Dolly Parton Children's Hospital
PUBLIC RELATIONS . CREATIVE . SOCIAL MEDIA . PAID MEDIA
When East Tennessee Children’s Hospital began conversations with the one and only Dolly Parton, they knew it would be a transformational moment for the care of children across the region. They also knew they needed to make a big splash when announcing the hospital would be changing its name to Dolly Parton Children’s Hospital.
FWV was brought on board to help lead efforts for the project that required absolute confidentiality, and a nearly impossible 7‑week timeline. We delivered an integrated national PR, social and paid media plan, created a new visual identity, coordinated video and photo production, developed a campaign website, and launched everything on the morning of February 26, 2026 through a secured national broadcast exclusive on the TODAY Show.
Hospital staff and volunteers were informed through a highly coordinated Town Hall hosted by the hospital’s President and CEO, Matt Schaefer, only 10 minutes before the national exclusive with Dolly Parton took place on the TODAY Show. From there, we shared media kits with photos, videos and press releases to media across the country.
The launch reached 3 million broadcast viewers and generated over 3,000 stories, resulting in 10.5 billion+ impressions and $337 million in ad equivalency value. Social channels saw 2.32 million+ views with significant celebrity engagement.
New name. New identity. Shared Promise of Care.
The new brand identity for Dolly Parton Children’s Hospital represents a shared promise to care for every child with excellence, compassion and heart, and includes two children joyfully chasing a pink butterfly. The butterfly, a symbol closely tied to Dolly Parton, represents the hope and inspiration she brings to the patients, families, doctors, nurses and volunteers of the hospital that now bears her name.
In addition to the logo and brand guidelines we created a landing page specifically for launch day. The page included a welcome video from Dolly, a statement of the hospital’s continued commitment to community, FAQs and contact information for both patients, the media and the general public.
Creating an Emotional Moment
In order to have everything ready for the media announcement, we developed a creative strategy collaborating with the hospital and their production agency, Draft, as well as with Dolly’s studio and her production team. Because Dolly might not be in-person for the announcement, we developed the concept for a series of videos to be delivered by Dolly herself, with specific language for each of the hospital’s multiple audiences. In addition to the primary launch video, we created media bumpers for a TODAY Show exclusive as well as social-first and paid media content. FWV led end-to-end creative planning for the production, including messaging, set design, wardrobe direction, scripting and on-set direction for the photo and video shoot. Post-production was completed in less than a week, including review and revision with Dolly’s team.
SPREADING THE WORD
Our media relations strategy centered around an exclusive national broadcast announcement that reached approximately 3 million viewers and 13 million more online. Ongoing media outreach targeted healthcare, hospital and philanthropy niche outlets in addition to local Tennessee media, mainstream news, entertainment and celebrity press. To prepare the hospital’s spokespersons, we conducted media training sessions including mock interviews to fine-tune message consistency, bridging, tone and details relevant to the name transition.
BUILDING MOMENTUM
Our social media strategy encouraged engagement across all platforms, building buzz about the new name and logo, while highlighting the hospital’s reputation for exceptional pediatric care. Launch day posts featured content captured on-set during the taping of Dolly’s announcement message, where she speaks directly to patients and fans in her own words. FWV also implemented a paid digital strategy, boosting social media posts to increase awareness and education of the name change among target audiences.
Results That Continue to Grow
The story is still spreading as interviews with Dolly Children’s leadership continue. In addition to the marquee segment on the TODAY Show, the news was covered in People, US Weekly, Associated Press, ABC News, Yahoo Entertainment, Billboard, Rolling Stone, Parade, Southern Living, Good Housekeeping, local media across Tennessee and much more across the U.S.
Earned Media Results:
- 3,000+ stories
- 10.5 billion+ impressions
- $337 million+ in ad equivalency value
Social Media Results:
- 2.32 million+ views and impressions across organic social channels
- 23,500+ shares of the official announcement video post
- Major social media accounts commented and shared, including the Academy of Country Music Awards, Country Living, Billboard Country, ABC News Live and CBS News
- Celebrity interactions included Natalie Portman, Viola Davis and Leanne Morgan
