Category: Public Relations

WHAT DOES A PR AGENCY DO? PDQ Blogger Campaign

Tracy LathanBlog, Case Studies, Public Relations, Restaurant PR + Hospitality PR, , , , 2 Comments on WHAT DOES A PR AGENCY DO? PDQ Blogger Campaign

Client: PDQ (People Dedicated to Quality)

Situational Analysis

PDQ, which stands for People Dedicated to Quality, is a fast-casual restaurant that specializes in hand-battered chicken tenders and offers a full menu of fresh, made-to-order items, including daily cut fries, hand-spun milkshakes and fresh salads. Founded in Tampa, Florida in 2011, PDQ opened its first North Carolina location at the end of 2012 and now has five locations in the Triangle. As PDQ quickly expanded in the area, managers wanted to introduce moms and families to the restaurant and build awareness of the company’s brand.

PDQ turned to Clairemont Communications to introduce influential moms to one of the newest fast-casual dining options and raise awareness about the restaurant’s dedication to freshness and quality. With no microwaves or freezers in the restaurant, Clairemont wanted to educate moms that there are healthier options available when they need to feed their families on the go. Clairemont created an event that directly targeted PDQ’s key audience of moms and in turn created loyal PDQ brand ambassadors.

Planning

Based on our primary and secondary research, Clairemont established the following objectives to achieve brand awareness for PDQ:

  1. Increase awareness of PDQ by securing at least five bloggers to attend the event.
  2. Secure 15 social media mentions.

We offered two seating times – a late lunch and an early dinner – to better increase our chances of coordinating with their schedules. Since PDQ is a family restaurant, we also decided to open the event to the bloggers and their families so they would get the true experience.

Because the Clairemont team knew that the bloggers would be live tweeting and posting pictures on Instagram, we created a document with the attendees’ handles so we could make sure PDQ’s social media team tagged them and responded accordingly. Additionally, we worked to identify which bloggers had allergy concerns and coordinated with PDQ to develop a document that detailed menu items’ ingredients to answer any allergen or dietary concerns.

Execution

To maximize engagement in-person and through social media, Clairemont focused its efforts for the mom blogger event in the following areas:

  • Creating the Dining Experience for Moms: To get the full experience, we directed them to the counter to order directly from the menu. As most of them had never been to PDQ, we encouraged them to ask the staff questions. This allowed employees to demonstrate their knowledge of the brand and its menu, while showcasing their excitement for PDQ. It also allowed the bloggers to experience how easily menu items can be customized as part of a regular PDQ visit and not just at a special event.
  • Engaging the Kids: With two moms on the Clairemont team, we know that the key to happy moms is happy kids! The children of the mom bloggers were treated as VIPs at the event. They were given behind-the-scenes Fresh Tours of the kitchen where they were invited to make their own shakes and to try the “potato punch down” that PDQ uses to make fries.
  • Onsite Support: Two members from the Clairemont team staffed each of the sessions to engage with the bloggers, distribute information and take pictures to be shared on PDQ’s social media channels.

Evaluation

The PDQ executive team attributes this event to helping put the brand on the map in the Triangle region, and Clairemont successfully exceeded our objectives within our budget as follows:

  1. Secured attendance of 14 bloggers, exceeding our goal of five, which ultimately resulted in 10 blog posts. In aggregate, these 10 blog sites receive approximately 212,865 unique site visitors per month.
  2. Secured 21 social media mentions, exceeding our goal of 15 posts, which were visible to more than 42,000 combined followers.

Additionally, the bloggers provided feedback, stating that this was one of the best-planned and executed blogger events they had attended. They were impressed by the food, service, the allergy information and the special way their children were treated. Overall, Clairemont effectively engaged a group of vocal, visible bloggers, many of whom have become regular customers and PDQ brand advocates.

 

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The Beauty of Raleigh PR: Day 24 – Smart TV

Jasmin SessomsBlog, Entry-Level PR Job, Public Relations, , ,

Meet the Coopers. An average American family. Meet dad, a widower and a father. The Coopers win a “house of the future” with a cyber housemaid named PAT (“Personal Applied Technology”). But the house goes haywire, and it’s up to the family to defeat the system. In 1999, Smart House was released by Disney. In 2015, our world is getting closer and closer to this technologically advanced experience that Walt Disney portrayed some 16 years ago. Computers are taking a leading role in our lives.

From the Jetsons‘ flying cars and moving walkways, today’s technology has evolved to reflect some of these early animations. These developments, however, have fostered an overarching concern in the minds of many Americans: Big Brother is watching you. First, be careful what you say on your land line. Then, don’t write anything incriminating via email or text. All of these things could possibly be taken be a third party and used against you. Next thing you know, you’re a “person of interest” on a governmental watch list–or so the story goes.

While watching the news this morning, I got a slightly more frightening Big Brother update. Samsung TVs, just like the one I was watching in the privacy of my bedroom, could possibly be collecting my conversations and sending them to a third party. Samsung is warning its customers about discussing personal information in front of the television set. The policy states that the TV will be listening to your every word, waiting for a command.

With media pitching as one of our areas of expertise at Clairemont, I wonder if we will soon live in a world where people begin to abandon the TV in fear. Will technology bring more bad than good in our society, causing us to adopt older methods of communication? Or will I soon be flying into work? Those are just a few tidbits to think about before sitting down in front of the television and airing your dirty laundry.

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.

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What Does a PR Agency Do? T.MAC Restaurant Opening

Sarah HattmanBlog, Case Studies, Public Relations, Restaurant PR + Hospitality PR, , ,

Client: T.MAC

Situational Analysis: The original T.MAC was founded in Atlanta, Georgia in 1979. More than 30 years later the company has grown to include 30 restaurants – 25 of which are in Georgia. With the majority of its restaurants located in its home state, it is no surprise that T.MAC is well known there. However, T.MAC executives realized the company’s brand recognition wasn’t as strong outside of Georgia.

Until 2014, T.MAC was known as Taco Mac. In the restaurant’s early days, the founders had enough money to revamp the kitchen or change the sign outside the building that was once home to a taco stand. Ultimately, the kitchen remodel won and Taco Mac was born. The problem is that Taco Mac is known for its signature wings, not tacos. In fact, there is only one taco on its menu. T.MAC dropped the “aco” before it opened its first Triangle restaurant in Cary, but its team of executives knew they needed to do more to establish brand recognition in the months leading up to its opening, and they hired Clairemont Communications.

Planning: Based on extensive primary and secondary research, Clairemont established the objectives as follows:

  1. Develop local community relationships with T.MAC ahead of the opening, engaging at least 40 community influencers.
  2. Introduce media to T.MAC, securing at least 10 local print news stories and 25 blog and social media posts.
  3. Arrange meetings with local high schools and facilitate at least two sponsorships.
  4. Select two local non-profit organizations and donate a portion of opening week proceeds to those organizations.

Execution: In order to effectively meet the primary objectives, Clairemont focused its efforts on the following areas:

  • Local High School Sponsorships: By building relationships with local schools,  T.MAC was able to introduce itself to Cary families as part of the community and position itself as a place to hang out with teammates, friends and family. With a fall opening of the restaurant, high school football sponsorships provided opportunities to show T.MAC’s community involvement and give Cary families a reason to check out the restaurant.
  • Clairemont Social: Clairemont hosted a T.MAC social at The Clairemont House. The purpose was to give our network of contacts and influencers the opportunity to learn more about T.MAC, sample food from the menu and taste its local beer offerings and meet the T.MAC team. We hosted approximately 60 guests including media and local personalities, local business owners, hospitality professionals, leaders in the community, bloggers and foodies.
  • Media Preview Lunch: We invited targeted media to a special preview lunch at the restaurant two days prior to the opening. This allowed media to preview the restaurant and meet on-one-one with key members of the T.MAC team.
  • VIP Preview: Clairemont compiled a list of city officials, dignitaries, local media and local university administration for T.MAC to invite to special VIP dinner the evening before T.MAC opened to the public. T.MAC hosted 125 VIP’s who were able to sample the menu and beer selection for the complete T.MAC “experience.”
  • Check Presentation Event: Before T.MAC’s opening, Clairemont arranged and recommended two local non-profit organizations for T.MAC to support with money raised during the restaurant’s opening week. Less than a month after its opening, T.MAC donated $2,000 to both Life Experiences and JDFR each of the organizations. Clairemont arranged at check presentation ceremony and invited media to attend the event highlighting T.MAC as business that supports the community it serves.

Evaluation: The creative, tiered campaign exceeded expectations by engaging more than 75 target community influencers at the social at The Clairemont House, friends and family night and the VIP preview. We exceeded our goal media coverage and secured 10 traditional media placements 38 social media and blog posts, introducing T.MAC to the area. We also exceeded our goal and secured sponsorships with three local high schools. Clairemont met its goal and arranged for T.MAC to donate money to two local non-profit organizations that support the community.

We anticipate that we’ll continue to work on our goal of trying all of the beers that T.MAC has on tap for at least a few more months! In the meantime, we hope you enjoyed this Tasty Tuesday post, and stay tuned for more restaurant PR case studies that showcase the work Clairemont is doing with a variety of types of food service organizations.

Pilsner Glass

 

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The Beauty of Raleigh PR: Day 18 – Writing

Jasmin SessomsBlog, Entry-Level PR Job, Public Relations,

When I told my friends I was entering PR, I was told there would be a lot of writing. As a recent college grad I was pretty confident in my skills. My research papers always scored high in school; I figured that writing for work would be pretty simplistic.

I have been at Clairemont nearly four weeks, and I now realize just how much writing is involved in PR. Not only do I have my blog post assignment for the first 30 days, but I also have other assignments beginning to pile up on my desk.

After writing a few blog posts, I discovered I have a few common mistake areas: too many commas, not enough periods, incomplete thoughts and stylistic discrepancies on the proper way to write dates and time.

Here are a few of the top tips that I have learned from my colleagues at Clairemont about strengthening my writing skills. If you need a refresher on AP formatting these tips may help you out as well. Even if you are a PR professional, it doesn’t hurt to brush up on the fundamentals of writing to make sure all of your blog posts and client work are perfection.

Here are a few tips:

1) Write to be understood by your reader, not yourself.

2) Keep the article concise and to the point.

3) Keep paragraphs short.

4) Avoid using too many adverbs and adjectives.

5) Try not to use the same word twice in one sentence.

6) Make sure phrases are parallel and make sense together.

7) Try to always use third person. Only on rare occasions do you use first person or second person.

8) Use active voice vs. passive voice.

9) Any time you can find more the one word to say something use the most precise word.

10) Refer to the AP Stylebook or colleagues for help.

Although these tips may seem generic, they have surely been a lifesaver for me!

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.

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Copy Cat: Super Bowl Edition

Dana PhelpsBlog, Copy Cat, Marketing, Public Relations, , ,

This year we are bringing back our Copy Cat blog posts, a timely decision in light of all the debate sparked by the recent PRWeek article making the case for PR students no longer needing writing classes. While I agree that PR is much, much more than writing, it remains an essential element of what we do. My friend and fellow Counselors Academy member, Abbie Fink, says it well in her recent post on the HMA Public Relations blog.

As Abbie explains, the types of writing public relations professionals are asked to generate on a daily basis varies. We might switch from penning an in-depth strategy document or white paper to coming up with quippy copy for a social media post or email marketing subject line. Sometimes, the shorter the copy, the harder it is to write an effective message. That’s why most of our previous Copy Cat posts (and I suspect future ones, too) feature taglines, captions, intro copy and other snippets of writing that either make us cringe or wish we would have thought of it ourselves!

Today’s Copy Cat spotlight is on Byrdie Beauty and definitely fits into the later. Not only is it cute copy, but the writer has done something we’ve all been asked to do as PR pros, and that is to try to connect two seemingly unrelated things. How many of you communicators out there were asked to do something with the Super Bowl for your brand? It is easier for some than others. For example, our client PDQ is offering a “Super Deal for Super Sunday” with a BOGO on fresh chicken Tenders. Football and food. It is a natural fit.

But what about cosmetics? Unless you are Katy Perry’s stylist or represent one of the product brands she endorses, you might not be able to score a touchdown. (Sorry. That should make it in the Copy Cat: Terribly Corny Edition.) That’s why I love what Byrdie did with the email subject line that caught my attention: 9 Super Bowl-proof lipsticks that won’t come off on your nachos.

I like to ponder the thought process for other people’s good copy. I bet this one started with the football and food connection I already mentioned. Football…food…lips…lipstick. Do you think they got it in the first try? I bet not. Can you imagine the rejects?

9 Super Bowl-proof lipsticks that are real winners. Bleh.

9 Super Bowl-proof lipsticks that will make your man ask Katy WHO? Perhaps a little much.

9 Super Bowl-proof shades that will have you flapping your wings and licking your lips.  Uh, no.

It just isn’t that easy! I also think that throwing in a nacho reference when talking about all things style, beauty and fashion is just unexpected enough to be an attention-getter. That’s why I consider this copy from Byrdie to be a total score.

 

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