A vintage vehicle rally, a video press briefing at a junkyard, and a meeting for journalists organized… in the forest. At Profeina, we have had several opportunities to organize or co-create events that definitely departed from the convention of a standard press conference. What did we do to catch the media’s attention?
In increasing the interest of journalists and achieving a media “wow” effect, unconventional solutions work best. An attractive alternative to typical press conferences are events whose formula is not limited to a simple “question-answer” scheme, but is based on a creative idea from the agency or its client. The event can take the form of a sporting or charitable event, take place in an unusual location, or utilize innovative technological solutions.
In our agency, we have several times been responsible for organizing or communicating such events, which included, among others:
- a charitable vintage vehicle rally,
- a video press briefing recorded at a junkyard,
- a meeting for journalists organized… in the forest.
Each event presented us with different challenges, and each required a different organizational approach and action plan. In this post, we share the experiences we gained while working on events that were unlike any other.
The Rooster Rally – three days, three events, and… a long weekend
The Rooster Rally (Rajd Koguta) is a recurring charity event organized by the Wena Motorization Museum in Oława. At Profeina, we had the pleasure of working on the seventh edition of the rally, which took place from June 8-10, 2023. More than 2,600 teams participated, covering a 530 km route from Oława to Stegna in vintage vehicles. The aim of the event was to help children in need across Poland.
Profeina’s involvement in the Rooster Rally was part of the agency’s collaboration with the car auction portals Bidcar.pl and Poleasingowe.pl. Our client entered several teams participating in the rally and also donated a car for an auction supporting the charity goal of the event. The agency’s task was to develop and distribute press releases regarding the rally, as well as to invite the media and arrange interviews with the client’s representatives. The scale of the event and its duration required careful planning of communication activities and early preparation for changes that could occur during the rally. How did we handle this task?
Challenges before the start
Even before the start of the Rooster Rally, Profeina had to face several non-standard challenges. These included, among others:
Working with multiple organizations
The communication directly concerned the Bidcar.pl and Poleasingowe.pl brands, but the main organizer of the Rooster Rally was the Wena Motorization Museum, and Tor Poznań and Automobilklub Wielkopolski were also involved in the event. In our activities, we had to take into account information and comments arriving simultaneously from several sources.
Organization of an event during a long weekend
Before the start of the rally, its route and the dates of accompanying events underwent many modifications. We had to be prepared for changes and react flexibly to every schedule adjustment.
Changes to the event agenda
The Rooster Rally took place during a long weekend falling on the Corpus Christi holiday. Contact with the media was difficult during this period, and in our activities, we also had to take into account that editorial plans are created in advance on such occasions.
The event took place over a route of more than 500 km, and participants covered it at their own pace along the rally route.
The route of the Rooster Rally was over 530 km long, and each vehicle drove at its own pace. The departure of over 2,000 vehicles from the starting point alone took several hours. Therefore, we selected three key points about which we informed and to which we invited the media:
- Oława (June 8) – start of the rally, welcoming the crews, vehicle presentation;
- Poznań (June 8) – attempt to break the record for the largest number of vintage vehicles on a racing track;
- Stegna (June 10) – grand finale, award ceremony for the winners, beach party, concert, and competitions with prizes.
Ensuring the presence of the media in each of the aforementioned locations required informing the editorial offices in advance and maintaining ongoing contact with local journalists. We had to ensure that all interested journalists could be in the right place at the right time – regardless of unforeseen circumstances that could have affected the course of the event.
Communication before, during, and after the rally
Because the Rooster Rally route passed through three voivodeships, the first task was a careful selection of editorial offices that might be interested in reporting on and covering the event. Our choice fell on media dealing not only with local topics but also titles related to motoring and sports. The large number of potential recipients also forced us to divide roles within the team in such a way that individual persons involved in the project were responsible for contacting journalists in a strictly assigned region and timeframe. Our activities included:
- preparation of 2 press releases announcing the event,
- coordination of interviews conducted along the rally route,
- preparation of a press release summarizing the event.
In communication, we joined forces with the client, who invited friendly editors from local media branches to the start of the rally. Together, we achieved great results.
Effects of the actions
Our efforts resulted in 62 publications, which ensured a reach of over 5.4 million recipients and achieved 450,000 PLN AVE (estimated advertising value equivalency). Materials about the Rooster Rally appeared, among others, in Radio RMF, Radio Zet, Radio Wrocław, Gazeta Wrocławska, Telewizja WTK, Dziennik Bałtycki, Portal Pomorza and the Zawsze Pomorze service. Representatives of the Poleasingowe.pl and Bidcar.pl brands spoke, among others, on TVN24 and TVP Wrocław.
Press meeting about artificial intelligence… in the forest
Many industries have discovered the possibilities of artificial intelligence, including foresters, who can use AI to more easily protect forests. This is made possible thanks to solutions in the field of precision forestry. Profeina provided support in organizing a press meeting on this topic as part of its collaboration with IDEAS NCBR – a research and development center in the field of artificial intelligence.
What is precision forestry?
The reason for the meeting with journalists was the research conducted at IDEAS NCBR by a research team led by Prof. Krzysztof Stereńczak. He focuses on implementing solutions in the field of precision forestry, which uses remote sensing data to detect and describe trees. The researchers are working on an AI tool that will enable the measurement of characteristics and quality of individual trees. The collected data will be integrated for a specific area, such as a forest or park, for the purposes of nature conservation and forest management.
Researchers are also developing methods that will enable precise measurement of tree biometric characteristics and species recognition. This, in turn, will lead to the automation of many tasks performed during field measurements. The results are intended to be automatically integrated with systems already used by foresters. Artificial intelligence – through the analysis of data collected using close-range remote sensing – will also make it possible, for example, to predict changes in the health condition of a specific tree.
Why in the forest?
To demonstrate the full potential of precision forestry, the meeting had to take place… in a forest. Keeping in mind that those interested in attending the event might have limited time, it was decided to organize it relatively close to the center of Warsaw – journalists were invited to the Forest Research Institute in Sękocin. Some chose to arrive in their own vehicles, while others used transport organized by IDEAS NCBR – a bus that took media representatives to the location in just over 20 minutes.
The most important part of the event “AI and forests and environmental protection” was the meeting with experts: Dr. hab. Krzysztof Stereńczak, Prof. IBL from IDEAS NCBR, and Dr. Eng. Marek Ksepko, Director of the Białystok Branch of the Bureau for Forest Management and Geodesy. Immediately after the presentations, participants, together with the experts, went into the forest to learn what tools foresters used in the past and which ones they use today. Some of these tools were available for event participants to test themselves.
Before the event, we were in constant contact with the journalists with whom we traveled to Sękocin.
Communication before and after the event
When inviting journalists, due to the scope of the topic, we contacted not only technology media, but also education, business, and environmental protection outlets.
Profeina’s activities within the event included:
- inviting journalists and maintaining ongoing contact with them,
- refining the press event agenda,
- preparing a press release about the event and distributing the material,
- arranging additional statements and interviews related to the topic of precision forestry.
Results of the activities
Several dozen journalists attended the meeting, not only those covering AI and new technologies, but also those focused on business and environmental topics. The event-related activities resulted in dozens of media publications on precision forestry (including outlets such as 300gospodarka.pl, Forum Akademickie, Bankier, Polskie Radio, and local media). Some of the coverage followed the publication of a press note from the event by PAP (Polish Press Agency), including on platforms such as Wp.pl, Interia, and Onet.
A briefing without fluff and without pressure, since it was online
In September 2022, the Bidcar.pl platform for used car auctions was launched. Our task was to inform the media about a new player in the market. We wanted to organize a meeting with journalists, but we also wanted the nature of the event to be consistent with the Bidcar brand archetype – rebellious, no fluff, and no pressure. A brand introducing a new quality to a rigid industry dominated by sellers hiding defects and inexperienced buyers.
Challenge
We wanted to organize a meeting between the brand representatives and automotive and technology journalists. The former were located in Lower Silesia, while the latter – as partly remote workers – were spread across Poland. Therefore, we decided to hold the event online.
But… as we know, it is difficult to maintain attention and momentum during an online meeting. That is why the briefing was recorded as a video, in which the creators of Bidcar presented the platform and shared their views on the used car market.
Execution
We refined the recording script, which included traditional briefing elements – introducing the team and explaining how the platform works. The founders’ statements, clearly expressing their opposition to the pathologies present in the used car market, were recorded at a scrapyard – with the speakers walking among scrapped vehicles, sitting on them, or standing on their roofs. The entire recording lasts only 11 minutes, and all information is delivered directly and concisely.
The second part of the recording is a fast Q&A with the founders, who answer questions we prepared—often probing ones—that would likely have been asked during a live meeting.
We also gave journalists the opportunity to speak with Bidcar representatives in person – two brand representatives traveled to Warsaw at the scheduled time in a BidCamper. They arrived in a branded camper at editorial offices and were also willing to give journalists a ride during interviews conducted inside the vehicle.
Results
The 11-minute recording was uploaded to a YouTube channel, and we sent the link to selected journalists. The recording is not public, yet it still received over 50 views.
Within the first few days after the debut, we secured over 20 publications about the platform, including in key automotive and technology outlets such as Moto.pl, Autokult.pl, Antyweb.pl, and Chip.pl.
