Project Snapshots

Amnesty International

Challenge:  Amidst a media frenzy after publicly calling for the closure of the Guantanamo Bay detention facility in Cuba, AIUSA wanted to strengthen its community by enlarging its outreach beyond e-mail, enabling them to communicate their human-rights message to more people in more places.
Solution:  Online Strategy, Blogger Relations
Outcome:  With Amplify’s involvement, AIUSA has launched its own series of blogs, created blogging guidelines for staff and volunteers, created blog ads, and implemented a comprehensive RSS strategy.  These blogs and RSS enabled them to communicate more efficiently with both constituents and critics and resulted at one point with the discussion being ranked as the #1 political topic on Technorati – a top blog search engine.

Association of Academic Health Centers (AAHC)

Challenge: AAHC had just completed a new report, Out Of Order, Out Of Time: The State Of The Nation's Health Workforce, and was looking for a way to garner media attention by breaking through the presidential campaign and health reform clutter.
Solution:  Press Briefing, Public Relations, Media Outreach, Blogger Relations
Outcome:  Amplify organized a press conference featuring a high profile panel to release the report. A full-court press of media outreach ensued including daily newspapers, trade publications and online media. As a result, the report was featured in over 30 media outlets, including: Richmond Times-Dispatch, Atlanta Journal Constitution, San Antonio Express-News, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Medical News Today, Modern Healthcare, the PhysOrg.com blog and the Health Affairs blog.

Coalition for Genetic Fairness/Genetic Alliance

Challenge:  After working for thirteen years to push the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) through Congress, the Coalition for Genetic Fairness and the Genetic Alliance wanted to maximize press coverage on the passage of GINA and establish themselves as the go-to organizations for comment on the bill and genetic information issues.
Solution:  Public Relations, Media Outreach, Blogger Relations
Outcome:  Amplify’s rigorous press outreach strategy resulted in national and international media coverage for both organizations spanning print, Web and broadcast.  Outlets including the Associated Press, Washington Post, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Baltimore Sun, BBC and ScienceDaily all covered the story.

International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW)

Gift for Animals

Challenge:  For the second consecutive year Amplify was asked to help IFAW promote its alternative giving program, Gift for Animals. The challenge was to generate interest from new media outlets by differentiating it from the previous year’s campaign.
Solution:  Media Outreach, Blogger Relations
Outcome:  In addition to rigorous media outreach Amplify conceived of a creative video series distributed as online press releases as well as PSAs to demonstrate the value of a Gift for Animals. The result was increased traffic to the program’s web site, thousands of full page reads of the new media press release and millions of media impressions with coverage in numerous outlets, including Oprah.com, CNN Money and Elfster.com. Click on the links below to view the Gift for Animals videos:

Novartis

Am Eye Healthy?

Challenge:  Novartis Ophthalmics wanted to reach out to Americans about the importance of eye health.
Solution:  Coalition Building and Management, Public Relations, Website Development
Outcome:  Amplify conceived of and launched the “Am Eye Healthy?” coalition and corresponding website as a vehicle for the eye health awareness and education campaign. Amplify recruited 26 leading non-profit associations to partner in the campaign and hosted a launch event on Capitol Hill with Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton as the keynote. To further local media interest Amplify facilitated free vision screenings on behalf of the coalition in different cities across the country.  The campaign has touched thousands of Americans and provided free vision screenings to hundreds, many of whom were referred for further care.

Visudyne

Challenge:  Novartis Pharmaceuticals was concerned about the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service’s (CMS) decision to limit the availability of one of its therapies.
Solution:  Strategic Alliances
Outcome:  Amplify immediately recruited and mobilized supportive third party voices to deliver messages both at the key hearing and to targeted influentials at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and on Capitol Hill.  Amplify was able to secure written testimony from 15 well-respected national organizations, public testimony from eight leaders of key national organizations and more than 40 grasstops letters to HHS, CMS and the Hill. The campaign put intense pressure on CMS and helped get CMS to overturn its decision and expand Medicare coverage – a win for Novartis and the general public.

Restore Access to Mobility Partnership (RAMP)

Challenge:  Mobility manufacturers were frustrated with the lack of coverage available to those in need of mobility assistance equipment.
Solution:  Coalition Building and Management, Media Relations, Government Relations, Website Development
Outcome:  Amplify formed Restore Access to Mobility Partnership (RAMP), which was made up of medical equipment manufacturers and distributors from all across the country in addition to over 20 leading disability, seniors and consumer organizations.  In addition, Amplify set up a website with an action center where individuals and organizations could learn about the issue and contact key policymakers.  The issue, the industry and the third party coalition all received significant press attention including coverage in the New York Times.

Smart Television Alliance (STA)

Challenge:  The Smart Television Alliance wanted to allow members and supporters to comment on and submit recommendations for children’s television programs. Previously, the STA displayed recommendations by its expert partners (including Common Sense Media and the Parents Television Council) but had no way to allow comments.
Solution:  Website Development, Blog Development
Outcome:  Amplify built a recommendations microsite that was integrated with the main Smart Television Alliance website. The site displays lists of recommended shows by criteria including age, TV rating, recommending partner, and number of STA member comments. Amplify also built a custom blog plugin that communicates with the organization’s constituent relationship management system to allow STA members to comment on the site.

United Church of Christ (UCC)

100,000 People for Peace

Challenge:  As the fifth anniversary of the war in Iraq approached, the United Church of Christ (UCC) wanted to mobilize its members and supporters and create an unprecedented faith-based movement to end violence and promote peace in the Middle East through diplomacy.
Solution:  Online Advocacy, Website Development
Outcome:  Amplify helped the UCC build a specially-branded microsite called 100,000 People for Peace. Using online advocacy tools and a targeted email campaign that complemented the UCC’s media push, Amplify and the UCC gathered tens of thousands of signatures in a petition to end the war, which they hand-delivered in a symbolic gesture to Congress. The campaign branding was so successful that the UCC decided to retain Amplify to run two more phases of the campaign: $100,000 for Peace, which raised almost $150,000 to provide food, water, health care and education for displaced Iraqi families, and 100,000 Lights for Peace, which recruited thousands of people to participate in a nationwide vigil on the fifth anniversary of the war.