HBO Boardwalk Empire

Objectives
Boardwalk Empire continues to be one of HBO’s most-watched original series, especially among television viewers in the Western Pennsylvania area. The fourth season also features a recurring character named Daughter Maitland, who happens to be portrayed by Pittsburgh native and rising starlet Margot Bingham. HBO wanted to host a special screening of an upcoming episode to celebrate Bingham’s breakout role in Pittsburgh – her hometown and one of the program’s top markets.

Insights
HBO representatives were in need of a local communications firm that could connect them with the appropriate media professionals and prominent figures in the Pittsburgh area. Knowing that Markowitz Communications specializes in media relations and special events, the network requested that the team assist with the promotional efforts for both Margot Bingham and the exclusive screening party.

Groundwork
First, we helped to expand the VIP list and invite the appropriate media to the reception and preview screening that was held on Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2013, at Senator John Heinz History Center. We worked with the folks at HBO to distribute invitations and then followed up to confirm RSVPs and secure media coverage for this special event.

Second, and more importantly, the Markowitz Communications team worked with our friends at the Omni William Penn Hotel to arrange an exclusive meet and greet with Bingham at its 1920s-style Speakeasy. We took the lead in designing a special media advisory for this press event and distributed the alert to local media, covering topics like arts and entertainment, television, and music. We put on the ritz to set the scene – a nightclub during the roaring twenties, similar to the sets seen on Boardwalk Empire – and provided the perfect backdrop for interviews and photo opportunities with Margot.

Strategy
We know what makes a story newsworthy and are experienced in finding the interesting angle to act as the catalyst, the focal point, or as we like to say, the “schtick” that will prompt the media’s interest. We also recognize that the local media, in particular, fancy a story that can be associated with Pittsburgh. So our idea was to focus on the fact that Margot is a Pittsburgh native and daughter of former Steeler Craig Bingham. After capturing the media’s attention with this angle, Margot would have the opportunity to discuss her career as well as her experience as a cast member on the acclaimed series Boardwalk Empire.

ROI
Hosting an exclusive press event in addition to inviting media to the special screening helped to secure more than five print and web stories in many of Pittsburgh’s most popular media outlets - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Pittsburgh Tribune Review, Pittsburgh Magazine, Beaver County Times – as well as over twenty minutes of interview segments and broadcast stories on local television stations, radio shows, and websites. We generated over 700,000 media impressions, which added up to $10,000+ of earned publicity. These results demonstrate that, as they said in the Jazz Age, the Markowitz Communications team knows your onions about public relations.