This is one of my most favorite stories to tell about why we advise our clients to blog and tell their story through digital content.
I was first introduced to Bentley Prince Street when they came on as a sponsor for the 2007 Jimmy Carter Work Project with my client, Habitat for Humanity of Greater Los Angeles. They were a “green” carpet company donating carpet for the new homes we were building that week. I admired them, so when they contacted me for their own PR needs a couple years later I jumped at the chance.
For three and half years we helped them tell their stories, and there were many. As a carpet company they were well known in the industry, but Los Angeles needed to know more about how this local company was not only providing hundreds of jobs and giving back to the community, it was working hard to make the lives of their employees better and healthier!
We consistently promoted the fact that this company provided a 5,000 sq. ft. gym for its associates including two trainers, a nutritionist and group classes – at no charge! These were just some of the reasons they were named Best Places to Work in L.A. for 6 consecutive years.
Then one day I received the kind of phone call every publicist dreams about…it was a producer from The Biggest Loser. They found our client via a Google search. She explained how they wanted to possibly feature them as a company in the U.S. that was getting it right when it comes to employee wellness. I was ecstatic!
We immediately turned around a list of over twenty programs at the company promoting wellness and all the requested releases were signed and returned within 24 hours. We knew we weren’t the only company they were contacting, but we wanted to be the first one to respond.
About one month later the crew from Biggest Loser arrived at Bentley’s headquarters in City of Industry to film. Company employees were featured and celebrated and the President was interviewed about their commitment to wellness. Now the client was ecstatic too!
Not only was Bentley Prince Street featured on the second episode of Season 14 (the first regular episode following the 2-hour premiere) they continued to be featured throughout the season as part of the series’ overall theme for that year. Sharing the human side of their business got them noticed and put them on a world stage. This is the power of storytelling. It didn’t happen overnight, but it happened and it happened big time!
In the past year, this company has undergone ownership and management changes and they no longer host their blog. We will forever be proud of the stories we helped them share and the success we experienced together.