Kayla Harrison

In October 2010, Kayla Harrison became the fourth American to win a world judo championships. That same year, she became the first American to achieve the honor of winning more matches than any other competitor on the planet. Morgan Creative Services was retained to assist with her public relations and social media efforts.

The Challenge

Judo is one of the most popular sports in the world - only soccer has more participants. However, in the United States, to call judo "unknown" would be an understatement.

With few participants, the National Governing Body for the Olympic sport is underfunded and the sport lacks popular "fan appeal." It is also a sport in which the United States has struggled to attain success. Each year, world champions are decided in 14 different weight divisions yet the United States has produced only four world champions and no Olympic gold medalists. Therefore, the media takes little interest in the sport and obtaining media coverage often falls on the athlete herself, and is minimal at best.

However, strong media coverage is a critical component to obtaining sponsorships and to other fundraising efforts for amateur athletes such as Kayla.

Actions

Our initial plan involved the creation of an ongoing series of press releases focusing on the wins and accomplishments of Kayla around the world.

We developed a custom press release distribution list that focuses on regional/metro media in her hometown (Boston), the hometown of her birth (Cincinnati), and on national media outlets.

It also includes extensive social media contacts via Facebook and Twitter.

After every tournament, Kayla and her coach contact Clay Morgan via Skype for an interview and recap, and within two hours a press release is written and distributed to pertinent media.

We have also developed the means for tracking results by using our powerful media monitoring services and social media monitoring services. This not only provides motivation for the athlete, but it aides Morgan Creative Services in evaluation and adjustments to its media plan. Services also include media placements - landing interviews and feature articles about our client.

Additionally, we've launched a successful social media campaign that integrates Facebook and Twitter with Kayla's website and traditional media coverage. Combined with media outreach, this creates a flow of information that integrates direct audience reach and third-party channels.

Results

The results speak for themselves.

Six months into the social media effort, Kayla Harrison has 2,000 followers on Facebook, leading a very active community in discussions of judo, training, and other related activities.

Press releases are issued immediately following every tournament. These are sent to a targeted list of national and local media outlets, and shared via social media, especially Facebook and Twitter.

The end result has been substantial traditional media placements. Nationally, Kayla Harrison has been mentioned in USA Today seven times, including twice named as USA Today's Athlete of the Week. She was featured in a story in the nationally distributed niche magazine Black Belt.

Harrison has also received meaningful local market coverage in metro areas including Atlanta, New York, Boston, Chicago, Houston, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and a number of other smaller markets.

While traditional media has given Kayla broad exposure, social media continues to give her increased exposure to the judo community, including to potential sponsors.

On average, results are "reposted" via Facebook shares and retweets more than 300 times each tournament. This helps Kayla communicate with more than 40,000 judo fans and supporters around the world.