Entergy New Orleans rain barrel installations

Written By Alicia Vial

Situation

Entergy New Orleans, an electric and natural gas utility company that provides power and gas service to residents and businesses within the city of New Orleans, has a long history of corporate social responsibility in Louisiana. To commemorate Hurricane Katrina’s 20th anniversary, they sought to highlight their long-standing partnership with Green Light New Orleans, a nonprofit dedicated to providing sustainable solutions for a more resilient community. Together the two organizations hosted an event to install rain barrels throughout the New Orleans community. The joint initiative created a unique opportunity to showcase their partnership and how together they have made an impact over the last 20-years since Hurricane Katrina in helping the community stay resilient and sustainable.

Strategy

To kickstart the campaign, Gambel learned more about the partnership history between the two organizations and analyzed key resources like Green Light New Orleans’ community impact stats over the last 20 years and past Entergy and Green Light New Orleans events to help identify story line opportunities.

Leveraging those critical storylines like the long-standing partnership between the two organizations, the environmental and community impacts that rain barrels have and how Entergy prioritizes corporate social responsibility.

Ahead of the installation event, Gambel Communications reviewed the key messages with both Entergy and Green Light New Orleans spokespersons and ensured they were prepared to engage with the media. On the big day, Gambel Communications coordinated several local outlets including print and broadcast to capture impactful visuals and ensured all spokesperson interviews were executed flawlessly.

To further amplify the news coverage of the rain barrel installation event, Gambel Communications captured content alongside the news crews and packaged it to share with additional media for post-event coverage.

Evaluation

As a direct result of the media relations campaign, Gambel Communications successfully supported and exceeded Entergy’s goal to showcase their long-standing partnership with Green Light New Orleans and how together they have made an impact over the last 20-years since Hurricane Katrina. The strategic media relations strategy produced 28 impactful media mentions that incorporated the established key messages, reaching an estimated 461.8 million readers/viewers throughout the Greater New Orleans area.

The story placements included the front page of the Metro section in The Times-Picayune, three pre-event interviews on morning shows promoting the event, four news outlets physically attended the event and several online news stories. To complement the media coverage before and during the event, the post-event media outreach resulted in additional online story placements including several media outlet’s e-newsletters.

Following the success of the media relations campaign, Entergy’s community partners at Green Light New Orleans now have a waiting list for rain barrels requested by residents throughout New Orleans.

Alicia Vial

Alicia Vial is a New Orleans native with more than a decade of experience elevating client stories and leading crisis response. As the senior director of strategy, Alicia acts as a leader within the Gambel Communications team ensuring each agency team member is positioned to deliver strategic public relations services that meet the highest standards of the industry. In addition to supporting the agency’s long-term business growth and development, she coordinates day-to-day account services and oversees strategic direction while staying abreast of best practices and industry trends to provide innovative solutions to meet client’s needs.

Before joining Gambel Communications, Alicia served as the communications director for the Louisiana SPCA, the oldest and largest animal welfare organization in Louisiana that impacts more than 74,000 animals per year. During her nearly eight-year tenure, Alicia oversaw numerous crises, served on national communication taskforces, oversaw all aspects of internal and external relations and worked alongside the development department to raise critical funding. Prior to that, she worked in the fast-paced New Orleans hospitality industry focusing on digital public relations for multiple hotels.

Alicia is a member of the Public Relations Association of Louisiana (PRAL), Southern Public Relations Federation (SPRF), a board member of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) New Orleans Chapter and a member of the New Orleans Regional Leadership Institute. An accredited public relations practitioner (APR), Alicia is also certified in crisis communications, organizational leadership, content marketing and social media.

A well respected and trusted public relations practitioner, Alicia has been recognized by SPRF as a ‘Senior Practitioner of the Year’. Dubbed early on in her career as one to watch, she also received the ‘Rising Star’ award by PRAL and was profiled in St. Charles Avenue Magazine as part of their Young Bloods series. Most recently, she was recognized at PRSA’s annual Fleurish Awards and received four Awards of Excellence for her work along with the ‘Plate Spinner’ award for her efforts on the board of directors for the chapter.

An LSU graduate, Alicia received a bachelor's degree in mass communications with a concentration in public relations and minors in business administration and leadership development. She is a frequent speaker and presenter on public relations topics, most recently presenting at the Jefferson Economic Development Commission and SPRF annual conference.

When Alicia is not at work, you can find her at the ballpark with her three boys or cheering on the Tigers in Death Valley.

Next

Advocating for the Louisiana Film Tax incentive