Seton Shrine

Brand Awareness

Content Campaign

Media Relations

The Challenge

The National Shrine of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton aimed to unveil its $4 million museum and visitor center in Emmitsburg, MD. Featuring state-of-the-art exhibits, artifacts, personal writings, digital displays and hands-on activities, the museum highlights the life of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, the first native-born American to be canonized. The goal was to drive awareness of the Shrine and the museum, attracting visitors and ensuring that her legacy and importance continues to inspire visitors and to reintroduce her as a modern-day role model to a younger Catholic audience by showcasing her struggles and triumphs that transcend time.

The Approach

From groundbreaking to grand opening, D+P executed a comprehensive campaign using traditional media, social media and content creation to promote the new museum and Mother Seton’s legacy. Key components included an ongoing website series titled “Behind the Artifact,” featuring museum artifact profiles and their ties to Mother Seton. We also developed journalistic-quality pieces on Mother Seton’s edition of “The Following of Christ,” a special edition artifact which would be on display for a limited-time, and a special exhibition on the ‘Lost Art’ of needlework. These stories were featured on the Shrine’s website, in fundraising emails and across Catholic media outlets. Additionally, we developed traditional media relations materials to promote the opening celebration.

EWTN Interview with Rob Judge.The Results

The campaign garnered extensive coverage in top Catholic news outlets such as EWTN TV News In-Depth, EWTN Radio, Sirius/XM, Salt+Light TV, Catholic Review, Catholic News Agency, National Catholic Register, Catholic World Report, The Catholic Pillar, Aleteia and others across the country. D+P’s efforts also secured features in local media, including the Frederick News-Post and Maryland Daily Record, as well as Catholic podcasts such as Girlfriends (A Podcast for Catholic Women) with Danielle Bean and The Katie McGrady Show with Katie Prejean McGrady. Due in part to these efforts, the Shrine experienced a double-digit increase in visitors.

Coverage