extension Through San Onofre State Beach
Perry Communications Group (PCG) was tasked with targeting media throughout California, especially in the target areas of Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego and Sacramento, and influencing the California Coastal Commission’s vote on a controversial toll road being built through one of California’s picturesque beaches. If the proposed toll road was approved by the Coastal Commission, it would mean a loss of nearly 60 percent of one of the most popular parks and state beaches in the California State Parks system.
SOLUTION
Develop An Earned Media Strategy That Leveraged a Viral YouTube Campaign to Build Public Opposition to the Toll Road Extension Targeting the California Coastal Commission
The “Save San Onofre Coalition” worked with its members and the public to post more than 500 videos on YouTube about what San Onofre State Beach meant to them. PCG built a media campaign to draw attention to the posted videos and generate public interest. PCG identified impactful videos and wrote a press release that included quotes from videos with links to each of them and provided background about the proposed toll road.
Click here to view Clint Eastwood's video on saving San Onofre
RESULT
Secured Extensive Media Coverage of the YouTube Viral Video Campaign Which Contributed to the California Coastal Commission Blocking the Proposal to Build a Toll Road through San Onofre State Beach
- Secured more than 5.94 million media impressions. Coverage included: Los Angeles Times, The Sacramento Bee, Orange County Register, Ventura County Star, North County Times and the San Jose Mercury News.
- Thousands of people watched the videos and became better educated on what San Onofre State Beach meant to people throughout the world. Many saw how building a toll road would affect the lives of both residents and visitors.
- The California Coastal Commission voted against the toll road, despite early indications hinting they would allow the project in February 2008.
