Case Study
Helping Lathrop GPM Become Go-To Legal Counsel for the Media During COVID-19
Lathrop GPM, a national law firm, wanted to offer their expertise to help businesses better understand how to navigate uncertain times during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Neuger Communications Group pitched their attorneys’ message and counsel to hundreds of media outlets nationwide, earning them dozens of media placements – all which has helped enhance their credibility among their target audiences.
The Situation
As the COVID-19 pandemic unfolded in early 2020, many businesses were uncertain of how to adapt to the changing landscape. Lathrop GPM recognized that businesses needed legal guidance on a variety of issues many were facing in the midst of this unprecedented challenge, including insurance recovery, employment, new mandates, stay-at-home orders and loan programs, such as those created by the Small Business Administration (SBA).
The Communications Challenge
As the events related to COVID-19 unfolded, information changed rapidly on a daily basis. Time was an immediate challenge; we needed to craft media pitches that would be relevant to the news of the day and respond to media requests within minutes after receiving them. We also had to predict how federal and state guidance and executive orders would change so that Lathrop GPM would be one of the first sources reporters would call.
The Strategy
With the help of Lathrop GPM’s business development team, we identified attorneys across several practice groups who could speak to trending COVID-19 topics. This included an attorney from the insurance recovery group, who would serve as a popular source for media just as flights and large events were being canceled. We also identified two attorneys who could help media understand how to interpret the loans from the SBA’s Paycheck Protection Program, and yet another who could speak to cybersecurity threats. After interviewing the respective attorney, we crafted and distributed pitches to key media outlets.
The Results
In spring 2020, we earned more than 50 media placements in news outlets across the country featuring more than 10 attorneys, including a spot on CNBC, and articles and contributed pieces in the Washington Post, CNN Business, Yahoo Finance, Law360, HuffPost, Global Franchise Magazine, Minnesota Lawyer and several Business Journals.
Traditional advertising would have cost tens of thousands of more dollars than our earned media efforts. Even more, several attorneys are positioned as “go-to” resources for the media and serve as a source that the general public can trust.