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Diversafest
Challenge: Make Dfest Biggest Event in State
Dfest began as a small festival started by local musicians and married couple Tom Green and Angie DeVore-Green. After six years, the event had grown to a sizeable 15,000 music enthusiasts and was on the cusp of massive growth beyond Tulsa. After significant research, Rex PR positioned Dfest as a national music event by garnering media attention beginning five months prior to Dfest, launching a press conference with community leaders, distributing news releases to announce subsequent band line-ups, increasing buzz through social media and scheduling television morning show appearances.

Result: Surpassed goal by 10,000 people
Dfest attendance increased by 37.5 percent over 2006, surpassing its goal by 10,000 people. More than 40,000 attendees poured into downtown to listen to the bands and support participating venues. In fact, the event resulted in remarkable sales for local businesses. James E. McNellie’s Public House increased sales by 20 percent and Dwelling Spaces saw the highest sales in the history of its business.

Generations Health Care
Challenge: Increase Membership in the Tulsa Market
Universal American is a family of specialty healthcare companies. In the Tulsa market, these companies include Generations Healthcare, which provides Medicare Advantage health plans, and GlobalHealth Inc., which provides commercial health plans. These plans offer health coverage to residents in Tulsa, Rogers, Osage, Creek, Wagoner and Mayes counties. Rex had two goals between July and December 2008: to increase brand awareness of Generations Healthcare and GlobalHealth and to increase membership in the Tulsa market.

While traditional earned media increased brand awareness in the client’s other markets, it failed to address the need for direct results in terms of leads generated. To overcome this challenge, Rex set objectives that went beyond publicity measurement. Rex set three objectives for the six-month campaign: secure 20 in-network providers as spokespersons; generate 60 media impressions; and directly generate 150 appointment leads and 30 new members through appointment leads.

Result:
Rex secured 23 spokespersons for the client and exceeded its objective by 15 percent though physician relations. Rex generated 86 media impressions, exceeding its objective by 43 percent. The earned media equaled $232,200 in publicity value. Rex generated 256 appointment leads, exceeding its objective by 70 percent, and acquired 42 new members, exceeding its objective by 40 percent, through phone banks at Tulsa TV stations. From October to December alone, Generations Healthcare gained 500 new members in the Tulsa market.

Dave & Busters
Challenge: Set National Record with Dave & Buster’s Grand Opening
World known for its fun and festive atmosphere, Dave & Buster’s called on Rex to handle all aspects of earned media, non-profit sponsorships and VIP and media grand opening festivities for D&B’s first location in the state. The Rex staff combined its extensive contacts in Tulsa’s media arena as well as the city’s “movers and shakers” to plan three days of grand opening events. A key component was identifying a local nonprofit organization that fit D&B’s criteria while giving the newcomer to the area maximum exposure.

Result: Packed the house faster than any other VIP party in Dave and Buster’s history
More than 1,000 people attended the VIP party, some waiting as long as three hours to sample the restaurant’s menu. Company executives touted the event a raving success, noting that the venue filled to capacity at record speed.

The University of Tulsa
Unlocking A Wealth of Knowledge & Research

Rex is TU’s go-to-firm for a full range of both recurring and unconventional communication projects. The backbone of our long-running relationship is our in-depth content development for a number of annual and bi-annual faculty, student and alumni publications for the Henry Kendall College of Arts & Sciences and the Collins College of Business, which BusinessWeek in 2007 ranked 17 th in its guide, “The Best Undergraduate B-Schools.” In addition, Rex generates earned media for select colleges and divisions within the university including the Institute for Information Security, a leading research institute in the field of information assurance for government and private industry.