Author: Cherith Andes

Clairemont Selected for Talbots/Oprah Magazine Campaign

Cherith AndesBlog, Clairemont Client News, Fashion, , , , , ,

Polka dots, panache and pinning a new job!

This spring, Talbots teamed up with Oprah Magazine to launch a special capsule collection of clothes benefitting Dress for Success – and the fashionable couture is debuting right here in the Triangle!

Recently featured by Women’s Wear Daily as well as in the March issue of O Magazine, the Talbots line sports sunny spring colors and layered patterns designed for both leisure and workwear.

Want to help? Here are four ways you can get involved!

– Purchase a snazzy piece of the Talbots collection, and 30 percent of the proceeds benefit the Triangle Dress for Success.

– Donate gently worn work attire March 2 – 5, 2017 at any local Talbots. Or you make a monetary donation in store or online.

– Stop by the Spring Shopping Party on Saturday, March 4, 2017 to purchase your own pieces and make a donation.

Last year O Mag and Talbots launched their first capsule collection that benefitted Dress for Success. Raising $1 million and collecting more than 4,000 boxes of clothing to help more than 20,000 women, the partnership was such a success that the two teamed up again this year. Dress for Success is non-profit international organization that empowers women to achieve economic independence by providing a network of support, professional attire and career development tools to help women thrive in work and in life.

Be sure to check out the March issue of O, The Oprah Magazine features influencers including Hilaria Baldwin (Wellness Expert & Author), Sara Haines (Journalist & Cohost of The View), Jill Martin (Today Contributor), Denée Benton (Broadway Actor), Sas Goldberg (Writer, Producer, Actor), and Katie Sturino (Founder of the 12ishstyle.com) wearing pieces from the collection.

Happy shopping!

The work Clairemont Communications conducted in partnership with Talbots earned the Award of Excellence by North Carolina Public Relations Society of America (NCPRSA). We are proud that this campaign represents one of the 190 awards we’ve received since starting Clairemont in 2010.

The Clairemont team was thrilled to work with Talbots on this wonderful project. And we may or may not have added that lovely scarf inspired by Oprah’s rose gardens to our own wardrobes!

Images courtesy of Talbots.

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The Power of One Pepper

Cherith AndesBlog, Clairemont Client News, Real Estate PR, , , , ,

What started with one lowly tobago pepper has heated up to be the largest food festival of its kind in the Southeast! The Annual Pepper Festival, hosted by Abundance NC and Clairemont client Briar Chapel, now tops the charts as a spicy celebration of North Carolina cooking, music, fashion and culture — and all to support sustainable food and fuels.

But few hot events come out of the gate with 2,200 attendees, 50 competing chefs and an award-winning roster of bluegrass bands. As we approach the 10th Annual Pepper Festival this fall, we wanted to take a moment to celebrate the fun milestones along the way.

2008: One Pepper, One Dream

Enter 40 friends who gathered at the Piedmont BioFarm (part of nonprofit Abundance NC) to engage in a little spicy sampling. Farmer Doug had long been dreaming up a seed-saving program to cultivate vegetables suited specifically for the North Carolina climate. Doug began growing, breeding and testing his favorite food —  peppers, but he needed palates to taste and assess his new produce. Hence, the first Pepper Fest was born! Angelina brought food (to wash down the peppers, she says!), and the sustainably minded, spice-loving friends noshed their way through almost 50 varieties of Farmer Doug’s peppers.

2009: The Second Amazing Pittsboro Pepper Festival

The Pepper Festival coined its first official name, Habanero Beer from Triangle Brewing Company made its debut, bands hit the scene, and a dozen chefs joined the fray to craft pepper-themed dishes. Briar Chapel began partnering with Abundance NC to support the festival and promote the organizations’ common goals of sustainability.

2010: Royalty Takes the Stage

This year witnessed the coronation of the first Pepper King and Pepper Queen, a tradition that still stands today. The Pepper popularity spread like wildfire with 500 attendees at the festival!

2011: A New Location!

Briar Chapel hosted the Pepper Festival first time at Boulder Park in Briar Chapel. As the largest green community in the Triangle, the partnership between Briar Chapel and Abundance NC to further sustainable lifestyles just made sense! Attendance hit quadruple digits, and more than a dozen community organizations joined forces with Briar Chapel and Abundance to take part in the Festival.

 

2012: Spice for the Whole Family

Pepper Fest added a bevy of family activities (like a vegetable circus, face painting and hula hooping). For a little extra fun, they added red-clad, pepper-themed acrobats! A record of 35 chefs and artisans fired up the culinary contest.

2013: Now We’re Winning Awards

This year, The News & Observer named the Fest as one of the “Must-Do Food Events of 2013.” Attendance skyrocketed to 1,500 festivalgoers with a record $20,000 proceeds raised.

2014: A New Location (Again!)

The Pepper Fest outgrew Boulder Park and made its debut at the all-new Linear Park at Briar Chapel. This year featured a judging panel of food and beverage experts along with a new array of dishes — from pepper chocolate to North Carolina’s inaugural batch of pepper jelly beer. And the scales reported that the chefs used a whoppin’ 800 pounds of peppers!

 2015: One of the Largest in the State

The Pepper Fest claimed the spot as one of the largest chef competitions in the state with 45 chefs and artisans. In addition, the Pepper fest debuted Pepperpalooza, kid-friendly activities to provide hands-on education about local agriculture with creative workshops like “Food Fonts” and “The Insane Science of Fairyland.”

2016: Kid Chefs, Fashion Shows and Pepper Personality Quizzes

Briar Chapel added zest and zip with the inaugural Kid Chef Competition and “Hot Glam” Pepper Fashion Show. Festival fans could find out how spicy their personalities were with the Pepper Fest Personality Quiz. In addition to a record 2,200 attendees and 50 chefs and brewers, the Pepper Fest celebrated raising approximately $100,000 over nine years to support more than 200 farmers who wouldn’t otherwise be in business.

 

 2017: It’s the Big 10! 

What do you think we’ll cook up this year? Tune in on September 24, 2017, the spiciest day of the year (and the date of the 10th Annual Pepper Festival). Who knows — we might even break a Guinness World Record!

 

 

Images courtesy of Briar Chapel.

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Target Your Social Media in 2017

Cherith AndesBlog, Raleigh PR Agency, Social Media + Influencer Engagement, , , , , ,

It’s certainly no contest that 2016 hit the history annuls as a momentous year, witnessing the launch of everything from Snapchat Spectacles to a new presidency. Every step of the way, America wasn’t just watching; we were creating libraries of social media to voice opinions, rally troops, champion movements … and occasionally tout our newest homemade Reese’s Brownie recipe. (Thank you for that.)

In a way, we almost rediscovered the vibrancy (and hopeful efficacy) of our social media voice. So what do 2017 trends entail for online expression?

1. Roll camera!

Videos, and lots of them. The Fantastic Four (Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat and Twitter) have all boosted their video-friendly components with features like Instagram stories and Facebook Livestream. Video content on Twitter alone has increased by 50 percent since the beginning of 2016, spiking when Twitter launched full-screen viewing and increased video length to 140 seconds. And Facebook put a premium on Livestream videos for Newsfeed ranking. As research is showing, visual content is one of the few types that has the potential to cut through the noise of pay-to-play social media advertising. From slideshow ads and crowd-sourced campaigns to Livestream previews and DIY videos, campaign content should leverage video content. Need we even reference our beloved Raleigh friends, Kim and Pen, whose Holderness Family videos garner upwards of 100,000 views?

2. Tell the tale.

Create narratives that tell the whole story. We’ve been burned by the flux of last year’s “fake news,” which augmented our desire to see the people behind the brand. Once again social media platforms are paving the way.Facebook is reportedly testing “Messenger Day,” and Twitter opened “Moments” to all users — a feature recently retooled in its “Explore” tab. While there’s a distinct place for professional videography, we’re craving to see the thought process behind the product.

A quick note: Keep your content “snackable.” Quick, how-to videos, collages and brief visual soundbites best appeal to our waning eight-second attention span (which, by the way, has now been surpassed by that of a goldfish.)

3. Be messy.

Image courtesy of The News & Observer

Andrea Weigl, the assistant features editor of The News & Observer, proved a solid point in her recent article, “What really happens at a food photo shoot.” She notes that the most popular images on the N&O’s Instagram accounts are not the gorgeous, mouth-watering spreads crafted by James Beard-winning chefs. No, they’re the messy ones, the ones that expose the chaos, clutter and realness of the production. Social media has already provided tools for you to welcome friends, fans and followers behind the curtain (with a flower wreath filter, if you really want). Embrace transparency as you share your story.

Interested in ideas on how to showcase a behind-the-scenes look at your brand? Check out our tips to leverage Instagram stories for restaurants!

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Cheers to a Year!

Cherith AndesBlog, Clairemont Client News, Photo of the Week, , , ,

There’s no better way to celebrate your first anniversary than with 300 of your closest friends…and 300 of your favorite donuts!

Clairemont client Vita Vite, a wine bar and art gallery in the downtown Warehouse District, has grown to be one of Raleigh’s favorite hotspots in just 12 months. On December 9, 2016, Lindsay Rice, owner of Vita Vite, gathered friends and fans to celebrate her first year in business. Guests snapped snazzy pics in the holiday-themed photo booth and toasted with Lindsay’s hand-selected wines while being serenaded by Old Habits.

But no standard birthday cake for this celebration! Lindsay and her team designed a custom wall bedecked with hundreds of Rise Donuts creations! From double chocolate to eggnog, Lindsay’s donut wall was a party hit, the perfect blend of fun, flavor and flourish.

Vita Vite Donut Wall

Congratulations to Lindsay and her team for an incredible first year! Check out the creative fun we had with her grand opening in 2015!

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How Snap Spectacles Leveraged FoMO

Cherith AndesBlog, Marketing, Social Media + Influencer Engagement, , , , , ,

In September 2016, Snap, Inc. (the company formerly known as Snapchat) announced its first venture into wearable technology. Snapchat Spectacles, a pair of sunglasses equipped with a camera, allows users to capture and wirelessly post short videos directly to Snapchat. The eyewear has a bevy of appealing advantages: ease of use, a new approach to a popular social media platform, a funky yet stylish design. To boot, viewers truly get to “see life through someone else’s eyes.”

But … Spectacles are just sunglasses. Ray-Ban makes ‘em prettier, and didn’t Google Glass already try this song and dance? So why are Americans driving cross country, lining the block (twice) in icy temperatures and dishing out a paycheck for a few pairs?

Because FoMO is a real thing.

The Fear of Missing Out (FoMO) has long punctuated social vernacular, light-heartedly stereotyping the social butterfly that can’t miss a Friday-night party. But the psychological influence of exclusivity (or perceived exclusivity) holds significant power in marketing. Similar to the concept of supply and demand, perceived scarcity is often directly correlated with perceived value. In other words, the less of a product there is, the more valuable we think it is and the more we want it. Less really is more.

But basic economics don’t fully explain the intricacies of a craze like Spectacles. Communication theories, such as the Spiral of Silence and Social Identity Theory, unveil the complex influences of social groups; from this standpoint, a person finds self-value as a member of a larger group, and if the group is doing it, I must too in order to maintain my sense of self. Self-value and identity imbue the situation with higher stakes.

And in this case, Snap, Inc., hit the nail on the head. Unlike Apple, where the newest iteration of the iPhone is tough but not impossible to procure, Snap tripled the effect by limiting quantity, location and time: one location in the country at a time, while supplies last (which appear to be only a few hundred) with only a brief 24-hour notice. It goes without saying that Snap, Inc. created a user-friendly, innovative product that met a niche demand. But the intentionality behind the roll-out strategy may have made the difference between a flop and a flying success.

Interested in product and event marketing? Check out how to incorporate marketing coopetition into your next venture!

Photo courtesy of Snap, Inc.

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