Military & Veterans

Alone among PR agencies, SDI has decades of experience working with and for the entire military and veteran communities and the corporations and organizations that support them. Our clients include dozens of national nonprofits, corporations and agencies within the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs, while our staff includes guardsmen, reservists, veterans and the proud relatives of our nation’s servicemembers. SDI knows the channels that reach those who serve and the messages that resonate. We are also experts in communicating about their unique needs and challenges to our clients’ potential partners, sponsors and the citizens of our grateful nation.

Services

  • Assessment of military outreach programs
  • Communication strategies for reintegration, resilience and caregiving
  • Design and support of military special events
  • Outreach and partnerships
  • Strategic communications
  • Assessments of military marketing programs
  • Creative program support
  • Resource leveraging
  • Celebrity support

CASE STUDY

How We Helped Build One of the Most Recognized and Respected Military-Support Brands in America

America Supports You

For four years, SDI was honored to activate and shepherd the America Supports You (ASY) program on behalf of the Department of Defense.

ASY’s mission was simple: to assure military members that a grateful nation supported their service. We accomplished this goal through a multifaceted campaign that won multiple awards and touched lives. Indeed, we established ASY as one of the most recognized and respected military-support brands in America. 

America Supports You involved a complex communication integration and communication strategy program that incorporated community outreach; visual information systems and imagery marketing; audience outreach and education; media operations and professional and community development facilitation.

 

Fast Facts

  • We boosted the number of military-support organizations participating in ASY from a few dozen to nearly 400.
  • We grew the number of corporate supporters from three to 40, including Bank of America, McDonalds, Microsoft, Target, and Toyota, as well as the PGA, NASCAR, MLB, NBA, NFL, and NHL.
  • We built relationships for ASY with, and earned major coverage from, national and regional media, including the New York Times, the Washington Post, People, Defense.gov, Military.com, and many others.
  • SDI successfully sought an Ad Council PSA campaign, the first campaign the Ad Council has created for the Department of Defense since World War II.
  • SDI worked closely with Weekly Reader to produce special issues which educated young readers about the history and service of our nation’s military, with “how-to” guides that inspired entire school districts, individual schools, and even individual students to organize America Supports You Freedom Walks.
  • SDI helped bring ASY into the world of text messaging via a nationwide Thanksgiving campaign (called “Giving Thanks”) during which Americans texted a message of support to the troops. By integrating both old and new media approaches to promote these programs, SDI was able to connect ASY with previously untapped audiences. In just five days, over 130,000 messages were received.