Movember

By Rua Wani @ruawani

Members can view an archived webinar of this December 12, 2011 presentation (length 24:29) by Matt Matheson, Communications and PR Manager, Movember Canada and Terry Foster, President, Cision Canada in the members’ only blog.

Matt Matheson @mattyipa, Communications and PR Manager of Movember Canada spoke at the CPRS Toronto December PD session about the organization’s success story. Movember Canada has seen rapid growth, going from 2,000 Mobros and Mosistas in the launch year of 2007, to 19,000 in 2010.

Matt outlined the organization’s tactics behind its two main communications strategies: in-house public relations and media relations.

In-house public relations

1. Hand over the brand and provide all the collateral so individuals can create their own Movember experience. Movember logos and posters can be downloaded from movember.com.
2. Give them their own webpage (known as their ‘mospace’), which basically functions as an online social network. This website is the primary fundraising tool.
3. Make it easy and provide various opportunities to connect. Multiple forms of social media are used including Facebook Connect. People can also share pre-written tweets and Facebook posts/emails.

Media relations

1. Pitch stories directly to media and work directly with them on these.
2. Work with Mobros and Mosistas to get in touch with news media to share their own stories.
3. Make the most of organic media coverage generated by passionate Mobros and Mosistas who make contact directly with media.

Terry Foster @Terry_Foster, President of Cision Canada, then spoke about  how Movember Canada effectively manages the three different types of media.

1. Paid: Media paid for by Movember, such as advertising and product placements.
2. Owned: Media controlled by Movember, such as their website, blog, and Twitter account.
3. Earned: Media coverage generated through word-of-mouth or through the media relations program.

The informative evening celebrated the success of one of Canada’s fastest-growing grassroots movements and highlighted the importance of men’s health.