What We Do
Strategic Communications
While everything we do is strategic, if you’re looking for foundational communications support, like crisis communications, speechwriting, audits, custom trainings or copywriting, we’ll set you up for success.
Media Relations
Newsrooms continue to shrink, which makes earned media a prized tactic. Through our relationships with local, regional and national reporters, we help make connections to have your story told broadly.
Content Marketing and Social Media
Owned media gives you control. Through email marketing, blogs, social media, website copy and podcasts, we’ll help you write those messages and promote them to the right people at the right time.
Paid Promotion
With a savvy paid promotion strategy, through social and traditional media, you can increase the likelihood of having your message heard by the right people at the right time.
Crisis Communications
Crises are inevitable. We help manage communications strategy and messaging at a critical time. We also help write plans that help you prepare for a crisis ahead of time.
Creative Services
We provide strategic comms through earned, owned and paid media: Creative Services bridges all three. Strong design brings brands to life through collateral design, social graphics and video.
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Our Clients
Our Focus Areas
Education
From pre-K to higher ed, our education experience has been rewarding at every level, helping to tell stories on how our clients are making a difference in students’ lives. Now that feels good.
Nonprofit
Our nonprofit clients hold a special place in our hearts. We get to build awareness and drive donations, all while bettering the communities we live in.
Econ. Dev. & Retail
We firmly believe that generating interest in local businesses and communities drives economic impact and supports quality of life. We can help shape and share those stories.
Tourism & Hospitality
We help small and mid-size destinations, hospitality brands and craft industries make headlines, capture attention and welcome new visitors through a variety of PR strategies and tactics.
B2B & Logistics
Most businesses have customer targets that are more precisely defined. Developing B2B campaigns that leverage trade media, trade shows and content strategies is one of our specialties.
Advocacy
We may not be able to change the world, but we love working with clients who are out to change a little part of it. Our advocacy clients have a passion and fire that’s contagious.
Case Studies
Hodges Embraces Earned-Owned-Paid Approach to Support Higher Education Brand Reputation Strategy
Leveraging an EOP tactical mix to build reputation and boost enrollment, Hodges generated millions of impressions for Virginia’s Community Colleges that increased likelihood to enroll.
Results:
- Enrollment increased 4.3%
- Likelihood to enroll increased 19 points
Launching Chesterfield County’s Tourism Brand, Experience Chesterfield
Goal Establish Experience Chesterfield brand and its storytelling channels to highlight Chesterfield’s amenities and encourage residents and visitors to explore the county. Chesterfield County is Virginia’s fastest growing county. The region is booming with economic activity, historic attractions and an impressive amount of outdoor adventures. However, data showed residents and visitors were lacking awareness of all the county offers. To get started, Chesterfield and Hodges conducted 10 information sessions with individuals representing residents, visitors, parks & recreation, businesses, restaurants, economic development, historic attractions and the…
Results:
- We developed a creative suite and messaging strategy for the “Experience Chesterfield” brand.
- We launched the blog and social media channels with content that highlights the many ways to experience and enjoy Chesterfield.
- We supported the development of new events to raise awareness, including Chesterfield Restaurant Week and Outdoor Fest, which resulted in over 3,500 event attendees. With both events combined, our team helped secure over 150 media hits.
- We developed and designed a mobile information resource vehicle (MIRV) to ensure Experience Chesterfield is able to connect with residents and visitors at most county events.
Shining a Spotlight on an Architectual Gem in the Heart of Old Towne Petersburg
Goal Launch and build awareness that Hotel Petersburg is a new destination property in Virginia. Retro Hospitality, the leading operator of boutique hotels in Virginia, invited The Hodges Partnership to help it launch the new Hotel Petersburg, a beautifully restored Tapestry Collection by Hilton property situated in the heart of Old Towne Petersburg. The 64-room, upscale boutique hotel was a bustling hub of community activity from 1916 until 1969, when a fire left the building severely damaged. Retro Hospitality was looking for a partner who…
Results:
- Local, regional, national and trade media placements including a front-page article in the Richmond Times-Dispatch and a feature in Southern Living.
- Increase of over 1,000 Instagram followers from a partnership with The Richmond Experience
Integrated Marketing Program Leads to Increased Sales, Tourism and Awareness of Virginia’s Burgeoning, World-Class Spirits Industry
The Virginia Spirits Board distributes funding to expand spirits distilling research, education and promotion of the growing of grains and the production of spirits in Virginia. In 2023 the Board partnered with The Hodges Partnership to form the Virginia Spirits Board Marketing Office (VSBMO), charged with developing and executing an ongoing fully integrated marketing and branding program for the Virginia spirits industry.
Results:
- Sales of Virginia-made spirits in Virginia ABC stores increased 12%
- Sales during Virginia Spirits Month increased 25.47%
National Disaster Relief Organization Raises Profile and Serves More Than 20 Million Meals
Mercy Chefs, a Virginia-based disaster relief and humanitarian aid organization that serves chef-prepared meals in national emergencies and natural disasters, wanted to raise awareness to increase donations and, ultimately, meals served to people in need. The organization turned to The Hodges Partnership for ongoing media relations support.
Results:
- Since 2018, Mercy Chefs has served more than 18 million meals, compared to only 2 million meals in the organization’s first 12 years in operation.
Educating the Nation About One of America’s Earliest Schools for Free and Enslaved Black Children
The Hodges Partnership led a strategic media relations effort to shine a deserving light on the work of Colonial Williamsburg, the history and partnership between the organization and the church and the stories past and present emerging from the shadow of First Baptist Church, a landmark in American history.
Results:
- We developed a relationship with The Today Show and Craig Melvin, who spent a day on-site, resulting in two separate segments – which then were re-packaged for additional airings for Juneteenth and Christmas Eve.
- The Associated Press ran an article about slavery and resilience that migrated to hundreds of outlets.
- The Washington Post published a 3,000-word feature article about education and the schools’ descendants.
The Gong Blog
Meet a Hodger: Amber Ekizoglu
Our Creative Services palette is expanding, and Amber Ekizoglu, who has been with us for six months as a contractor, is officially here full-time. As our newest junior graphic designer,…
Read More
Episode 40: Tourism Communications, with Lydia Mansel
In our latest episode of Teaming Up, Erin Bagnell teams up with freelance travel journalist Lydia Mansel to discuss tourism communications. The duo talks through Lydia’s journey from full time…
Read MoreEnsuring your content reaches the right people
Reaching the right people at the right time, with the right message is the pillar of a successful content marketing strategy. And with more organizations developing content these days, the competition to reach potential customers with tailored content is fierce. For many organizations, the challenge usually isn’t the creation of valuable content. The challenge is ensuring your content is breaking through the millions of pieces of content shared every minute. It used to be enough, for example, to share posts to your Facebook newsfeed or your…
Read MoreWhat to expect with influencer marketing
Social media influencer marketing continues to be a popular tactic for reaching targeting audiences, and it’s a tactic we continue to suggest in our content marketing work. Influencer marketing isn’t totally standardized from creator to creator, which means launching a successful influencer engagement takes time, research and budget. Some creators may work in an unpaid capacity in exchange for free product, but that kind of engagement isn’t as common as it once was. Before you start outreach, we have four pointers for you to keep…
Read MoreFive signs you need a marketing audit
Clients come to us for a variety of reasons – from wanting press coverage for a new product to helping generate awareness for their organization as a whole. Sometimes they know which tactics would move the needle, but more often, it’s not so clear. That’s where a Research & Insights audit comes in. A Research & Insights project is a comprehensive review of an organization’s materials, messaging, audiences and competitors using internal, external and third-party research. The result: a deep understanding of key messages, audience…
Read MoreAbout Us
The Hodges Partnership is a full-service PR agency based in Richmond, Virginia. Using an earned, owned, paid media approach, we provide strategic communications, content marketing and creative services, shaping the PR strategy you need. Our relationships and team continuity are proof points to our ability to build and maintain trusted partnerships that stand the test of time.
Our core values are built on being Collaborative, Inclusive, Bright, Driven and Genuine. It’s these core values that have helped us foster long-term relationships with our clients, and with our own people. You get the public relations services and the team you need.
Who is Hodges?
The name of our agency comes from Dodgers great and former Mets manager Gil Hodges. No, he didn’t start the agency, but his quiet heroics and values of decency and fair play inspired the real co-founders (who grew up in the New York area) to honor Gil by naming the agency for him. A decorated Marine serving in the Pacific in World War II, Gil had a prodigious career at the plate, with a career .273 batting average, 1,921 hits, 1,274 RBIs and 370 home runs over 18 seasons. Beloved by Dodgers fans, he was perhaps the only player never to be booed by the Ebbets Field crowds. During one hitless streak, one Brooklyn priest told his congregation, “It’s too hot for a homily. Keep the Commandments and say a prayer for Gil Hodges.” Among his greatest feats was managing the Miracle Mets to a World Series in 1969, a team that had finished 15 games below .500 the year before. Mostly, Gil was revered for his character and quiet discipline. Fifty years after he retired as a player, Gil was inducted into baseball’s Hall of Fame in 2022.
