Author: Clairemont Intern

Faith, Trust and Pixie Dust

Clairemont InternBlog, Public Relations, Raleigh PR Agency, , , ,

Trust is the glue that holds relationships together. It’s the stuff that builds friendships and, coincidentally, great business partnerships.

In 2014, Rubin Postaer and Associates partnered with USA TODAY to conduct a survey on the current state of the client/agency relationship. What is the one factor they found that fosters the most success for both the client AND the agency? “Clients trusting their agencies.” It’s the naked truth.

Of course, it can take a while to get to that point, right? Strong, trusting relationships don’t develop overnight. It takes an intentional effort to get to know your clients and a true desire to solve their needs. Putting in the extra effort will pay off in the long run, though, and will likely result in more business on both sides in the future.

How to Make That Magic

When I worked with Disney, I learned the true meaning of a mutually beneficial relationship. I had to establish trust with my potential customers before I even began to sell them their best-fit ticket. The same principles that applied to my job as a vacation planner are the same ones that we use at Clairemont to build our long-standing relationships with clients. Here are some cornerstones of a solid agency-client relationship.

  1. Listen (actually listen) to their concerns. This doesn’t mean to smile and nod and start planning your reply the second the other person starts talking. Above all, the purpose of PR is to serve clients’ needs. So, be ready to actively listen, ask questions and confirm with the client before your brain starts running a mile a minute.
  2. Don’t promise something that you can’t deliver. If a client request is impractical or unlikely to succeed, be honest about it and suggest an alternative. Transparency, even when it involves sharing bad news, is infinitely better than promising something that never gets done.
  3. Be consistent. Communicate deadlines with your client and meet them with exceptional work. Return phone calls. Show up to meetings prepared and on time without fail. A series of small steps adds up to one giant leap towards a strong, trusting relationship.
  4. Constantly communicate. Throughout the project, the most important thing you can do is check in with the client. Is he or she getting the desired results? At the end, what did he or she wish had gone differently? What will you specifically adjust now or in future campaigns?
  5. Go the extra mile. Always. Do the extra work, the hard work, the creative work. Take genuine interest in them as a person (which we do!). As the saying goes, you’ve gotta be a friend to have a friend.

Itching for an agency you can trust? Let us show you how it’s done.

Written by Jessica Winesette, a senior at UNC-Chapel Hill.

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Take an Instagram-worthy Photo

Clairemont InternBlog, Public Relations, Social Media + Influencer Engagement, , , ,

“No one’s life is as perfect as his or her Instagram feed.”

Have you ever scrolled past a photo of food or clothing on Instagram and instantly been awed? Without even realizing it, more than just the item on display caught your eye. The photo you loved was staged, filtered and carefully planned by its publisher. You might be surprised to learn just how much planning goes into an Instagram photo! (Those who rock their Instagram feeds can even make a career out of it!)

Here are our tips to becoming a rockstar at Instagram-worthy photos:


Use the best camera that you know how to use. Not all of the best photos Instagram has to offer are taken with a professional HDR camera. An iPhone equips you to take a clear and precise image. Focus on the object by tapping on your screen; turn off HDR to promote clarity. If you do know how to use a more professional camera, absolutely use it, as it offers a variety of manual settings and functionalities.

Leverage natural lighting. Lighting plays a vital role in the quality of the image. Using natural outdoor lighting, whether outside or through a window, will produce life-like images. Be sure not to take photos in direct sunlight, as it will overexpose the image. Aim to photograph in a setting with shade, overcast light and at sunrise or sunset to produce the best quality.

Stage it. First, select a background that expertly showcases your subject. For example, a white backdrop will showcase a complex item or product. A background with a pattern or specific colors will complement your product or person while adding interest and dimension. Keep in mind that photo size restrictions might apply. For example, shooting a photo in square mo
de via your iPhone is always a safe move to match Instagram’s feed. According to Colorlib, the maximum upload for a vertical image without cropping is 1080px in width by 1350px in height and 1080px in width by 566px in height for horizontal images. Finally, employ the rule of thirds, mentally dividing your image with two horizontal and two vertical lines. Note where the horizontal and vertical lines meet, like demonstrated in the graphic, and position the most important elements at the points of intersection. Using the rule of thirds is easy by turning on your iPhone’s grid feature.

Angle it. Explore changing the angles of your photo for widely varied outcomes. For example, stand high above to shoot directly over your product or get on ground level with the object to capture a profile view.

Edit it. Few Instagram-worthy photos are uploaded without a filter or two. To create a coherent feed, apply the same filters to your photos. Of course, you might need to lighten an image more so than another, but if you’re sharpening images to add clarity, sharpen them all. If you’re removing the highlights, remove them all. The app VSCO provides multiple tools to achieve the perfect edit. You can add or remove exposure, contrast, saturation and skin tone — just to name a few. The app Color Story supplies hundreds of additional filters. Need to smooth a specific part of a photo or swap two different pieces of the photo altogether? Check out Facetune.

Follow these steps, and you’re ready to post. We bet it’s your best Instagram photo yet! In the meantime, check out how to use “Instagram ‘Highlights’ for Business” to continue to grow your company’s Insta presence.

Written by Clairemont intern, Kennedy Norton, a junior at North Carolina State University.

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What Does a PR Agency Do? Hoedown Showdown

Clairemont InternAwards, Blog, Case Studies, , , ,

Newland Communities, the country’s most prominent privately held residential developer, turned to Clairemont Communications to increase awareness of Wendell Falls, a new-home community situated in a relatively undeveloped section of Wake County. As part of a comprehensive communications strategy, Clairemont worked with Wendell Falls to plan a celebration with a barn-raising theme to commemorate the community’s first anniversary and bring prospective buyers on-site.

Strategy

Clairemont was tasked with securing local media and influencer attendance to help combat the perception that Wendell Falls is in a remote location far from downtown Raleigh. Our one main objective was to get key contacts to attend the Wendell Falls Barn Raising 2016 in order to introduce them to the location and atmosphere of the community, and serve as a building block for future stories.

Execution

In order to attract media and influencers to the location, Clairemont conceptualized the Wendell Falls Hoedown Showdown. We invited TV, print and online personalities to bow to their partners, allemande left and do-si-do for a little dough to donate. This celebrity square-dancing competition was part of the Wendell Falls Barn Raising and offered the winner $1,000 to donate to a charity of his or her choice.

Clairemont ditched standard pitch for a more playful angle that would snag the busy reporter’s attention and put them in a dancing mood. Media received invitations that included a “wanted” poster and a cowboy hat, which one TV reporter even sported on her station’s morning show! The event was planned to be similar to the popular show “Dancing with the Stars;” it was active and engaging yet required minimal time from the participants outside of the actual event day. The influencers who danced at the event didn’t have to practice; rather, they learned via a fun crash course on the morning of the Hoedown.

Results

Clairemont designed and implemented this creative tactic to engage the participating media person and his/her audiences, draw media on-site and engage the nonprofit for which he/she was dancing. This allowed us to exceed our stated objective with the following results:

  1. We recruited media and influencers to participate as either Hoedown Showdown dancers or judges, securing prominent media stories and/or mentions.
  2. Influencers shared the Barn Raising to approximately 52,000 followers on Twitter alone, helping to draw more than 1,000 attendees to this afternoon bash. Additionally, we used the (then) new Facebook Live feature for the first time for the community to broadcast the Hoedown Showdown to 503 viewers.

The work Clairemont Communications conducted in partnership with Wendell Falls earned Best in Show for Creative Tactics and Best in Category for Creative Tactics from the North Carolina Public Relations Society of America. It also received a Silver Award in Media Events from the Raleigh Public Relations Society. We are proud that this campaign represents two of the 175 awards we’ve received since starting Clairemont in 2010.

To read more about the work we do with clients, please visit the case study section of our blog.

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Quality Over Quantity: Why I Stuck with Clairemont

Clairemont InternBlog, Raleigh PR Agency, The Clairemont Team, , , , ,

It wasn’t long before I knew I really liked working at Clairemont. Within the first week, I dove head-first into follow-up calls, blog posts and coverage reports – the building blocks of PR that I’d practiced in classes and previous internships.

James Huff, chef at Babalu Tapas & Tacos, teaches WRAL’s Kathy Hanrahan how to make its delicious guacamole in the week before the restaurant’s opening.

What captured me most about Clairemont, however, was the opportunities it provided me to interact directly with clients. On my second day, I met a Clairemont team member at Babalu Tapas & Tacos, a Chapel Hill restaurant for which Clairemont planned a grand opening. I witnessed media interviews, listened to Clairemont strategize with the Babalu marketing team and talked with the owner about his journey to Chapel Hill.

In essence, I quickly learned that Clairemont was a good fit for me.

Throughout the fall semester, I gained on-site experience with various clients and strengthened my writing, pitching and researching skills. I felt challenged and excited by the work; I felt proud of what I produced and eager to learn from the Clairemont team. Clairemont’s welcoming and intimate environment allowed me to feel not only part of the team but also at home.

So, naturally, I didn’t want my time with Clairemont to end when the fall semester did. I decided to extend my internship through the spring semester, a decision that marks the purpose of this post. Aside from simply enjoying the workplace, there are valuable reasons to lengthen an internship, especially one with a PR agency.

Why Stay?

Students pose with Andy Valkanoff, owner of Triangle Dairy Queen, who launched their award-winning Blizzard contraption at the DQ Upside-Down or Free Competition.

Improve the quality of your work: Products you create are stronger and completed more quickly when you know what your clients need and what your supervisors expect. You learn these things with time, so the longer you stay with an internship, the faster you’ll be able to churn out work that satisfies those needs.

Deepen the nature of your work: Fully understanding your clients and their PR needs can take months. With that sound familiarity under your belt, you can deepen your involvement with them by taking on bigger projects and greater responsibilities. You may even play a larger hand at strategizing campaigns for clients, which furthers your experience as a PR pro.

Strengthen connections: It’s no secret that relationships also develop with time. Lengthening your internship experience allows you to cultivate client relationships that are built on communication, understanding and trust. You’ll also strengthen connections with your coworkers and supervisors, who serve as mentors on the job and key resources for career guidance.

The Clairemont team showcases its hard work recognized at the 2017 Sir Walter Raleigh Awards for Excellence in Communication.

Moreover, deciding to stay with an internship signals that you’re in tune with yourself. As you move through different work experiences, you discover which elements create your dream workplace. Especially in the PR world, no two agencies operate identically; each has its own culture, clients, specialties, employees … you get the picture. Embrace the variety, and recognize when an internship aces your checklist.

I’m thankful for Clairemont’s significant role in my blossoming PR career. It’s great to be back.

Written by Clairemont intern Elizabeth Comtois, a senior at UNC-Chapel Hill.

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What Does a PR Agency Do? DQ’s Miracle Treat Day

Clairemont InternAwards, Blog, Case Studies, , , , ,

Triangle Dairy Queen has grown to be the largest DQ franchise in Wake County since Andy Valkanoff founded it in 2005. In 2016, Triangle Dairy Queen celebrated its 11th annual Miracle Treat Day as part of a nationwide fundraiser that supports more than 170 Children’s Miracle Network hospitals across North America. On Miracle Treat Day, proceeds from Blizzard purchases at Triangle Dairy Queen locations are donated to Duke Children’s Hospital for research, care and family support programs.

Strategy

Looking to drive traffic to Triangle DQ locations to raise funds on Miracle Treat Day, Andy turned to Clairemont Communications to create a media relations campaign. Our objectives were to build awareness of Miracle Treat Day and help drive traffic to Dairy Queen locations by securing media placements, community calendars posts and media and blogger coverage on social media. 

Fans visit Triangle Dairy Queen on Miracle Treat Day!

Execution

To drive traffic to Dairy Queen locations on Miracle Treat Day and raise money for Duke Children’s Hospital, Clairemont chose to craft a news release to share with

local media contacts. We recognized that a release would provide the most concise and efficient vehicle to communicate the full story of the event and maximize coverage opportunities to media and influencers – especially when partnered with targeted and personalized pitches. A release would also allow us to easily share the event on community calendars and news release sites to increase visibility and attract potential customers to the restaurants. 

Results

Clairemont surpassed its original objectives, securing leading media placements, including in our state’s most read paper, The News & Observer, and an exclusive feature story with our ABC TV affiliate. We also secured prominent posts on community calendars and across social media. Miracle Treat Day was a strong success for Triangle Dairy Queen and continues to be part of its ongoing legacy.

The work Clairemont Communications conducted in partnership with Triangle Dairy Queen won an Award of Excellence from the North Carolina Public Relations Society of America. It also won a Silver Award in PR Writing from the Raleigh Public Relations Society. We are proud that this campaign represents two of the 175 awards we’ve received since starting Clairemont in 2010.

To read more about the work we do with clients, please visit the case study section of our blog.

*Cover image courtesy of Dairy Queen.

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