Consumer Brands PR - Case Studies
How a Pre-Revenue Single Product Company Scaled
to $50+ Million and Went Public on
NASDAQ
The Story of Cold-Eeze and Guy Quigley
Cold-Eeze is a zinc lozenge that reduces the duration of the common cold, scaled by Guy Quigley of Quigley Corp (later renamed ProPhase Labs (PRPH)) with the exit of Guy Quigley. Guy was struggling to close a $300K private placement when he called News USA for help. With limited cash, he made a unique proposal.
A Bold Proposal
For year one, payment would be half in founder shares and half cash in installments.
He wanted massive nationwide media coverage, and the solution agreed upon was a series of 12 syndicated feature stories, where he approved the copy, and they would be placed nationwide every month, guaranteed.
After the first year, these monthly syndicated stories continued for 15 more years, every month, until Guy Quigley retired.
After year one, Guy paid us each year in advance as the stock was no longer issued for services, with $20 million in the bank.
How Nationwide Coverage Drove Retail Sales
Having feature stories where readers nationwide could read and take those articles to their local retailer often forced retailers to place additional orders, display the product, and even showcase the article in their section.
The reprints of the articles were shared by region with the sales teams, who would include them in their pitch that because media was running in their respective geographies, they should be ready with extra supply.
Trade Shows and Retail Impact
Taking blow-ups of this coverage to trade shows and having proof of placements running in whatever state the prospect was from showed the popularity of the product with retail customers and that it would continue monthly—pushing even more sales to stock up.
- Massive retail expansion across the U.S
- Steady investor inflow driving share price to $24
- Brand revenue surpassing $50 million
Every story placement built brand trust, created urgency for retailers, and attracted a steady wave of investors.
The Power of Consistency
The cumulative effect of a series of feature stories every month nationwide built up trust in the brand and also got a steady flow of small investors buying the stock, which became a tsunami climbing to $24 per share.
As Quigley expanded its product line and production, sales kept growing, the credibility of the brand grew, and News USA wrote the articles, placed the stories, and delivered proof of every placement.
The Takeaway
It all started with one phone call and a willingness to work with a creative founder.
Quigley used News USA syndicated stories to drive retail sales, brand trust, and build company value that led to his successful exit.
The equity helped align mutual interests for success.
Rembrandt Beauty: Winning Reasons for Grinning
The Story of Rembrandt and newsusa.com
Cold-Eeze is a zinc lozenge that reduces the duration of the common cold, scaled by Guy Quigley of Quigley Corp (later renamed ProPhase Labs (PRPH)) with the exit of Guy Quigley. Guy was struggling to close a $300K private placement when he called News USA for help. With limited cash, he made a unique proposal.
A Bold Proposal
NewsUSA specializes in turning brand stories into feature‑style content that media outlets can run as ready‑to‑use articles or audio segments. For Rembrandt, that meant the “Winning Reasons for Grinning” story could be picked up by thousands of newspapers and radio stations that constantly need fresh, relevant lifestyle content.
Because the content was crafted as consumer‑friendly editorial rather than a straightforward ad, it fit seamlessly into lifestyle, health and beauty sections. This editorial feel made outlets more inclined to run the story, which is a core reason the campaign scaled to tens of thousands of placements.
How NewsUSA Multiplied Rembrandt’s Reach
NewsUSA’s campaign for Rembrandt Beauty, centered on “Winning Reasons for Grinning,” drove more than 40,731 media placements across the country. These placements translated into a combined equivalent advertising value of 14,268,968 dollars, demonstrating how powerful syndicated editorial content can be for a consumer brand.
By relying on NewsUSA’s nationwide distribution network, Rembrandt’s message about beauty, smiles and confidence appeared repeatedly in print and on radio. This repetition helped cement Rembrandt Beauty in the minds of consumers as a trusted name in oral and beauty care without the cost of buying comparable ad space market by market.
Radio Ad Value that Strengthened ROI
From an advertising perspective, the radio portion of the campaign alone represented an estimated 9,125,084 dollars in equivalent ad value. When added to the print coverage, this contributed to the overall 14,268,968 dollars in media value that Rembrandt gained from its NewsUSA partnership.
For Rembrandt, this meant enjoying the impact of a large‑scale, multi‑market advertising campaign without paying rate‑card prices for every individual spot. The efficiency of that reach is at the heart of why the campaign is described as a bargain in terms of return on investment.
Multi‑channel presence from a single story
By placing the same core message in both newspapers and on radio, NewsUSA helped Rembrandt achieve a true multi‑channel presence from a single core piece of content. Consumers could read about beauty and confidence in their local paper and also encounter the brand’s message while listening to their favorite stations.
This repetition across formats reinforced brand recall, making Rembrandt Beauty more likely to be top of mind when shoppers were choosing products. It also gave the campaign a broader footprint than a channel‑specific buy would typically provide.
High‑value Daily Newspaper Exposure
NewsUSA’s distribution also secured Rembrandt placements in top 100 daily newspapers, a premium category for any advertiser or PR strategist. Among the notable dailies carrying the Rembrandt content were high‑circulation titles such as the Houston Chronicle, The Washington Times and The Star‑Ledger.
These daily placements were especially valuable because they combined strong circulation with credibility and influence in their local and regional markets. Being showcased in widely read dailies positioned Rembrandt alongside leading consumer brands and reinforced its authority in the beauty space.
Radio Stations, Listenership and Ad Value
Beyond print, NewsUSA brought Rembrandt’s “Winning Reasons for Grinning” message to radio audiences nationwide. The campaign generated 25,885 radio station placements, pushing the brand’s story into news, talk and lifestyle formats across the country.
Collectively, those radio placements delivered a cumulative listenership of roughly 1,169,306,944. That number reflects the total potential audience that could have heard Rembrandt’s message as stations aired the syndicated content, often multiple times.
Newspaper Placements, Readership and Daily Visibility
On the print side, NewsUSA delivered approximately 27,268 newspaper placements for Rembrandt. Each placement represented an opportunity for the brand to reach readers in markets ranging from major metros to smaller communities, building familiarity at scale.
Those newspaper appearances added up to a cumulative readership of about 365,003,400. That figure reflects how many times consumers potentially encountered the Rembrandt Beauty message in print, making it a powerful measure of brand exposure and awareness.
Print Exposure That Feels Like Editorial
Because NewsUSA’s features read like service journalism—offering trends, tips and reasons to smile—they deliver a different kind of impact than traditional display ads. Readers encounter the brand within a helpful story, which can deepen engagement and make the Rembrandt name feel more like a recommendation than a promotion.
For Rembrandt, the scale of newspaper placements combined with this editorial tone created a long‑tail effect: the story continued to appear in different markets over time, extending the life of the campaign.
To scale your revenues, brand and company value send an email to ([email protected]) Rick Smith
Include:
- Your investor deck
- Amount of cash you have raised (Min. $100K)
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- Secure funding through introductions
- Through enhancing the investor pitch
- Get revenue partnerships through our team’s connections
- Media support to drive sales and brand credibility
- Advisory on numerous issues of scaling a company
- Announce credibility of our backing
Why NewsUSA Delivered Exceptional Value for Rembrandt
Looking across the data, the value NewsUSA delivered to Rembrandt is clear: more than 40,731 total placements, tens of thousands of newspapers and radio stations, and a combined readership and listenership that reaches into the billions. All of that exposure is anchored by an estimated 14,268,968 dollars in ad‑equivalent value.
For a beauty brand focused on smiles and confidence, that level of coverage created a nationwide conversation around Rembrandt Beauty: Winning Reasons for Grinning. By turning one campaign into thousands of individual media touches, NewsUSA transformed a single story into an engine for brand visibility and growth