Capitalizing On Positive News – Promoting Capabilities During COVID-19

During the COVID-19 pandemic, having test kits available became a critical need so that mass testing could become a reality. With more tests, our country could begin to lift shelter-in-place directives so that businesses could resume and life return to a new “normal.”

A rapid increase in the production of test vials was needed. Enter Crafts Technology, a 127-year-old company in Elk Grove Village, IL, who specializes in creating tungsten carbide core pins for injection molding systems used to develop those vials. Learning of the urgent need for these vials, the Crafts’ team banded together and produced the tooling in 75% less time than usual. To ensure the safe arrival of these critical parts, Crafts’ CEO personally drove the completed project across the country.

While this incredible story was happening, Crafts Technology engaged Red Caffeine for a public relations campaign aimed at medical manufacturers, molding makers, and molders. Having tungsten carbide core pins produced in such a short time frame was unheard of, and Crafts wanted their core audiences to be aware that it was possible. After consulting calls with Crafts leadership, Red Caffeine uncovered the opportunity to use this story as one of the foundational materials for a future lead generation campaign to these three audiences. The immediateneed was to capitalize on the shortened production time of tungsten carbide tooling, with each component of the public relations campaign serving dual-purpose to support the longer-
term goal.

The initial campaign consisted of these key components:

• Press release directed towards manufacturing, medical and general interest publications
• Video explaining the expedited tooling and the support given to the specific medical OEM and their supplier, the molder
• Content creation for blog posts and social media
• Linking the viewing audience back to the Crafts website
• Refresh of Crafts’ social media platforms to ensure they were consistent and branded

With the shelter in place happening, Red Caffeine partnered with Crafts through Zoom calls, phone calls, emails, and texts. Atypical to a more hands-on approach, we were providing offsite direction to the Crafts team for what would be needed, such as specific photographs to accompany the press release or videos of production processes.

Within days of the press release, Red Caffeine had earned Crafts Technology seven placements with target audience publications with two interviews that turned into mini-feature articles. Before the press release, Craft had not engaged with the media; now, they have seven new contacts to work with plus a video and documented story to turn into a case study to use as a foundation for their long-term lead generation plans.