Case Study for Food and Agriculture
BEVERAGE INDUSTRY CHALLENGE:
Impacting Legal Action and Policy around Beverage Laws
A beverage company faced both a legislative and legal battle as it tried to fight new onerous legislation. A new bottle bill would have put restrictions on the industry and hurt consumers. Additionally, the law was unconstitutional, leading the company to file a lawsuit against the state.
VOX Solution:
Integrated Communications Campaign
VOX was hired to develop and implement a comprehensive public affairs campaign that would both aid the legal efforts to overturn the law and generate support for a legislative solution to the flawed legislation.
VOX worked to create a coalition that opposed the legislation and conditioned the political environment by developing an online presence, performing media outreach, generating grassroots support and coordinating the voices of various thought leaders. By creating a unified chorus of voices in opposition to the current legislation, we were able to restart a conversation about legislation that many people believed was unchangeable.
- Media Relations: VOX raised the profile of the issue in the media and worked with the client’s legal team to ensure that coverage provided a balanced perspective on how the case was evolving.
- Paid Media: We used extensive paid media – television, radio, print and online – to activate grassroots support and influence policymakers and the media.
- Campaign Website: VOX created a campaign website that served as an online hub for the campaign, providing resources for grassroots activists and information for policymakers and the media.
- Grassroots Recruitment: VOX recruited consumers to communicate with their elected officials through letters, emails and phone calls.
- Third Party Engagement: VOX engaged with third party stakeholders to encourage their participation in the dialogue through letters to the editor, op-eds and advocacy letters.
- Grassroots Communications: We developed blast emails that were sent to our grassroots activists to update them on the legal and legislative proceedings and call them to action.
- Thought Leader Activation: VOX coordinated and pitched letters to the editors and op-eds by high profile supporters.
RESULTS
The company won their lawsuit which resulted in the removal of an unconstitutional provision. The court also delayed the implementation of the law, noting that it would have negative impacts on a number of parties.
VOX secured 272 calls and over 700 letters to the governor and legislators’ offices.
VOX developed a database of over 750 contacts that could be activated when necessary.
