Year: 2015

Moving in with Mom: Multi-Gens Change Real Estate PR

Cherith AndesBlog, Public Relations, Real Estate PR, Trends, , , , , , , ,

Matthew McConaughey’s flick, “Failure to Launch,” spins the yarn of a young professional who can’t seem to fly the coop. At age 35, he relishes the perks of rent-free living with his parents along with his mother’s home-cooked meals and in-house laundry service.

While fodder for one of the leading romantic comedies in 2006, this story has since typified today’s housing market. In 2012, more than 18 percent of the American population resided in a multi-generational family household, defined as home with three or more generations under one roof.

Junior’s Back. And So Is Granny.

The trend skyrocketed during the 2007-2009 recession when insufficient jobs and waning pensions forced families to pool mortgages to survive. What was born out of necessity has since beget a luxury. Families willingly benefit from combined resources, shared comforts and (let’s not forget) direct access to the grandkids.

The multi-gen housing trend has left its mark on the real estate industry. Nationally acclaimed home builder Lennar Homes, for example, rolled out NextGen, a new brand featuring a “home within a home” for this target market. The MEDCottage, another line’s portable “granny pod,” features a 12 to 24-foot flat plopped directly into your own backyard. Forget going “over the river and through the woods” to grandma’s house. You barely have to make it out the back door.

The new MEDCottage. Image courtesy of MEDcottage.com.
The new MEDCottage. Image courtesy of MEDcottage.com.

A New Floor Plan for PR.

So what does this mean for real estate PR?

Lots. As families place a premium on lifestyle, it becomes vital that we create and market opportunities that engage diverse age groups. For example, Briar Chapel by Newland Communities, one of Clairemont’s longstanding clients, offers a range of internally and externally marketed activities. Their Lego Camp draws tykes from across the state while their water aerobics engage active older adults from around the community.

Briar Chapel also provides opportunities from the other side of the coin–large-scale events that nurture inter-generational collaboration and maximize shared interests (such as the multi-generational love for the Rolling Stones—who knew?). Briar Chapel’s acclaimed Pepper Festival fosters relationships by providing a distinct draw for every interest and demographic—from kid-friendly acrobatic showcases to “adult-friendly” craft beer tastings. Strengthen relationships, we say, because the family that plays together, stays together…and will likely “pay” together for houses in your community!

Briar Chapel's Annual Pepper Festival.
Briar Chapel’s Annual Pepper Festival.

Invite All the Right House Guests.

These mufti-faceted avenues provide equally diverse opportunities for us to expand media relations. Not only do media highlight breaking news and overarching stories, but many also pursue niche interests—such as the Triangle’s trending wave of “beer experts.” Effective public relations strategies should dig deep to suss out fresh angles on stalwart offerings for specialized reporters, bloggers and social media experts. Creative pizzazz can unearth a whole new wave of dynamic media attention for a real estate community!

If all else fails, the multi-gen trend at least promises free babysitting from grandma for a last-minute date night, right?

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The Beauty of Raleigh PR: Day 8 – In the Bag

Jasmin SessomsBlog, Entry-Level PR Job, Wonderfully Random,

Editor’s Note: Clairemont enthusiastically welcomes Jasmin Sessoms to our team! Follow this former beauty queen’s journey as she documents her first 30 days in a Raleigh PR agency.

 I have to admit, my mother has better style than I do. Although you may not think so, there are so many fashion trends that spurred from our parents’ and our grandparents’ time.

For me, fashion is easiest to think about as an ever-revolving door. What goes around comes back around-especially when it comes to fashion. It’s sometimes difficult to keep track of styles that are timeless.

Perusing through old pictures of my mother in college is proof. Afros, bell bottoms, halter tops, high-waisted shorts and crop tops were all the rage then. Fast-forward three decades to Fayetteville State University and you will find many students walking around campus wearing the same styles.

For many, vintage is a fashion inspiration. There so many new fashion moguls emerging, while icons like Jackie Kennedy still have styles that live on today. I am constantly trying to integrate my vintage finds into modern ones and describe myself as “vintage chic.”

Recently, I raided my mom’s closet and ran across her collection of vintage handbags. Although I have a million purses (or at least it seems like I do), I find that quality isn’t something that many designers today care about as much. In my mothers closet I found the most amazing stash of Dooney & Bourke as well as Coach bags. Since my mother keeps everything like new, they are all in the original duster bag. Perfect leather with a little bit of vintage flare. My friends would kill to get their hands on these bags.

As a gift for getting my first professional job at Clairemont, my mother handed down her leather briefcase that she too used at her first job in Raleigh. Symbolic, yes. Being able to carry my mother’s precious bag really warms my heart.

So, do you have any vintage clothes from your parent’s closets? Or do you hold on to certain articles of clothing with the hopes that they will one day be back in style?

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The Beauty of Raleigh PR: Day 7 – Event Planning

Jasmin SessomsBlog, Entry-Level PR Job, Marketing, ,

Editor’s Note: Clairemont enthusiastically welcomes Jasmin Sessoms to our team! Follow this former beauty queen’s journey as she documents her first 30 days in a Raleigh PR agency.

Little girls love to play dress up, and as a child I remember wanting to put on my mothers shoes and clothes and was often caught playing in her makeup.

Kids today especially fancy Disney Princesses, although I thoroughly enjoyed Cinderella; I never requested to go to school in the costume or demanded her at my birthday party.

The realization that children obsess over these characters hit me when the newest Disney Princess was released. Elsa, from Frozen. Queen Elsa of Arendelle or the snow queen, is the protagonist of Disney’s Award winning 2013 animated feature film.

Elsa is voiced by Idina Menzel and serves Disney as the 13th princess and very first queen. Elsa possesses the magical powers to control ice, frost and snow and has taken the Disney world and children’s hearts by storm.

I know you have to be reading this wondering, what does this have to do with PR? Well, one of our clients is interested in having Elsa at an event.

At Clairemont, our task is to find the most authentic Elsa impersonator that is realistic and believable for the children to enjoy. The Clairemont team has to do the groundwork to not only make the client happy, but also bring smiles to little girl’s faces when they see their idol walk through the door.

Think that’s an easy task? No way. Every company in the Triangle boasts to having the “best” Elsa.

After doing research and narrowing down the best girl for the job, budget became a concern. Many companies carrying the best costumes and wigs don’t come at a cheap price, and without freezing the clients budget it was back to the drawing board.

The team had a new dilemma. Will the character draw enough interest to justify the added cost? Will bringing in the character distract from the company’s event?

With all of these factors in mind, we turned to costume shops in the Triangle, and apparently, we aren’t the only ones after an Elsa costume. One company had the costume booked through April. So yes, we believe Elsa will indeed draw children singing, “Let it Go” (her theme song) to our event.

Now all we have to do is relay all of this information to the client, and see if he too will jump onto the Frozen bandwagon.

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The Beauty of Raleigh PR: Day 6 – Grand Openings

Jasmin SessomsBlog, Entry-Level PR Job, Raleigh PR Agency,

Editor’s Note: Clairemont enthusiastically welcomes Jasmin Sessoms to our team! Follow this former beauty queen’s journey as she documents her first 30 days in a Raleigh PR agency.

What makes a song bluegrass? Searching the web could possibly lead you to a million different definitions. Simply put bluegrass is a style of acoustic music that originated in the 1940’s. Bluegrass has often been referred to as “America’s music”.

There are many distinctions of bluegrass from the typical country sound. Bluegrass usually has a lonesome musical sound with instrumentation of the banjo, guitar, stand-up bass, fiddle and mandolin.

All of these things never really mattered to me until I was tasked to figure out who’s who among America’s vast list of bluegrass bands for a client. My search ranged from North Carolina to Tennessee.

The Clairemont team’s job is to pinpoint an amazing main stage act that will draw the community out, and bring more word-of-mouth advertising for the client’s event.

During my search, I learned some agents don’t even want to talk with you if you aren’t mentioning big money. I didn’t take it personally, instead I opted to tell them there was no real budget and I was looking for the best in the business.

Although I have never experienced haggling with music agents, I think I did a pretty good job. I reminded myself that they are regular people just like me. Every agent I contact needs my business just as bad as I need their band.

After a series of dead end calls, and a few bounce-back emails, I finally had a breakthrough. I spoke with a few agents that were willing to work with us.

Throughout the day, it seems that my list has grown tremendously from five to 15 bands. All afternoon I have been receiving calls from national recording artist reps and I have to say, I feel special.

If you are ever in need of a bluegrass band as a main act at an event, make sure to stop by the Clairemont House and see me! I have added at least twenty bands and contacts to my repertoire.

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The Beauty of Raleigh PR: Day 5 – “Business Casual”

Jasmin SessomsBlog, Entry-Level PR Job, Fashion, , ,

Editor’s Note: Clairemont enthusiastically welcomes Jasmin Sessoms to our team! Follow this former beauty queen’s journey as she documents her first 30 days in a Raleigh PR agency.

It’s your first day at work. Your boss lets you know that the dress code is “business casual”. Honestly, you don’t know what that means; you rack your brain trying to think about exactly what that is. You leave your stuffy suit behind and decide to wear your strapless sundress. When you arrive to work, your co-workers look nothing like you. Embarrassed, you realize that a little clarity on business casual is needed.
For many recent grads just like me, the days of throwing on sweat pants and a t-shirt just to make it to class are long gone. My mornings before class would be hectic and frustrating if I had no clue what I was wearing. During my undergrad days, I somehow expected my closet to work magic for me (not!).

Transitioning into the work force means new clothes, and I was ecstatic about trading my TOMS for heels and my Levi’s for slacks. Business casual may seem simplistic to some, but I find that a lot of people have a hard time understanding exactly how to dress for work.

Appropriate attire may be discussed a few times during the undergraduate experience, but when you enter the working world, you are bombarded with the realization that business professional (compared to business casual) has distinct rules.

The definition of business casual is vague, and a lot of times there is no general agreement. Factors that affect the dress code at work include the size of the company, the climate outside and the culture of the workplace. The office expectation here at Clairemont is business casual with the understanding that formal events may require business professional.
Here are a few tips that I generated if you, or anyone you know, fears being a little too causal at work.

1) Less isn’t more. For the business world I have found that showing a ton of skin isn’t in vogue. Dress with modesty.
2) Play it safe; slacks and/or khakis are your best bet if opting for pants.
3) Jeans are not considered business casual.
4) Dresses and skirts should reach knee length or longer. Avoid skirts with low cuts or high slits.
5) Knit shirts, sweaters and polos work great with mixing and matching.
6) Strapless tops and dresses should be avoided at all costs.
7) Open-toed shoes are acceptable, but be careful with flip flops and sandals in the summer.
8) Blazers or sports coats can help to polish your look.

Double-check yourself with a few more questions:
1) Would I wear this to bed?
2) Would I wear this to the bar?
3) Would I wear this to a Halloween costume party?

If you answered “yes” to any of these, choose something else for the workday. Hope this helps someone tomorrow morning!

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