Category: Marketing

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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Adopt or Dump a Social Media Challenge?

Cherith AndesBlog, Marketing, Public Relations, Raleigh PR Agency, Social Media + Influencer Engagement, , , , ,

Everybody’s doing it. Or more accurately, everybody did it.

The recent ALS Ice Bucket Challenge ignited one of the year’s largest grassroots social media campaigns with more than 8 million videos posted on YouTube alone. In a matter of months, the challenge raised more than $100 million for the ALS Association from approximately 3 million donors, including celebrities ranging from bubbly Justin Bieber to grim-faced Lady Gaga.

It wasn’t just a dump. The Ice Bucket Challenge became a tidal wave, an international campaign that no doubt will earn an accolade in the Guinness World Book of Records or a spot on Time Magazine’s top ten lists. An iconic demonstration of our nation’s generosity and passion.

Naturally, other organizations were eager to join the fun and show support with their own icy baths. And as clients sought our counsel, we encouraged them to consider two key questions before deciding to adopt—or dump—any social media challenge.

1. Who Are You?

Take a moment and reflect. In fact, feel free to loop the 1978 rock classic “Who Are You?” in the background during your self-assessment (we’re fans of mood music). Does the purpose of the challenge support your company’s own core values? Does the outcome align with your organization’s mission and vision?

Don’t get me wrong. Social media thrives on spontaneity, and in fact, it’s often “off-the-cuff” videos that build the strongest personal rapport with your audience. But viral trends, such as social media challenges or picture contests, can carry weighty messages that warrant careful consideration before your team invests in an endeavor. Fortunately, many campaigns, such as the ALS Challenge, support positive change for worthy causes—and it can be an easy choice to partner with these efforts.

2. How will you take it from icy to spicy?

Viral challenges offer the perfect opportunity to showcase your organization’s personality. How can you craft your own memorable moment by adding an extra dose of creative pizzazz?

Newland Communities, the nation’s largest private developer and a Clairemont client, stepped up their game when they accepted the ice bucket challenge. Rather than follow the typical backyard-bucket pattern, Newland incorporated a key icon from its own company—a dump truck—and drenched its team with a truckload of ice and water. In addition, the team bypassed the garden hose and used water from a nearby pond, addressing public concerns that the challenge wasted water and supporting Newland’s own commitment to sustainability. In the muddy mayhem that ensued, Newland created a video that earned a spot on the ABC 11 morning news.

Cause + creativity = a hefty dose of fun!

 

 

 

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Visual Fatigue? Laughter to the Rescue!

Cherith AndesBlog, Marketing, Public Relations, , ,

Intern Stephanie Zirker shares the marketing prescription to combat society’s visual fatigue.

As a society, we’re flooded, and it’s tiring us out. Our culture is awash with visual imagery: infographics that appeal to our inner statistician, artistic logos plastered across every gadget and live snapchats and Instagram feeds that vie for our short attention spans. The very act of filtering rampant  stimulation exhausts the human brain, leading to a condition known as “visual fatigue.”

Mayer’s Five Keys

Richard Mayer, American educational psychologist at the University of California Santa Barbara, published an extensive study on how the human brain processes visual traffic. He narrowed the essential principles for effective visual communication to five core precepts: continuity, coherence, signaling and segmenting.

Aesthetically engaging objects incorporate both words and images, a quality known as continuity. Effective imagery also streamlines information and demonstrates coherency, ensuring that the text coincides with the graphics. Signaling relates to the importance of connecting all the crucial points to form one comprehensive argument. Lastly, visual division of the content helps to narrow the viewer’s focus.

Mayer’s findings are calculated and constructive. However, there is one component not mentioned that warrants greater attention: the human component.

The Sixth Key

Last semester while studying in Florence, Italy, I was struck by (wait for it!) the city’s street signs. Yes! I said street signs! Some clever individual or company would replace the otherwise mundane traffic indicators with humorous – and sometimes edgy – cartoon versions. Following the discovery of these little gems, every stroll morphed into a scavenger hunt to document all of the creative signs I could find.

Fish Street Sign from Italy Stephanie Sign 2 Stephanie Sign 3

Never have I been more intrigued by road signs in my life. The signs sparked frequent conversation among students and even earned their own Facebook photo album. Why so much attention? Because they made me laugh.

Go on. Laugh a Little.

People’s strongest memories recall moments that made them laugh, cry or even blush. While visual communication in the professional world should never aim embarrass or sadden to win favor of viewers, emotions leave impressions. Videos that go viral or photos that attract thousands of Facebook likes more often than not incite some chuckles.

Remember Psy’s “Gangnam Style” (2,055,146,326 views) or “Charlie Bit My Finger” (749,153,849 views)? And of course, who can forget Saturday Night Live’s Blue Oyster Cult parody, “More Cowbell”? As Christopher Walken so famously said in that skit, “I’ve got a fever, and the only prescription is more cowbell!” America collectively memorialized that performance and still incorporates it into our daily culture.

Humor isn’t the magic bullet, but effective communication requires careful balance of Mayer’s four principles…and a little tickling of the funny bone.

 

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Direct Mail…Effective Marketing or Waste of Paper?

Tracy LathanBlog, Marketing, Public Relations, , , , 2 Comments on Direct Mail…Effective Marketing or Waste of Paper?

I don’t know about you, but I am pretty quick to throw out direct mail these days. I barely have time to sort through the important stuff. I used to enjoy flipping through the catalogues, but with the exception of a select few, I have started tossing those as well.

In fact, it was a catalogue that sparked the idea for this blog post. Or should we say, the massive mailer from Restoration Hardware that landed on my front steps a few weeks ago. This thing was unreal…not sure how my mailman even carried it from the truck. My first reaction was…what a waste of paper! And being a PR person, my second thought was how much RH had to allocate from their marketing budget just for the printing and shipping costs for this beast.

Apparently, I was not alone. After doing a little digging it turns out quite a few people were turned off by this tactic. Articles like The Internet Tells RH What It Can Do With Its 17-Pound Catalog showcase some of the creative ways people have used their mailer. The response on social media channels has been extremely negative. Someone even created a Tumblr account, Deforestation Hardware, that is seeking to organize a mass return of the catalogs back to a Restoration Hardware location in L.A.

Surely some research must have been done for them to make the call to mass produce and ship these to households across America. Certainly they considered there would be a negative response by some, especially those who are environmentally conscious. And with so much shopping done online these days, are catalogues even necessary anymore?

So it got me thinking…is direct mail still an effective marketing tool? For all the marketing professionals out there, do you use still direct mail or catalogues as a part of your marketing mix? And for the consumers, effective tactic or waste of paper? We would love to hear your thoughts!

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Pitch Perfect

Tracy LathanBlog, Marketing, Professional Development, Public Relations, 1 Comment on Pitch Perfect

Those of us in the PR business have no doubt been asked by a client at one time or another, “How do we get more media coverage?” Unfortunately, the answer to this question is never simple since there are a lot of moving targets in terms of why some stories get covered and some do not. And, while a good story is a good story, I have found that the strength of the pitch is often the deciding factor in what ends up in the media.

Successful media pitching is an acquired skill…one that takes time, and often many failed attempts, to master. While there are always new techniques to learn and approaches to try, here are a few tips that have served me well over the years.

1.Tell a good story. Everyone loves a good story. A well told story can bring the most boring of product launches to life. Stories are personable, relatable. Here’s a great example…the goal was to help our client, C.J. Scarlet, create buzz and awareness about a new device she was bringing to market. But, it was her personal history and background that intrigued the reporter and made it an interesting story. Clayton woman’s high-tech jewelry packs crime-fighting punch.

2. Pick up the phone. With email and all the social channels readily available at our fingertips these days, it can be easy to forget to just pick up the phone. In my experience, the best media pitching successes have been when I was able to talk to a reporter live on the phone and pitch the story to them directly.

3. Think like the audience. Always think like the audience while planning your pitch. What aspect will be most relevant to them? Then, be sure to acknowledge the target audience in your pitch. For example, “I wanted to let you know of a new product that will be of interest to your readers…”

4. Tie your story to a larger trend. You will have a much better chance of getting a reporter or blogger to cover your story if you are able to connect it to a larger trend. Look for national news stories or trends and find a way to make a connection. Last year, we were introducing a revolutionary doorknob and decided to lead with the pitch of how families are very busy these days and often have their hands full, rather than focusing soley on the doorknob. Tying the doorknob pitch to a larger trend translated into prime media coverage, including this story from Handy Magazine: Become a One Trip Champ.

5. Timing is everything. This cliché could not ring more true in terms of media pitching. While we certainly can’t control a natural disaster or other emergency situation, you want to make sure there is not a big event or media story breaking when you plan to contact a reporter. It’s also important to consider time of the day and day of the week depending on who you are pitching. Which brings me to my next point…

6. Do your homework. Regardless of if you are pitching a Wall Street Journal reporter, or a local food blogger, it is critical for you to do your homework. Check out what types of stories they usually cover and read what they have covered recently before contacting them. Find out how they like to be contacted and what time of day might be best.

Like I said, media pitching is an art that takes time to master…so if you’re looking for media coverage for your business, make sure to find a PR team that is well-versed in the art of media relations. Interested in more? See our award-winning media relations for Triangle Family Services’ 10th Annual Gingerbread Benefit.

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