Table of Contents 6 2012 OVATION Awards Winning Entries

would influence the target, tone and intensity of that attention. A badly received sale would have been
detrimental to the overall reputation of Teachers’.
Because of the high‐profile nature of the asset, widespread speculation and negative media and public
sentiment toward the pension plan as owners of MLSE, Teachers’ determined early that it was
important to maintain tight control of the messaging and media coverage throughout the sales process.
Fleishman‐Hillard Canada (FH) was retained by Teachers’ to support all communications aspects of the
sale process. FH was engaged in March 2011, and worked as an integrated team up until the
announcement.
At the beginning of the project we identified a number of scenarios that could occur as the process
proceeded (sale, no sale, a leak, etc.), and developed a plan for each. To develop a situational analysis
and our communication strategy we:
Analyzed past sports media coverage of Teachers’ ownership of MLSE.
Reviewed business media coverage of high profile mergers and acquisitions of Canadian
companies.
The research uncovered three major issues that posed a threat to Teachers’ reputation:
Sports journalists and fans were overwhelmingly negative about Teachers’ performance as
owners (Teachers’ was caricatured as greedy owners who were ambivalent to the sports
franchises).
Identity of buyer could create sizeable public backlash (especially if the buyer was foreign) and
potentially jeopardize transaction if leaked.
A complex shareholders’ agreement (including deal restrictions) made it essential that Teachers’
communicate the sale process accurately, strategically and transparently.
2. Intended Audience(s):
The primary audience that Teachers’ was trying to communicate with was the pension plan’s members
– the 178,000 Ontario elementary and secondary school teachers and the 117,000 pensioners (including
survivor pensions). At the end of the day, Teachers’ mandate is to secure and administer the retirements
of plan members. It was essential that the sale be communicated as a financial victory for the active and
retired teachers of Ontario. In order to better understand the media habits of Teachers’ active members
and pensioners to develop an effective communications strategy, Teachers’ commissioned Pollara to
conduct a telephone survey of 605 active members and 400 pensioners. The overall results indicated
that members consult traditional media sources, including official websites, far more frequently than
social media channels. Supported by these findings, the communications strategy focused on traditional
forms of media to ensure that it would connect with their membership.
In addition to plan members, it was important for Teachers’ to position themselves as honest,
transparent and fair investors to potential and existing investment partners. To fulfill its mandate of
securing and administering the pensions of its plan members, Teachers’ constantly looks for
opportunities to buy or invest in companies where they can make strong risk‐adjusted returns. Teachers’
already possesses a reputation in the industry as an honest broker and it was considered vital to protect
or even enhance this reputation during the sales process.
It was determined that the most effective medium to reach both plan members and investment
partners was through the business media. Despite the nature of the company being sold, Teachers’ was