The national child-nutrition advocacy organization, the School Nutrition Association (SNA) has  made strides in improving school meal options, increasing food safety and lobbying for child nutrition issues.  However negative news is often the focus of public attention.  Our objectives were to publicize the message that school lunches have changed for the better and to increase awareness of SNA as a catalyst for improvement.

The Kotchen Group (TKG) planned a strategic media campaign to tie newsworthy regional issues to national children’s nutrition news.  The media outreach targeted major markets during the back-to-school timeframe and utilized grassroots media efforts. School food service directors were media trained and positioned as experts to discuss specific school district issues.  TV segments and print stories helped parents visualize how changes in children’s school meals were up to par with nutrition standards and far exceeded their often out-dated perceptions.

The campaign was a great success as it highlighted positive SNA messages.  Television segments showcasing actual school lunches reached more than 9 million viewers through regional and syndicated shows.  SNA experts were featured on major morning programs such as Boston’s News Channel 5-WFXT (FOX), Chicago’s Eyewitness News Weekend-WLS (ABC) and Good Day Dallas Weekend-WFAA (ABC) in Dallas. Additionally, about 150 markets aired a comprehensive 10-minute interview within FamilyNet TV’s syndicated talk show, which reached nearly a half million viewers. Also, TKG coordinated a taste-test party segment with a local Washington, DC school which was syndicated to 17 Hearst stations across the country.

For the print campaign, quotes and information on school nutrition issues from SNA and their spokespeople were included in feature stories in top daily newspapers including the Chicago Tribune, Boston Globe and the Sunday edition of the Washington Post.  Print story circulation totaled more than 3.1 million.  Radio interviews were secured on stations such as WGN in Chicago, WBZ in Boston and KOMO in Seattle as well as the syndicated radio network, The Issues Today.  SNA and its regional members received over 12 million impressions, resulting in positive feedback and continuing PR campaign.