Project: Sinking the Vandenberg

Client: Florida Keys & Key West

Date: May 2009

Task: To secure minute by minute online updates and news stories to track the progress of the sinking of a military missile-tracking ship being converted into a new artificial coral reef off Key West.

Implementation: We built momentum by reporting the progress of the ship regularly through Twitter.  Immediately the ship sank, we sent a Hot Off The Press release throughout the UK and Europe.

Results: Within one hour of the ship sinking, there were 65 mentions of the story online.

One of the biggest events in recent Florida Keys history has been the converting of a decommissioned military missile-tracking ship, the Vandenberg, into a new artificial reef off Key West.  On 27 May 09, the ship finally went down to its resting place at the bottom of the ocean completing the ten year project and becoming the second largest artificial reef in the world.

Throughout May 09, KBC has been reporting to the UK and European press the progress of the ship via press releases and on Twitter. Immediately the ship sank, we sent out a Hot Off the Press release and distributed the news around Europe.  Within one hour, our Google Alert system told us that there were already 65 mentions of the story online, including news features on the Times Online and BBC News.

More examples of our work >>