Project Description

Press Coverage for a Nonprofit’s Global Activism

Client: Katherine Davies, a force for peace and founder/CEO of iguacu
Project: Producing a short-term, breaking news PR campaign for Katherine’s #message4peace walk

In April 2016, Wasabi Publicity was hired by iguacu [say igwah-soo]—a global platform for effective giving—to create a breakthrough PR campaign highlighting CEO and founder Katherine Davies’ #message4peace walk. She undertook this 600-mile walk from London to Geneva to embody a powerful message calling for peace for the Syrian people. Over the course of her journey, she gathered messages from all over the world, engaging the public in a global outcry for peace.

message4peace route map
message4peace route map

To support Katherine and iguacu, Wasabi Publicity took the following steps:

  • Online Press Kit Development
  • Traditional Media Outreach (US and UK)
  • Online Media Outreach

The Wasabi team came in after Katherine had already started her walk, so this was a very fast-moving campaign. Her walk started on March 15, and on May 20 she met with top UN diplomat working to end the Syrian civil war, Staffan de Mistura, and presented him with the messages she had collected.

Woman walks 600 miles to deliver messages of peace for Syria

"We have more power than we think."

Posted by Huffington Post UK on Thursday, May 26, 2016

Within an approximate six week timeframe, Wasabi created the press kit and distributed three media pitches. Wasabi successfully landed top national media, including The Daily Caller, The Huffington Post WorldPost, Huffington Post UK, BBC World Service Newsday Radio, and Newsweek. Additionally, the Huffington Post UK video received approximately 26K views.

Summary of Results

The campaign was a huge success, even with such tight timing to work with. The combination of breaking news with Wasabi’s best-in-class online press kit and pitching efforts resulted in a powerfully effective set of media deliverables for the client.