RSC Equipment Rental

Aligning customer and shareholder communications for a major equipment rental provider.

RSC, one of the largest equipment rental providers in North America, hired Rooney & Associates to create a program that would focus on aligning customer-focused communications with shareholder communications and building relationships with the business press. Rooney & Associates’ successful media relations initiatives resulted in a steady stream of positive new coverage in national business publications.
In 2006, RSC Equipment Rental, one of the largest equipment rental providers in North America, began preparing for its IPO. Prior to its listing, RSC needed a program that would align its customer-focused and shareholder-focused communications. This required creating internal guidelines for the process, redefining the brand and building relationships with the business press on behalf of management.

RSC hired Rooney & Associates to design and execute a strategic communications program to guide RSC through the IPO process. Rooney & Associates helped RSC navigate a change in leadership and its sale to a private equity group in advance of the listing and established protocols for communications as a public company. Rooney & Associates put into place a set of processes for press release distribution, determined and trained key spokespersons, and created collateral materials, such as fact sheets and presentations.

After RSC went public in May 2007, Rooney & Associates focused its media relations initiatives on management meetings with select media outlets and influential journalists. Management communicated the corporate strategy and RSC’s value proposition to the media, fostering key relationships and interest in the company. Shortly after institutional research was issued on RSC, Rooney & Associates launched an effort that highlighted RSC stock in the business media, including BusinessWeek, Barron’s and Forbes.