For the past 24 years, Coast Mental Health Foundation’s Courage To Come Back Awards have recognized British Columbians who have overcome illness, adversity or addiction and who have come back and give back to their communities. Each year, many crucial Coast Mental Health programs are made possible through donors’ generous support of Coast Mental Health Foundation at the awards – which has raised $22 million to date. 

On May 2nd, 2022, Coldwater Communications executed an earned media campaign to promote four of the five recipients of Coast Mental Health Foundation’s (CMHF) 2022 Courage To Come Back Awards, and their Peer Support Program. Media outreach involved targeted media pitching to BC-based and Canada-wide media.

The Work

  • Coldwater Communications developed five media pitches which included individualized pitches for four award recipients and one for the Peer Support Program that Coast Mental Health offers. 
  • To support the 5 individualized pitches, Coldwater created five separate media lists, each targeted to the specific geographical location(s) and relevant BC outlets related to each of the award recipients. 
  • Media outreach involved targeting a wide range of BC outlets in print, radio, television, and digital platforms. 
  • Coldwater contacted a total of 134 reporters in 74 media outlets across British Columbia and Canada.

Client Testimonial:

“We were very fortunate to have Coldwater offer to provide pro-bono support for media coverage for the Courage To Come Back Award recipients this year. They were such a pleasure to work with and we were truly amazed at the coverage we received. One of the recipient stories even went national! Working on a multifaceted campaign like Courage is a lot of work yet they made it seem effortless.”
– Naomi Perks, Manager, Marketing & Communications

The Results

  • Coldwater Communications secured 40 pieces of coverage including 38 online pieces and 2 print articles.
  • The Courage To Come Back Awards was covered in the Vancouver Sun, which was a goal set by CMHF during campaign planning. 
  • Each of the four recipients was interviewed and received media coverage with one of the recipients being featured nationally. 
  • Some of the outlets that covered the story included the Toronto Star, The Abbotsford News, The Vancouver Sun, Vita Daily, Coast Reporter, and The Times Colonist.

 

Coverage Highlights: