Amplifying CEO’s thought leadership leads to CNBC interview

Gray Construction communicators work both sides of the thought leadership coin on behalf of their CEO, Stephen Gray. The online side features a blog on the organization’s website and a concerted content marketing effort. The other side involves traditional media outreach with a long-range goal of securing a coveted interview slot on CNBC’s “Power Lunch.” The success of these efforts has earned Gray Construction first place in the “Executive Visibility” category of PR Daily’s 2018 Media Relations Awards.

The overall goal of these tactics focused on generating new business opportunities by elevating Stephen Gray’s voice in the industry where Gray Construction has its expertise: manufacturing. Gray Construction builds factories. One of the most effective elements of the offline component of the campaign involved placing contributed articles under Gray’s byline that outlined his view on the challenges manufacturers faced as a result of tax reform legislation in the United States.

A manufacturing executive magazine picked up the article in both its print and online versions; the online version included a video clip with the organization’s CFO explaining the investment implications of tax reform. Another video featured a manufacturing customer explaining that he would have invested more in his organization if tax reform had been in place.

These assets and placements delivered the CNBC spot, a three-minute interview viewed by 203,000 people (not to mention those who saw the video replay on CNBC’s website). The interview also led to more media requests, which in total represented a 94 percent year-over-year increase in media coverage.

The organization’s lead volume increased 70 percent during that period. More than 81 percent of its projects are in the manufacturing market, representing 83 percent of total sales.

For these bottom-line results, congratulations to communicators Jill Wilson, Scott Parker and Abby Johnson.