Challenge: An agency partner was invited to compete for a highly competitive, year-long public relations engagement with a major education organization overseeing multiple sub-brands. The opportunity required a unified strategic vision across distinct audiences and growth objectives, while clearly differentiating the agency’s offering in a crowded finalist field.

I was brought in on a compressed timeline between RFP receipt and submission to help analyze the brief, shape the strategic direction, and ensure the proposal positioned the agency as the most aligned and capable partner for the engagement.

Approach: I focused on strengthening both positioning and execution within the proposal itself. After reviewing the RFP requirements, I identified opportunities to elevate the agency’s narrative, and structured the proposal to reflect both sector fluency and long-term strategic clarity.

Core priorities included:

• Analyzing the RFP and advising on how to differentiate the agency’s strengths relative to competitors

• Identifying opportunities to elevate the agency’s demonstrated expertise within the education sector

• Designing the overarching PR strategy within the agency’s branded template

• Developing media story concepts, headline ideas, and priority outlet targets

• Recommending influencer integration aligned directly with earned media strategy

• Building custom, strategically structured slides and frameworks that strengthened narrative flow

Impact: The proposal advanced to finalist stage and was ultimately selected, securing a high-value year-long engagement. Importantly, the strategic framework developed within the proposal was not conceptual, it became the operational foundation of the signed partnership.

Beyond the win itself, this engagement demonstrates how I support agencies in high-stakes environments; translating complex briefs into cohesive strategy, strengthening differentiation in competitive fields, and delivering proposals that are both persuasive and execution-ready, even under compressed timelines.