Challenge:
The San Francisco Convention & Visitors Bureau (SFCVB) hired LCI in 2002 to launch a new annual event and implement a public relations campaign around the slow tourist month of February. The City of San Francisco thrives from a vibrant tourism industry and wanted to give visitors another reason to experience the city in a typically slow travel month. The goal was to attract 5,000 new visitors and to reinforce the Bureau’s role in supporting tourism throughout the region. In addition, LCI had the very tight turnaround time of one month to produce results.

Strategy:
LCI’s strategy was to enhance awareness of San Francisco’s role as the Dungeness crab capital, and launched a new, annual month-long city celebration—the San Francisco Crab Festival. LCI pitched unique “day in the life of a crab fisherman” stories and staged the city’s first “Crab-picking contest” with regional media competing against one another.

Results:
The Bureau’s first Crab Festival exceeded all expectations, garnering significant media coverage both nationally (New York Times, Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune) and regionally, including: San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco Examiner, Alameda Newspaper Group, Marin Independent Journal, Sacramento Bee, San Jose Mercury News, KTVU-TV, KGO-TV, KPIX-TV, KRON-TV and more.

Now in its third year, LCI still works with SFCVB to promote the successful San Francisco Crab Festival celebration as well as other SFCVB PR initiatives as needed.