U-Haul International - Communications, Investor Relations or PR Executive of the Year

Company: U-Haul International, Phoenix, AZ
Company Description: Since 1945, U-Haul has been the No. 1 choice of do-it-yourself movers, with a network of 22,000 locations across all 50 states and 10 Canadian provinces and a fleet of 176,000 trucks, 127,000 trailers and 41,000 towing devices. U-Haul offers nearly 774,000 rooms and 66.7 million sq. ft. of self-storage space. U-Haul is the largest propane retailer and installer of trailer hitches in the U.S.
Nomination Category: Corporate Communications, Investor Relations, & Public Relations Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Communications, Investor Relations or PR Executive of the Year

Nomination Title: Sebastien Reyes

Sebastien Reyes connects people, purpose and profits. He is a trusted, senior executive working at U-Haul, one of America’s most recognized consumer brands and the number one do-it-yourself moving and self-storage company in North America. As the primary executive managing external affairs for U-Haul, he has created andexecuted high-level strategic marketing and communication campaigns, reputation initiatives and crisis management across geography, disciplines and teams for one of the largest retail networks in the world with over 22,000 locations.

At27, Sebastien joined AMERCO (Nasdaq: UHAL) – parent of U-Haul International- as the head of Investor Relations, working as the primary liaison and communicator to shareholders, analysts and financial media. During his tenure, the market capitalization of UHAL has grown from $3 billion to over $11 billion.

Over the past 8 years, he has served in ascending management positions and as the first Vice President of Communications in the Company’s 75-year history. In this role, he is head of global corporate communications, sustainability, community relations and philanthropy, digital media and U-Haul University. He serves in a concurrent role as head of IR while representing the company in local government affairs and as spokesperson in Forbes, Barron’s and Bloomberg.

Sebastien is a resilient, creative “player-coach” and a true strategic partner on the management team. He builds consensus under tense circumstances, including the daily risk associated with 20,000 independent dealers, the largest global DIY fleet with 300,000 trucks and trailers and millions of customers.

Sebastien flourishes at conflicting intersections balancing both proactive and reactive communications andshort-term and long-term reputational initiatives. He has a proclivity for creating and executing viral campaigns.

A great example of this was during theearliest days of the Covid-19 pandemic when many brands were panicked. Sebastien led a decisive U-Haul crisis response to help displaced college students with free self-storage when schools abruptly shuttered across the U.S. Devising a targeted digital marketing and social media strategy within a matter of hours, the Company’s offer for “30 Days Free of Storage for College Students” went viral overnight, even before the Company press release with 13,000 views yielding 874 unique mentions and a reach of over 11.2 million people thrust U-Haul into the spotlight on top-tier national media like CNN, Newsweek and Insider. The Company had dozens of TV interviews in the days following, including multiple national TV spots.

As both a National Disaster Responder of the Red Cross- a partnership he initiated- and the Company’s continued offer to help communities with free self-storage, U-Haul has provided neighborly support across North America, often saving the most treasured possessions of families impacted by fire, flood, hurricane or other natural disaster.

As a result of its pandemic offer, U-Haul was heralded for its efforts as a brand that got their response right and was later awarded both the Community Relations Campaign of the Year and the PR Campaign of the Year by PR Daily Awards.

This reflects the company doubling down as a critical infrastructure and essential service provider. While others worked remotely or closed up shop, U-Haul team members mobilized to the frontline to serve the changing needs of the moving public. Rental companies were merely trying to stay afloat rather than extending goodwill gestures. Some in the rental industry were even selling off assets to avoid going bankrupt. As Katie McMichael of theAmerican Trucking Association shared recently, “Every single company is having a hard time.”

U-Haul has bucked that trend by adapting to customer needs, resulting in an Earnings Per Share (EPS) that doubled from fiscal 2020 to 2021.

During this time, Sebastien has transformed the Company’s thought leadership through the “U-Haul Migration Trends” index.Hundreds of national and local news outlets rely on U-Haul for its annual data as North America’s undisputed migration expert. This became particularly relevant during the last US election cycle and the reshaping of cities and communities during the Covid-19 pandemic. These reports exploded in 2020 and 2021, providing a critical social purpose for the media, the public and municipalities as a barometer of moving trends in a very unpredictable market.

All of this reflects Sebastien’s strategic approach and purposeful alignment to enrich U-Haul and the communities served through elevated marcom. For example, as a national board member for Detroit-based nonprofit Humble Design, Sebastien is helping reimagine the way companies can do good by not simply writing checks but providing the expertise – in this case trucks, storage and infrastructure- to help a nonprofit expand.

Humble provides families emerging from homelessness with furnishings and design services bringing dignity to over 1,900 families and furnishing homes of 7 families per week. 99% of clients remain in their home after 12 months compared with a national average of 50% without these services.Under Sebastien’s leadership, U-Haul has fueled Humble’s national expansion from Detroit to Seattle, San Diego, Chicago and Cleveland. Humble and U-Haul have been highlighted on The Today Show, Upworthy, Daily Mail and ABC.

By utilizing excess space in U-Haul adaptive reuse projects, Humble is able to collect and warehouse goods repurposed for client homes. Using trucks waiting to be sold from the U-Haul fleet, the organization is able to deliver on their mission. “The relationship is innovative in that it's enabling the nonprofit to scale its operations nationally,” said Kyle Caldwell, executive director of the Center for Philanthropy at Grand Valley State. “Rather than building warehouse space and acquiring additional trucks after raising the money to do so, and then having to carry the costs of maintaining those, Humble Design is using what U-Haul already has” (Crain’s Detroit Business).

ATTACHMENTS

Covid-19 Response:“30 Days Free of Self-Storage for College Students”
-One of the dozens of TV interviews in the week following the Company offer conceived by Sebastien: https://video.foxbusiness.com/v/6142397887001#sp=show-clips
-1A, 1B, 1C, 1D: Examples of the many national media lauding U-Haul (CNN, Fox Business, Insider, E! News)
-1E: Forbes: Companies doing good.
-1F: One of the thousands of viral mentions of U-Haul on social media. This one from the Shade Room boasted over 2 million views.
-1G: Cover of U-Haul News

U-Haul Thought Leadership: Migration Trends Index

- “Meet the Press” use of U-Haul Migration Index to help predict 2020 US Election:
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/meet-the-press/u-haul-move-data-reveals-shifting-american-political-landscape-n969771
-Examples of Senators and Governors who rely on U-Haul as the leading expert in migration. 2A: Senator Ted Cruz, 2B: Governor Doug Ducey, 2C: Governor Greg Abbott, 2D: Lt. Gov. Jon Husted
-Examples of the countless articles by national publications referencing the U-Haul Migration Index and its impact on real estate, industry, communities and politics.2E: Forbes, 2F: MSN, 2G: CNBC, 2H: Fox Business, 2I: Insider

Reimagining Corporate Philanthropy: Humble Design

Two quick press examples of families served by Humble Design and U-Haul:
https://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/year-boy-detroit-brought-tears-52317534
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PXZ1OvLfTY