EPOCH

EPOCH is a pioneering provider of executive project services that help organizations obtain the executive talent they need on a free agent basis. The company’s mission is to be the leading broker of independently employed financial service executives and accomplished professionals.

The Challenge

EPOCH sought high-level coverage in the business press. The company’s goal was to spread the word about its new approach to help organizations meet talent shortages and to help them accelerate the execution of critical business initiatives. EPOCH helps clients tackle initiatives that aren’t moving forward fast enough, aligning “independently employed” specialists with the company’s needs. Often these Baby Boomers find this to be the best of both worlds: They gain income from discrete projects without being tied down to full-time employment. This practice, while common in the U.K., is fairly unknown in the U.S.

EPOCH needed an engaging way to educate U.S. employers about the benefits of this approach. EPOCH gives companies access to deep knowledge and expertise on a cost-effective variable-cost basis by engaging executives for short-term projects.

The Approach

In addition to pursuing straightforward news coverage on the client, PAN sought out opportunities for larger stories about employment issues. Here’s one example:

Many of EPOCH’s project employees are close to retirement age, so when The Boston Globe reporter Dale Dauten’s article on hiring Baby Boomers came out, the PAN team capitalized on the opportunity to gain entry into Dauten’s popular “Corporate Curmudgeon” column. Dauten’s article, entitled “When It Comes to Hiring, 50 is the New 25,” highlighted how managers are finding Baby Boomers to be the best employees today. The team pitched Dauten on EPOCH’s new employment model, and how this benefits employers and independent contractors alike.

The agency also found creative ways to wrap the EPOCH story around recent news. For example, when Wall Street Journal writer Sarah Needleman covered the issue of financial services professionals being out of work due to the collapse of Bear Stearns, the PAN team seized the opportunity to get EPOCH’s name in the press, pitching Needleman on a wider story about placing financial services professionals. After catching her interest, the PAN team set up a call between the writer and an EPOCH client to bring further depth to the story.

The Results

PAN’s outreach resulted in impressive media coverage. EPOCH president, CEO, and founder Linda Stewart was featured in a Wall Street Journal story, complete with great pullout quotes. The company received hundreds of calls and received several stellar job candidates as a result of this one article.

The Boston Globe outreach also yielded positive results. After a briefing with EPOCH founder Linda Stewart, Dale Dauten featured EPOCH throughout his next column, highlighting what he found most beneficial about the company’s employment model. Even better, since Dauten is a syndicated columnist, the story was picked up by 30 other publications, including the Chicago Tribune, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and the Arizona Republic.

The PAN team established a great working relationship with Dauten, who asked to be kept up to date on the company’s next moves. Within days of the story being published, EPOCH received 40 new resumes, and numerous inquiries from potential new clients.

The agency also secured great coverage in Crain’s New York and the San Francisco Examiner. The team also worked to have EPOCH featured in a Mastercard newsletter story about permalancers (independent workers who perform full-time work on a temporary basis). This was a significant achievement because it validated EPOCH’s business model among its target audience of financial services firms.