Raffetto Herman Strategic Communications (RH Strategic) is a leading public relations (PR) agency working to introduce the world to the next generation of innovators in technology, cybersecurity, government, and healthcare. 
Based in Washington, DC, and Seattle, Washington, USA, the firm combines deep market expertise with creative storytelling and communications strategy to deliver meaningful, measurable PR results for clients.
John Raffetto and David Herman founded RH Strategic in 2008 with the belief that tying great work to business objectives drives results and transforms companies into industry leaders. Their team has extensive, professional backgrounds in technology, government, and healthcare. Over time, RH Strategic has grown into a national firm of over 40 dedicated PR professionals with east and west coast offices.
RH Strategic won two Gold Stevie Awards in The American Business Awards® 2022 competition for Communications or PR Campaign of the Year in both the Healthcare and Public Affairs categories. Both Gold-winning campaigns were developed on behalf of two companies who are disrupting industries within their services: PlushCare and CYBER.ORG.
PlushCare
San Francisco-based company PlushCare is a virtual primary and mental healthcare company that grew exponentially during the COVID pandemic. Rather than focusing on technology, PlushCare takes a people-first approach. The company only hires physicians from the top 50 medical institutions in the country and empowers patients to choose their own PlushCare doctor, who then becomes their “go-to” doctor for ongoing care. This allows for more trusted, personalized patient and provider relationships, leading to better care.
PlushCare tasked agency partner RH Strategic to help the company raise its visibility among consumers and potential investors to continue its rapid growth trajectory. In pursuit of this, the team set the following activities into motion:
- Identified spokespeople
- Developed messaging
- Developed a robust media list, reaching key audiences
- Targeted high-profile consumer publications to educate readers
- Leveraged key spokespeople to develop thought leadership platforms
- Conducted broad research on the media landscape
- Hosted discovery calls with subject matter experts
- Conducted a competitive analysis
RH Strategic reached its objectives and secured nearly 2 billion potential monthly readers with 31 key placements in publications such as HuffPost, Shape, Livestrong, and more, with 110 syndications reaching nearly 1.4 billion additional readers. They also secured 15 articles reaching a total of 606 million potential monthly readers in top US business publications such as Forbes, Business Insider, TheWall Street Journal and others.
Through the work of this campaign, PlushCare was able to earn the attention of Accolade, which acquired PlushCare for $450 million dollars in June 2021.
CYBER.ORG
A nonprofit funded by the US Department of Homeland Security, CYBER.ORG’s mission is to provide a free cybersecurity curriculum to K-12 educators nationwide by inspiring students to pursue careers in cybersecurity.
CYBER.ORG spearheaded the development of the first ever K-12 Cybersecurity Learning Standards to introduce uniform standard cybersecurity curriculum across all 50 states and provide educators with a roadmap for teaching cybersecurity to all students.
In partnership with RH Strategic, CYBER.ORG was able to elevate its thought leadership on the national stage and create visibility for its National K-12 Cybersecurity Learning Standards over a 12-month period via the following strategies:
- Researching the industry landscape
- Developing press advisories, messaging, pitches, and bylines
- Highlighting support of the standards with over 70 social media posts
- Drafting testimony for Congressional hearings and promoted through blog content
- Developing a robust influencer engagement program
- Examining legislation
Through a variety of tactics, including media engagement, social media, events, and influencer engagement, RH Strategic reached its objectives and generated visibility of CYBER.ORG’s National K-12 Cybersecurity Learning Standards among policymakers, government agencies, federal and state government, and cybersecurity and education experts.
Current Focus
Since winning the Gold Stevie for “Healthcare Campaign of the Year,” RH Strategic continues to position its healthcare clients—payers, providers, pharma/biotech, and health IT companies—
as leaders pushing the healthcare industry forward. Most recently, the RH Strategic team has focused storytelling on how the pandemic has permanently changed the patient experience and where innovation is still needed to improve health outcomes and lower costs.
RH Strategic and PlushCare continue to work together to inform patients about the benefits of
virtual primary care and mental health care. Through proactive media outreach and creative content development, the team has secured opportunities for PlushCare executives, primary care doctors and therapists to be featured in The New York Times, Business Insider, STAT, NPR, U.S. News & World Report, and several community-based media outlets.
Since winning “Public Affairs Campaign of the Year,” RH Strategic continues to position its public affairs clients—technology, cybersecurity and healthcare companies—as leaders advocating for meaningful change inside the DC Beltway and beyond.
Recently, RH Strategic has focused its public affairs efforts on helping guide policies that improve nationwide response to cybersecurity incidents and encourage policymakers to prioritize legislation that further develops the technology workforce.
The RH Strategic team and CYBER.ORG continue to work together to help improve K-12 cybersecurity literacy nationwide. Through meaningful stakeholder engagement, messaging and strategic storytelling, the team helped CYBER.ORG launch the first-ever National Cybersecurity Education Month in June 2022, which was introduced in Congress.
RH Strategic won Gold Stevie Awards for Communications or PR Campaign of the Year in both Healthcare and Public Affairs categories in The 2022 American Business Awards.
Interested in entering The 2023 American Business Awards?
