Laine Avenue is a custom backpack company based in Columbus, Ohio, founded by teen entrepreneur Emily Laine Miller and her mom, Lisa. This mom and daughter duo were inspired to start a company that did more than sell a product, they also wanted to give students an opportunity become entrepreneurs and encourage them to learn valuable life skills.

SUCCESS STORY

How a start-up’s scrappy back-to-school
campaign landed on national morning news.

The opportunity

As a start-up backpack company, the entrepreneurs behind Laine Avenue knew they needed to capitalize on the summer/fall back-to-school season to create demand for their fashion-forward line and help teens learn beneficial business skills.

The approach

Planning began in early spring to get Laine Avenue in front of top national and local media as the outlets began planning their back-to-school coverage. Approach secured Laine Avenue a spot in a national back-to-school speed pitching event in April 2017, where they had the opportunity to meet with editors from national parenting media. From there, Approach engaged in an aggressive media relations campaign targeting both national and local outlets focused on parenting, back-to-school gear and teen entrepreneurs.

The impact

As a result of these efforts, Laine Avenue was featured as a back-to-school “must-have” in top national outlets including TODAY Show, Brit + Co., Girl Boss and CBS New York. Laine Avenue was also featured in nearly every local print and broadcast outlet in its Columbus hometown. Total media impressions as a result of the back-to-school outreach totaled more than 90 million (print, broadcast and online).