• "I’ve worked with McGrath/Power for more than 10 years at companies in the enterprise and consumer technology markets – all with the same excellent results – driving awareness and delivering new customers – and bottom-line impact. The agency has been a trusted strategic partner at each of my companies and their value add cannot be overstated."

    - Phil Underwood

    Vice President, IPLocks

  • "PR is a very important function for our company as we operate in a crowded market with several aggressive competitors. Since we’ve worked with McGrath/Power, the change in our overall visibility has been significant and has helped move our business forward."

    - Jim Pante

    CEO, Tablus

  • "McGrath/Power has played in instrumental role in launching TiVo, helping us create the DVR product category and establishing the TiVo brand as synonymous with personal TV. The agency has great experience in both consumer and technology, which helped bring our story to life and influence our target audiences. I’ve worked with numerous agencies during my career and the TiVo launch with McGrath/Power was one of the most powerful public relations campaigns I’ve been involved with."

    - Ed MacBeth

    VP Marketing, TiVo

  • "I would recommend Jonathan and McGrath/Power to anyone wanting an exceptional, intelligent PR and Communications partner. I’ve worked directly with Jonathan for several years and at two start-ups – his quality of work is extraordinary and unique in his industry."

    - Shaun Coleman

    Co-Founder, Reconnex

  • "I’ve been impressed with McGrath/Power each time I’ve brought the agency on board as my strategic public relations partner. The agency’s ability to align the PR function with the goals of our company was key in driving business success factors, whether an acquisition or a major corporate repositioning. Beyond that, knowing that I have both the agency’s management team and skilled tacticians each playing an active role on my program enables me to have the perfect balance of strategic planning and successful program implementation."

    - Ed Murrer

    VP Marketing, Xcert
    (acquired by RSA Security)

  • "Your work exceeded my wildest expectations, and I thank you. We met with virtually every major business, consumer and tech publication that mattered and I made a dozen significant VC and carrier contacts through your efforts. From a messaging point of view, our story is crisp, clean, simple and above all, easy to relate to and clearly understood by our target audiences and the press that writes for them – a far cry from when I first approached you. I know that on this day I am your happiest client and most enthusiastic supporter. In fact, I don’t feel like a client at all. I feel like McGrath/Power is an integral part of the EasyReach team."

    - John Stossel

    CEO, EasyReach

  • "McGrath/Power played a critical role in establishing our MailStation email appliance as an important consumer electronics offering for those without a personal computer. The MailStation public relations effort helped reposition our company in the CE space and was a key driver in our acquisition by EarthLink. I was just as pleased to refer McGrath/Power to EarthLink to provide that company with PR activities surrounding the MailStation as I was to work alongside their team."

    - Tim Dooley

    Senior Vice President, CIDCO

  • "McGrath/Power is our strategic communications partner for technology issues in the United States and the agency has demonstrated its ability to get our message heard in that very noisy market."

    - Jon Earl

    Senior Group Media Relations Manager, Vodafone Group Plc

  • "McGrath/Power provided essential strategic PR counsel and consistently solid results over the nine years we partnered with them at Intellisync. They took us from start-up through IPO and beyond while always providing fresh perspective and proactive input."

    - Brad Rowe

    Founder,
    Intellisync Corporation

McGrath/Power: An Experienced Approach to PR and Consumer Relations

For McGrath/Power, the main focus of a PR and consumer relations campaign is to clearly tie your company to its target audiences. No two businesses are alike, and a cookie-cutter approach to public relations simply cannot garner the results needed to drive your business forward. Your company requires a different approach, one that creates an understanding of your value with the public and delivers on the brand promise of your organization.

In creating a targeted PR program for The Holland, Inc., McGrath/Power's goal was to clearly illustrate how the restaurant development company's family of 39 Burgerville restaurants had created a larger benefit for the community beyond simple food service. Burgerville used fresh, local and sustainable ingredients that benefited the company's bottom line, and its commitment to environmentally responsible operating practices positioned the company as an environmental educator and thought leader in the Pacific Northwest.

PR and Consumer Relations: The Challenge

Generally speaking, the purpose of a PR and consumer relations campaign is to alter the public's standing perception.

While The Holland, Inc. was widely known, public perception did not connect the restaurant development company to the Burgerville chain of restaurants. And, while the company had a nearly 50-year history of positive environmental initiatives, the public was not aware of the connection between these works and the restaurants. In fact, The Holland had drawn scrutiny from both the local media as well as food service industry trade publications for their seemingly "out of whack" spending on environmental concerns.

PR and Consumer Relations: The Approach

In the case of The Holland, Inc., the public's perception may have been mis-shaped either by incorrect facts or an incomplete understanding of the facts. The company knew that a comprehensive PR and consumer relations campaign was needed to both increase the public's awareness and to tell the full story of the company's commitment to profitably adopting environmentally friendly operating practices.

In the case of The Holland, Inc.'s strategic public relations plan, several specific courses of action were taken:

  • Showing the positive difference between The Holland, Inc. and their competition by showcasing the restaurant development company's commitment to providing menu items produced or grown by local vendors.
  • Partnering with environmental organizations and charities to reinforce their dedication to the local community as well as the environment.
  • Telling The Holland, Inc.'s story to fully explain the company's long history of local service and environmentalism.
  • Tying the chain's environmentally positive works to the bottom line of the parent company, showing how a commitment to local farms and ranchers, use of 100 percent wind power at all restaurants and in the corporate headquarters, the composting pilot program and the recycling of used cooking oil into biodiesel fuel contributed to the company's revenue growth.
  • Re-establishing relationships between The Holland, Inc. and local newspapers, introducing the company to restaurant trade news services and business media and enabling the company to garner targeted coverage.
  • Taking a leadership stance on the importance of preserving locally grown food resources.

PR and Consumer Relations: The Results


Our PR and consumer relations efforts were successful in increasing the visibility of The Holland, Inc., tying the corporate headquarters to the Burgerville family of restaurants. We also succeeded in showcasing the company's environmental activism as a fiscally sound business practice. As a result, positive stories appeared in several local, national and environmentally focused presses:

  • The Oregonian
  • The Sierra Club Newsletter
  • Associated Press
  • Restaurant Business
  • Chain Leader
  • QSR Magazine

The McGrath/Power team also drove the submission of The Holland, Inc. for several industry awards. As a result, the company was honored by the following in a one-year period:

  • The Sierra Club's Green Business Award
  • Inc. Magazine's Green
  • The Association of Washington Businesses Environmental Innovation Award
  • The Psychologically Healthy Workplace Award
  • Rotary Environmental Achievement Award
  • Southwest Business Growth Awards

Within the same year, the company enjoyed a 15-percent sales growth that was directly attributable to McGrath/Power and the PR and consumer relations campaign undertaken on The Holland, Inc.'s behalf.

The results speak for themselves.