Campbell County Schools

When word of allegations against a Campbell County School Board member began surfacing, the then-superintendent knew he had to get his hands around the issue, and fast. He called our Managing Partner, and immediately, they set to work to secure the district from harm. Working with legal counsel, the three communicated late nights, early mornings, and throughout each day for several months as the court system slogged through its lengthy process.

In the end, the board member was indicted for six counts of human trafficking, one count of rape, two counts of unlawful transaction with a minor, prostitution, and tampering with a witness – 11 counts in total.
Campbell County is situated in a ruthlessly competitive public and parochial school area, with more than a dozen independent districts and private school organizations within an hour’s drive of the district. A blemish of this

Piper testifies in a legislative committee.

magnitude on the district’s leadership could pose serious challenges to the district’s ability to recruit and retain students to the district, with weighty funding impacts. After ushering the district through a brutal 48-hour national and state news cycle, Piper set in motion a 12-month strategic public relations plan to help keep the district competitive. Rather than losing students, as they had feared, district enrollment climbed.

Citizens for Bourbon County

A group of local property owners in Bourbon County contacted us for crisis assistance and advocacy when they learned that a massive expansion to Bluegrass Station, plans for which would require seizing of their land through eminent domain, was funded in the state budget. The proposal shocked them – there had been no public input, public forums, or public notification that the state was planning to build a colossal runway, military plane hangers, and more on their land. Through a publicly-released project report, they learned that the project was several years in the making, and it relied on giving up their prized farmland, with certain impacts to the soil where some of Kentucky’s most productive thoroughbreds were born, including Secretariat.

The timeline was very short. The project had already been included in the Governor’s Budget and passed with additional funds added in the House budget. Behind closed doors, several groups that were approached in tandem with Piper-Smith to tackle this initiative turned down the work, citing conversations with key leaders that claimed the project was “a done deal.”

With two days’ notice, Piper-Smith helped organize a town hall at a local horse barn, recruiting the state’s most prominent media outlets to attend and lining up (and preparing) landowners to speak to the media. More than 500 citizens showed up, with parking spilling over into adjacent fields. We provided talking points, media statements for print, and managed the media on-site, including coordinating sound and tech for multiple broadcast stations. From then, we organized letters and calls to strategic members of leadership, and facilitating a growing media presence.

One week after hearing that the project and its funding was all but finalized, elected leaders declared the project “dead.

Propane Education and Research Council

Trade education is a different animal, and the leaders at the Propane Education Research Council (PERC) chose Piper-Smith to lead their cause without hesitation.

The task was tall. With a few months and a marketing budget of $100,000, Piper-Smith was tasked with educating the public and developing target materials for specific potential propane users.

Using a combination of paid social media ads, digital ads (including OTT, or ads on streaming services), and television ads, the campaign reached thousands of people across the state. The resulting data far outpaced the industry standard, especially among builders and landscapers, two key markets.