Positioning San Diego as a global cyber hub.
The Challenge
KCD PR was selected to promote the San Diego Cyber Center of Excellence (CCOE), a nonprofit organization that promotes alignment and collaboration within the cyber community. CCOE fulfills its objective through a number of programs and initiatives that stimulate growth and build community across the cyber industry. KCD PR developed a comprehensive public relations strategy by first thoroughly understanding the nonprofit organization space, then establishing a set of measurable objectives and communications guidelines to guide the overall strategy that would help CCOE position San Diego as the hub for all things cyber-focused.
“KCD PR successfully positioned the Cyber Center of Excellence above the noise to give us the professional image we wanted—and needed. In our extremely competitive and rapidly growing market, they did a beautiful job of advancing brand exposure and effectively communicating our story in the media.”
— RADM (RET.) Kenneth Slaght, Co-Chair & President, Cyber Center of Excellence
The Solution
During CCOE’s formative phase, the organization approached KCD PR to secure media exposure and to develop a consistent messaging platform that embodies strength and authority, which is what CCOE hoped to ultimately command among its peer organizations. Thorough research and discovery laid the foundation upon which KCD PR crafted custom messaging including press kit materials and bios of CCOE board members.
For the CCOE media relations campaign, KCD PR strategically positioned the organization as the go-to resource for regional cyber community news and updates. This plan included media outreach and a series of social media ad campaigns targeted to different demographics based on region, professional background, and age. As a result, the aforementioned campaign produced five regional and trade publication articles, including a front-page feature story in the San Diego Union-Tribune. CCOE gained widespread coverage in industry publications including Information Week, Tech Wire, SC Magazine and Government Technology.
In 2017, KCD PR publicized the inaugural Secure San Diego event for CCOE, covered on ABC 10 News in an online livestream and a produced story. Other CCOE media coverage for 2017 included CIO Today, San Diego Business Journal, Tech Wire, Security Magazine and several broadcast TV news outlets.
The Results
The social media efforts, which included sponsored and organic social media posts, led to an increase in job portal sign-ups, recruiting “new” members for the job board. KCD PR developed an aggressive LinkedIn sponsored campaign to bring together San Diego’s cyber leaders with global experts to educate and further the industry, as well as position the region as a hub for cyber technology thought leadership.
KCD PR segmented target audiences based on the following: current and prospective board members, San Diego cyber industry c-level executives, San Diego ecosystem c-level executives, government and decision makers, and cyber talent. Additionally, KCD PR led the CCOE’s LinkedIn ad campaign to grow the group, followers and drive traffic to the job board. The targeted focus, based on region, industry, and job title has helped launch the group to a total of 317 members. Additionally, the total impressions of the paid media campaign (to date) exceed 47,000.
