OCSC Sailing
About the Client
Anthony Sandberg founded the Olympic Circle Sailing Club in 1979 as a one-man sailing school. Today, his 10,000 square foot facility located in Berkeley, California, is the largest single-location educational sailing institution in the country, with over 50 boats ranging from 24 feet to 50 feet. Students who learn to sail with OCSC on the rigorous waters of San Francisco Bay – where 25-30 knot winds and 6-7 knot currents are common – gain the confidence to sail anywhere in the world. More importantly, OCSC emphasizes the communal nature of sailing by offering seminars, lectures, movies, organized outings & social BBQs and parties.
Strategy
Over the years, OCSC has benefited from favorable press in a variety of media. As the business continues to grow and evolve, however, founder Anthony Sandberg and CEO Rich Jepsen wanted more control over the messages being delivered. In 2005, they hired Galvin Communications to communicate that OCSC is more that just an excellent sailing school – in fact, the company offers first-class adventure travel trips around the world, organizes corporate team-building events for businesses of all sizes, and is a leader in environmental stewardship.
Results
After participating in a week-long sailing class on San Francisco Bay (ah, the perks!), the Galvin team used the experience to create pitches aimed at the business and lifestyle press. As a result, OCSC has been covered by every major Bay Area publication, including the Contra-Costa Times, San Jose Mercury News, Oakland Tribune/ANG Newspapers, SF Weekly, San Francisco Business Times, San Francisco Magazine, 7x7 Magazine, Diablo, the East Bay Business Times and East Bay Monthly.
Galvin Communications arranged broadcast coverage that began with an extensive segment on KPIX-TV’s “Evening Magazine,” the Bay Area’s most popular nightly magazine program. OCSC was also the subject of a 4-minute profile on KGO-TV’s Evening News. On the radio, Anthony Sandberg was an in-studio guest on “Gary Allen on Business,” which airs Saturday mornings on KNBR 680 AM, while Rich Jepsen was a guest on Clear Channel Radio.
Nationally, Galvin Communications has placed OCSC in the New York Times, Inc. Magazine, Business Week, US Airways Magazine, Go Magazine (AirTran Airways), and Cruising World. We also arranged coverage of an OCSC sailing trip to Greece by a reporter and photographer from Outside Magazine. The eight page feature length story appeared in the Spring/Summer 2006 issue of Outside Traveler.