J.H. Snyder Co.
The Lofts at NoHo Commons

ISSUE|;SUCCESS

Los Angeles-based developer J.H. Snyder Co. hired Consensus Inc. to create a high-energy media event for the grand opening of the developer’s major transit-oriented development, featuring Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, Los Angeles City Councilman Tom LaBonge, Community Redevelopment Agency Commissioner Bruce Ackerman and the firm’s senior partners.

The grand opening ceremony provided a venue for the mayor and city officials to tout the success of redevelopment efforts, new housing in Los Angeles, the link to mass transit and the announcement of the next phase in the project.

Consensus Inc. developed a media strategy to generate coverage the day of the event in the local newspapers – the Daily News of Los Angeles and San Fernando Valley Business Journal – to leverage the news. The media plan leverage a number of local issues that were relevant to the media:

• Revitalization of a part of the city that is included in a redevelopment zone, which has become a thriving arts community.
• The project’s proximity to two primary mass transit routes in the San Fernando Valley, with connections to Hollywood and Downtown Los Angeles.

ISSUE|;SUCCESS

Consensus Inc. developed an overall theme for the news conference that incorporated the mayor’s and county’s support for transit-oriented development and how the project fit in with the local artist community. Artists created colorful backdrops during the news conference, a sculptor created a clay bust of the mayor, human statues posed for guests and two guitarists provided mood music for the event.

The media relations program was designed to ensure coverage of J.H. Snyder Co.’s role. Consensus Inc. worked with reporters from the Daily News of Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley Business Journal in advance of the event to generate coverage that focused on J.H. Snyder Co. The Daily News article following the grand opening included photos of the entertainers.