WEEKDAYS: Feature Broadcast Placement

TL;DR: A focus on newsjacking and Twitter monitoring led to NBC News Channel featuring a Geben client in its affiliate news service broadcasts in 50+ markets.

the concept

WEEKDAYS is a national micro-school program that pairs 2-10 children with qualified, vetted childcare and teacher options. Born from the frustration founder Shauna Causey experienced when trying to find childcare options pre-pandemic, WEEKDAYS came out of stealth mode in March 2020 as a solution for parents who were navigating at-home schooling as schools across the nation closed due to COVID. To accelerate growth, brand awareness and impact, WEEKDAYS needed to tell its story at scale ahead of the 2020-2021 school year.

In August 2020, WEEKDAYS hired Geben Communication to complete a one-month media push (researching, pitching, interviews, etc) with the overall goal of attracting more interest in WEEKDAYS through brand awareness, aiming for syndicated coverage.

the execution

Geben’s overall media strategy was a two-pronged approach that focused on newsjacking and evergreen outreach. Through our research, we knew that searches for “pandemic pods” and “micro-schools” were at an all-time high, meaning there was an opportunity to insert WEEKDAYS into the news cycle. 

We focused our efforts on pitching journalists and producers who were interested in micro-schools, pandemic education solutions as well as equitable schooling. Through our monitoring efforts in August 2020, Geben noticed a Twitter query from a producer looking for sources on micro-schools. We jumped on this opportunity and had a Zoom interview booked with WEEKDAYS’s founder as well as a family who was currently enrolled in a micro-school to be interviewed for a robust segment on the topic. In addition to coordinating with the producer, our team developed media briefing documents to help the family and company founder stick to key messaging.

the result

As a result of our efforts, Geben secured a syndicated feature segment on NBC News Channel, which was picked up 57 times in affiliate local markets and supported each of our objectives and goals.

In addition to our broadcast efforts, we strategically paired the placement with coverage in the following outlets: Fast Company, SheKnows, Business Insider and Yahoo Entertainment. Adding in the syndicated pickup and cross-platform amplification, a total of 62 total stories featuring WEEKDAYS ran.