Announcing Robins Landing – A Houston Habitat for Humanity Project
Elmore was hired by Houston Habitat for Humanity to announce Robins Landing, a vibrant master-planned community offering critically needed affordable housing and essential services in East Houston. The non-profit organization was approaching a critical point in the development of Robins Landing as they secured funding to begin construction at the 127-acre site. Elmore was brought on to announce the project and funding details in advance of a groundbreaking event.
Our objectives:
- Announce key details of Robins Landing while highlighting major project partners and donors.
- Secure an anchor story in the Houston Chronicle that could be utilized as a tool for years to come.
- Secure coverage of the Robins Landing groundbreaking event, setting the narrative for the project as it moves forward with construction and development.
Our communications strategy centered around engaging with Houston Chronicle Housing Reporter R.A. Schuetz for an embargoed, exclusive story on the project. Elmore worked with key project partners and government entities to strategize this outreach and the ideal timing for the announcement. The story would be the first step in rolling out all other communications on the project and would be immediately followed by a press release with critical project details. Shortly after, a groundbreaking event would take place on the site.
As with many complex projects, there were several delays that impacted when the groundbreaking could take place and the originally outlined communications timeline. This challenged Elmore to pivot strategy and garner buy-in from project partners and the reporter on a new course of action. Instead of the Chronicle story, press release, and groundbreaking occurring within 1-2 months of each other, the three tactics would need to be spread out over a 6-month timeframe. Elmore would continue to engage with the press through targeted pitches in between each milestone to ensure interest in the project continued to build between the Chronicle’s story publication in September and the February groundbreaking event.
