WORK

Case Studies

NCDHHS EIPD
Case Study

New Name, Same Mission

THE SITUATION

For more than 100 years, the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services Division for Vocational Rehabilitation Services (DVRS) has been helping individuals with disabilities find meaningful employment. Over the course of that century, needs and the corresponding services have evolved and the meaning of “vocational rehabilitation” was lost. RLF was hired to help the division roll out its new name, the Division of Employment and Independence for People with Disabilities (EIPD), and reinforce that their mission would not change.

RLF’S APPROACH

The main concern for this change was ensuring individuals with disabilities, employers and all of EIPD’s partners understood that EIPD was the same service as DVRS and provided the same help and support. Our main approach for sharing that message were press conferences in Raleigh and the division’s other two main locations in western and eastern North Carolina. The RLF team carefully crafted all messaging, created speeches for the division director, region directors, EIPD participants and former NC DHHS Secretary Kody Kinsley, and planned the events themselves.

The team worked closely with the NC DHHS Communications Department to craft the press releases and media advisories, then managed all media invites and questions.

Along with planning and executing three press conferences across the state, RLF designed new signage and collateral pieces for the department’s office locations and for use during career fairs and conferences.

TACTICS

Event Management

Media Relations

Graphic Design

RESULTS

RLF successfully launched the division’s new name, and corresponding materials and messaging has been rolled out to all 70+ offices across North Carolina. The team developed a launch toolkit for each office location to ensure the new branding was launched the same way every time.

Across the three press conferences, we welcomed more than 200 attendees and more than 110,000 views/readers across all media coverage.