Last week Bauer went public, a huge move for the iconic company and an exciting opportunity for High Road to work on the IPO. IR was handled by BarnesMcInerney Inc., while High Road was retained to drive media coverage around the launch event celebrating the start of trading.

The event was held at the TSX, a versatile venue space with just the right gravitas for such an announcement. While the IR story was strong – the only real non-resource IPO of significance – the IPO story still needed to be built out for broader media. By focusing on the heritage of the company and the fact that so many people have early memories of hockey that include Bauer, media were more open to also talking about the strong performance of the company and the IPO news.

Bauer CEO Kevin Davis handled interviews with aplomb, especially considering the big news of the day – Air Canada threatening the NHL with removing their sponsorship of the league – meant lots of off-topic questions around hockey safety from media. It underscored the importance of having a solid prep session and thorough Q&As thought out around any issues or questions that could possibly arise.

While this type of crisis communications approach to a celebratory event might seem over-cautious, if (and when) it does come into play it is absolutely invaluable to keep media interviews on topic and positive. You just never know what can happen on the day of your event or media tour!