San Diego Mid-Coast Corridor Project

We all want to get from Point A to Point B quickly and easily. The Mid-Coast Corridor Transit Project will extend trolley service from the Old Town Transit Center north to UCSD and University City. This is a high-priority project for the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) and the region. MJE was chosen to develop and implement a comprehensive, multi-faceted public involvement effort that communicated information to the public and provided opportunities for public input, during the project development process.

MJE advised SANDAG on strategic planning, message development, media relations, government relations, community outreach and public involvement. The agency drafted a thorough public involvement plan to guide interaction with stakeholders and was also responsible for the creative development of brochures, advertisements, fact sheets, website content, videos and multimedia presentations.

Results: The public involvement efforts addressed differences of opinion and built consensus for the locally preferred alternative. The interested parties list grew from 179 names to more than 600. Nearly 250 people participated in the public open house Scoping Meetings and SANDAG received more than 700 individual comments about the alternatives evaluation and scope of issues to be studied in the environmental review. Ultimately, the Mid-Coast Corridor Transit Project Working Group and SANDAG Transportation Committee voted unanimously to support SANDAG's recommended preferred alternative and the SANDAG Board of Directors voted unanimously to select the recommended alternative as the preferred alternative to move forward in the process.

Awards: PRSA Silver Bernays Award of Merit for Community Relations; National Telly award for video. See more awards won by MJE Marketing.

Safeway/Vons

Eventually, everything needs a makeover. The old and tired Vons in Mission Hills will give way to a state-of-the-art, carefully-designed neighborhood supermarket. Safeway Inc. asked MJE to develop and execute a community outreach campaign for the construction/redevelopment project. MJE identified stakeholders in the surrounding communities, developed and implemented a strategic plan that engaged community members, neutralized any opposition and built support for the redevelopment plan. We coordinated meetings with City officials, stakeholder groups and neighbors about the project and requested input from the community for the store's design. So everything old is new again…

Results: The project received unanimous approval from the community and San Diego City Council. MJE is currently working with Safeway/Vons on community outreach, primarily through social media, e-news, community relations, government relations, media relations and event planning during the construction phase. The new store — a community jewel complete with a greatly expanded "farmer's market" produce section, as well as organic, specialty and gourmet foods sections — will meet the needs of the bustling Mission Hills community.

San Diego Bowl Games

You can either tackle the task or let the task tackle you. MJE prefers the first option — especially, when it comes to football. The MJE team, like most Americans, loves college football bowl games and jumped at the chance to be part of pigskin pageantry. The San Diego Bowl Game Association (SDBGA) is a non-profit organization that produces the annual Holiday and Poinsettia Bowls. The SDBGA enlisted MJE to assist with its social media outreach strategy for both bowls to promote game events and market San Diego as a first-class sports tourism destination.

MJE utilized Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Foursquare to connect with fans across the U.S. and to capitalize on the natural rivalries surrounding collegiate sports teams. We created and hosted online competitions, encouraged fans to submit photos and videos, developed a weekly "insiders" video blog, and coordinated exclusive ticketholder discounts to local restaurants and attractions.

Results: In two months, the social media pages showed an 84% increase in total fan followers. Post-game feedback on the Holiday Bowl Facebook page was 880, a 6,669% increase, while post-game feedback on the Poinsettia Bowl page totaled 464, a 2,478% increase.

Crisis Communications: The power of social media was also the tool of choice during a potential crisis. On the day before the Poinsettia Bowl, torrential rains turned Qualcomm Stadium into Lake Qualcomm, with 1.5 million gallons of water covering the parking lot, infrastructure and playing field. MJE worked around the clock leveraging Twitter, Facebook, foursquare and YouTube to not only dispel rumors that the game was cancelled, but also provide fans with alternate directions to the game, bypassing flooded access roads. Because of social media efforts, the Poinsettia Bowl, not the highest rated college bowl game, received far more national attention, including a spot on the Today Show, ESPN, Sports Illustrated and other national news outlets.

• HB Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/HolidayBowl
• PB Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/PoinsettiaBowl
• HB Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/HolidayBowlGame
• PB Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/PoinsettiaBowl
• YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/sandiegobowlgames

Manpower San Diego

Phil Blair and Mel Katz have a legendary partnership that has vaulted Manpower of San Diego into the sixth largest Manpower franchise in the U.S. Their personal and business story is one for the ages, and for 16 years they have employed MJE to communicate the fact that San Diego works best when people are working. Our public relations strategies have positioned the company as the top temporary agency in the county and its owners as the top San Diego employment experts. Tactics include quarterly Employment Outlook Survey stories placed with print, radio and television; regular commentary with the top television morning news show; social media, employment articles and columns; and media releases to print, radio, television and Internet outlets.

Results: Phil and Mel have grown their franchise from one city to four cities and from $50 million to $150 million in the years MJE has worked with this dynamic duo. Manpower stories reach a combined circulation of 2.5 million monthly.