Reilly Connect Named PRSA 2019 Silver Anvil Finalist for Kellogg’s Support of GIRL SCOUTS LIVING IN NYC homeless shelters FIRST COOKIE SALE

Reilly Connect was recently named by the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) as a Silver Anvil Award Finalist for our work on behalf of Kellogg’s and its support of Girl Scouts of Greater New York (GSGNY) Troop 6000’s first-ever cookie sale. Troop 6000 is specially-designed to serve the thousands of girls living in the New York City homeless shelter system. Started in February 2017, Troop 6000 meets weekly in shelters across the city and is led by trained troop leaders – women and mothers also living in the shelter. Kellogg’s hosted Troop 6000’s five-day cookie sale event at the Kellogg’s New York City Café Union Square in April 2018. 

Reilly Connect collaborated with Anthem Worldwide and was given the charge to help Kellogg’s build awareness and to encourage people to buy cookies during the five-day cookie selling event. We blitzed local and social media with a predisposed interest in Girl Scouts and the homelessness. Reilly Connect’s video production experts extended the story reach beyond local New York media through creation of original video content about Troop 6000 and the cookie sale. The Cafe helped mobilized Union Square businesses and residents and inspired prominent influencers to share information about the event across social channels. The availability of ordering cookies digitally was also promoted.

The girls set out to sell 6,000 boxes of cookies. The efforts of our Chicago and New York-based teams collectively generated 420 million media impressions. The coverage spurred hundreds of people each day to visit the Cafe to buy cookies and thousands to post comments and words of encouragement to the girls across social media. Troop 6000 sold over 32,569 boxes of cookies.

“Reilly Connect is focused on purposeful PR and the results of this event are testimony to our devotion to work with clients like Kellogg’s who are dedicated to making the world a better place,” said Susan Reilly, President, Reilly Connect. “The joy and excitement on the faces of these beautiful girls during a difficult time in their lives will forever be a cherished career memory.”

The Silver Anvil Awards Ceremony will be held on June 6 at the Edison Ballroom, 240 West 47th Street, between Broadway and 8th Avenue, in New York City. Silver Anvil winners and Award of Excellence recipients will be announced at that time, along with the “Best Of” Silver Anvil.

“We are particularly proud to be among the prestigious list of agencies who have also been named as finalists,” added Susan Reilly.

To view all PRSA 2019 Silver Anvil Finalists visit: http://anvils.prsa.org/silver-anvil-awards/2019-silver-anvil-finalists

Sweet News Helps Girl Scout Troop Started in NYC Homeless Shelters with First Cookie Selling Program

If you need a story rooted in kindness and goodwill to restore any wavering faith in mankind then the success of Girl Scout Troop 6000’s first-ever Cookie Selling Program may be a welcome respite from the negative media chatter across all channels. Here’s the sweet scoop:

Girl Scout Troop 6000 recently kicked off their first ever Girl Scout Cookie Program® with an original goal of selling 6,000 boxes of cookies over a six day period. The new Kellogg's® NYC Café, an immersive brick-and-mortar cereal café in the Union Square neighborhood served as the perfect stage for Troop 6000 to test their cookie selling skills. What is unique about Troop 6000 which is part of Girl Scouts of Greater New York (GSGNYC) is that it is specially designed to serve the thousands of girls living in the New York City homeless shelter system. Each week, Troop 6000 meets in shelters across the city, led by trained troop leaders – women and mothers also living in the shelter. Troop 6000 was established in March 2017 through a partnership between New York City’s Department of Homeless Services, the Girl Scouts of Greater New York and Mayor Bill de Blasio and today includes over 300 members. 

Reilly Connect in collaboration with Kellogg’s, GSGNYC and its PR team blitzed the media to spread the word about Troop 6000’s cookie selling attempt. Hundreds of people lined up each day to open their hearts to Troop 6000 and to satisfy their love for Girl Scout Cookies while helping the girls reach their goal. As the news coverage spread each day so did the lines. By week’s end Troop 6000 had sold 32,569 boxes of cookies thanks to the generous people of New York who came in droves and the monumental positive traditional and social media coverage that inspired them. The coverage came in multiple waves and continued well beyond the cookie selling event to include follow up stories reporting on Troop 6000's success. More than 82 stories were generated across television, print and social media. Stories spread to ten local markets and to date more than 450 million media impressions have been generated. 

The girls of Troop 6000 showed their sales grit, the people of New York stood in line patiently with smiles and warmth to showed their love for the girls and to stock up on their favorite cookies. Our collective PR teams showed our resilience at flawlessly managing the media bombardment. Reilly's video production talent also created shareable video content on the spot to help tell the wonderful success story of Troop 6000’s Cookie Selling program to media who could not attend extending the reach of our efforts well beyond New York.

Girl Scouting build girls of courage, confidence and character to make the world a better place. Girl Souting is for girls and gives all girls a voice. The Girl Scouts of Troop 6000 shouted loud and clear. Their voices were heard and people listened and responded with kindness and generosity. Reilly Connect's teams in New York and Chicago were so honored and proud to be part of this life-changing week for these girls and their efforts to make the world a better place were felt by all.

The Girl Scout Cookie Program® is the largest girl-led entrepreneurial program in the world—and helps girls earn money for educational activities, community projects and travel opportunities. All net revenue raised from cookie sales (100 percent) stays with the local councils and troops. Kellogg® is the parent company of Little Brownie Bakers®, which is licensed by Girl Scouts of the USA, and has been baking Girl Scout Cookies since 1973.