Category: Blog

What Does A PR Agency Do? Furniture PR Case Study

Josephine ButlerBlog, Case Studies, Furniture PR, , , , , , , , 2 Comments on What Does A PR Agency Do? Furniture PR Case Study

People commonly ask us what a PR agency does. We thought the best way to answer that question would be to share case studies from our work that was  recognized last year at the North Carolina chapter of the Public Relations Society of America’s (NCPRSA) InSpire Awards. Clairemont won 14 InSpire Awards, and we hope that this “Award Winning Wednesday” blog series will inspire you, too!

Client: Thomasville Furniture and Drexel Heritage

Planning: Twice a year, Furniture Brands International  — a global operating company that is one of the nation’s leading manufacturers and retailers of home furnishings — showcases new product introductions at High Point Market. Two of its subsidiaries, Thomasville Furniture and Drexel Heritage, hoped to stand out among the more than 2,000 exhibitors and capture the attention of the media. When the two North Carolina-based companies learned U.S. Senator Kay Hagan (D-NC) would visit their showrooms during furniture market, Clairemont Communications was hired to plan and execute a press conference.

Faced with this task and exciting news that Thomasville and Drexel Heritage were relocating the company showrooms from Thomasville to High Point, the Clairemont team identified key objectives.

Objectives: The Clairemont team aimed to do the following:

  1. Conduct a press conference that would garner the attention of trade publications and local media, with at least five placements, including local TV coverage
  2. Raise awareness of the Thomasville and Drexel Heritage showroom relocation and boost overall brand recognition among consumers, including engagement on the Drexel Heritage blog and Thomasville Facebook page

Execution: Faced with the challenge of capturing the attention of media, as well as the fact that Thomasville and Drexel Heritage had often been underreported at market because of their previous off-site showroom location, the Clairemont team had to get creative with positioning. Here’s what we did:

Kay Hagan speaks during her Thomasville press conference.
  • Local media: Senator Hagan’s visit to the Thomasville/Drexel showrooms was part of a larger tour of market, so why would media want to capture her tour in our showrooms? Talk of moving furniture market to another state was a controversial topic directly linked to job preservation and creation, an important platform issue of Senator Hagan. In our pitches, Clairemont focused on Thomasville and Drexel Heritage’s North Carolina-based headquarters and the showroom relocations to High Point to emphasize the companies’ commitment to the state’s economy. We also let the media in on a little secret: we would be surprising the senator with the unveiling of the Hagan Chair, named in her honor and sure to create photo opportunities.
  • Trade Magazines: Our trade pitches focused on the showroom relocations. We knew that these reporters would be less interested in state economies and more interested in why the companies moved from Thomasville to the International Home Furnishings Center, the most prestigious address in High Point. We also knew they would be interested in capturing images of the new showrooms that spanned an entire floor and part of another.
  • Facebook/Blog: Even though the showrooms are closed to the public, that didn’t stop us from sharing photos from the press conference and offering fans a sneak peek of the Hagan Chair.

Results: Local media and national trade publications, including News 14 Carolina, High Point Enterprise, Davidson County Dispatch, High Point Market Authority, ihfc.com and Furniture Today attended and covered the event. Clairemont exceeded the goal of five placements and successfully raised awareness of the showroom relocations. On Thomasville’s Facebook page, we received 130,675 impressions and 256 daily likes and comments on our total market updates, including the press conference. On the Drexel blog, we also received positive feedback, including a comment from one of the company’s top dealers.

What did you think of this public relations case study? Was it helpful? We’re here to answer any questions you may have!

Interested in Clairemont’s press conference services? Drop us a line!

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Clairemont Communications’ Dana Hughens Appointed PRSA’s Counselors Academy Conference Chair

Margot HorganBlog, Counselors Academy, The Clairemont Team, , , , 3 Comments on Clairemont Communications’ Dana Hughens Appointed PRSA’s Counselors Academy Conference Chair

Raleigh, N.C. – February 5, 2013 – Dana Hughens, the founder and CEO of award-winning public relations and marketing communications agency, Clairemont Communications, has been selected as the conference chair for the 2013 Counselors Academy conference to be held in Austin, June 9 – 11. Counselors Academy is a professional interest section of Public Relations Society of America (PRSA)  designed to foster information and best practices sharing amongst a peer network of PR agency owners and senior managers.

“There’s no one better than Dana to chair the 2013 Counselors Academy conference,” said Martin Waxman, principal of Martin Waxman Communications and the 2012 conference chair. “As a successful entrepreneur and agency owner, she has an insider’s knowledge of the kind of content PR leaders need to take their businesses to the next level.”

The conference theme is “Get W.E.I.R.D. in Austin: Wired, Entrepreneurial, Imaginative and Results-Driven” with presentations focused on all aspects of agency management, business development, operational excellence and emerging technologies. In her role as conference chair, Hughens is leading a committee of PR agency leaders to select speakers, plan conference events and promote the conference.

“Each year I’ve attended the conference, I’ve gleaned immediately implementable information that helped me improve my business,” said Hughens “I’m excited to play a key role in delivering valuable content to the PR agency professionals who join us in Austin in June.”

Hughens, who has been a member of the Counselors Academy since 2007, was named to the executive committee of Counselors Academy last year and served as the co-chair of the 2012 conference in New Orleans, La. She was recently video interviewed about the 2013 conference content by Waxman for Inside PR.

“I worked with Dana on last year’s conference, and she is one of the smartest, most dedicated and creative people in the industry. I know she’ll use her talents to make this conference a real standout,” Waxman added.

About Clairemont Communications

Clairemont Communications devises communications strategies that utilize both traditional PR and social media to help clients achieve business objectives by influencing purchases, persuading stakeholders and influencers, and defining brands. Clarity in vision + the promise of monumental results = Clairemont Communications.

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Value-driven Marketing: Using Public Relations for Effective Brand Building

Margot HorganBlog, Entry-Level PR Job, Marketing2 Comments on Value-driven Marketing: Using Public Relations for Effective Brand Building

Sydney, one of our stellar interns this semester (don’t worry, we will do a proper intro of everyone soon!), recently watched a PRSA webinar about marrying the power of public relations and branding. Well, what did she learn? Keep reading for all of the highlights!

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Marketing never stays the same and neither do consumers. We are a long way away from the product-driven days of Henry Ford where you can have any color you want as long as it’s black. In the current market-driven economy, businesses are listening and developing strategies based on their consumers’ needs. And today, consumers want a long-term relationship and a deeper level of engagement that establishes a sense of trust and emotional connection with a brand.

That’s where public relations professionals come into the mix—whether its utilizing social media, blogging or traditional media tactics, we help tell a brand’s story and encourage a two-way conversation that will bring value-based ideas to the table and integrate seamlessly into an organization’s larger marketing communications plan.

To be relevant to the value-driven consumer, brands must:

1. Talk the talk and walk the walk. The post-recession consumer is not one that wants to be sold to, but one that wants meaningful interaction with a brand. In order to speak to the new value-driven consumer, brands must put purpose behind their products and personify its brand in a way that is authentic. This means brands can’t just talk the talk, but they must walk the walk in order to be successful. Through blogging and various social media channels, brands can connect and engage with consumers on a personal level and build more meaningful long-term relationships.

2. Get emotional. Consumers want to establish an emotional connection with a brand. Where brand values and consumer values intersect are shared values, and when these shared values are successfully tapped into, emotional connection ensues, which builds the loyalty, creates the engagement and ultimately drives the sell that every marketer wants. Blogging is one opportunity out of many that brands can use to show its personality and communicate with its consumers in a more emotional, personal way.

3. Create a culture that is inviting. Tony Hseih, CEO of Zappos, lives by the motto, “Your culture is your brand.” Put your culture out there and it will become an integral part of your brand to the value-driven consumer, who is often not only purchasing your product but also the idea of your brand.

Interested in hearing more? Check out the full webinar here. Have any tips to add to this list? We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments section!

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The Benefits of Having Your Business “In the News”

Margot HorganBlog, Clairemont Client News, Entry-Level PR Job, Hiring a PR Firm, 2 Comments on The Benefits of Having Your Business “In the News”

In addition to helping Clairemont clients get in the news, we love to help them merchandise their media hits. We’ve found that many organizations understand and are excited about the benefits of media exposure itself (awareness of the company, getting the attention of potential customers, increasing employee morale — just to name a few), but don’t typically think about what can be done with the story once it has been published, posted or aired. Below are a few of the many ways you can merchandise your news coverage and further maximize your PR budget:

awards-wall
Some of Clairemont’s awards displayed in the office.

By capitalizing on news exposure, your business can:

1. Compile publicity articles and material into a book that you can show to prospects, clients or investors. A publicity book or press book provides an easy way for these audiences to see who you are, what you do and what you are capable of doing. Showing that your company is newsworthy and credible will help reinforce why your company is desirable to work with compared to your competitors.

2. Many publications present awards in various categories. If you have won publication awards, feature them on your website, social media and advertisements. If you do not have any of these awards, you should work for them! Publication awards establish superiority over your competitors and third-party credibility for your work.

 3. Promote articles written about your products in your advertisements. This makes your ads more credible. In advertising your company and products, referencing previous publicity (i.e., “As seen in Southern Living Magazine…”) you are referencing good things that others have said about you, which can help establish credibility with consumers.

 4. Send articles to industry opinion leaders. Consumers value what opinion leaders say or think about a product or company. Many view them as “in the know” regarding their field of expertise. Sending opinion leaders articles about your company and its products forges a positive relationship with them, meaning you are more likely to get their free word-of-the-mouth promotion.

 5. Include your published articles on your website and share through social media. Articles serve as valuable content for your website and your social media channels. Make sure the articles are easy to access. Give article summaries so visitors can quickly get the message without having to read the entire document.

 6. Use your articles to get more publicity. Carefully! Sharing one outlet’s story of your company with another news outlet can be risky. It can cause the second editor to say that the story has already been done. However, done in the right way, existing coverage can reinforce your newsworthy-status and potentially help the editor think to see the value of another story idea about your company. Perhaps more effective than directly sharing coverage with other news contacts is building a strong base of media coverage that can easily be found online for reporters who might decide to research your company in consideration of covering it. We often see this to be the case with our clients who are growing into having a regional or national story. When we pitch that higher-tiered media contact, chances are, he/she will Google our client. We want the results to show steady local and perhaps trade coverage.

What are the ways you merchandise your news coverage? For more ideas, leave your email address and we will send you our complete list.

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Concentration is Key in a World Full of Distractions

Margot HorganBlog, Entry-Level PR Job, Free Advice1 Comment on Concentration is Key in a World Full of Distractions

A new year brings new challenges and resolutions for every one. With my long list of goals I wish to accomplish in 2013, one of the most important is to improve my concentration – whether in social situations or work-related assignments. To put it simply – I want to be more present in the now.

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While today’s world of new media and technology surely makes life much easier in many ways, especially by providing means of entertainment, it also enables us to become more easily distracted. Here are a few tips I have found to be effective in helping improve my concentration in a world full of diversions:

  • “Be a parrot” – Put what you hear or read into your own words. In conversations, repeat what the other person said into your own words. This will help clarify exactly what is being discussed. Likewise, when reading or studying, re-writing information into simpler terms will help cognition.
  • Limit distractions – Don’t constantly have your cell phone attached to your hip. Checking your Facebook or skimming your Twitter feed can easily eat up a large chunk productivity time. Be more conscious to set aside time for personal tasks after your work is completed.
  • Make a to-do list – It’s easy to become consumed and distracted with a day’s long list of tasks. Instead of worrying about what you need to accomplish in a day, it is much easier to write everything down by order of importance. Put the most important tasks at the top of your list and create a time frame for when each task should to be started and completed.
  • Highlight – Highlighting key points helps you engage in active reading. By focusing on the main points, you can more quickly understand and recognize purpose behind the material.

Do you have any tips to share?

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