Tag: award entries

Clairemont Clients Nab Business Awards

Cherith AndesBlog, Clairemont Client News, In Our Community, , , , ,

Hang the streamers, pop the bubbly and cut the cake! Little else gets us as excited as when we celebrate our clients’ achievements. We’re thrilled to congratulate Shannon McSwiney, marketing director of Newland Communities, and Lindsay Rice, owner of Vita Vite in downtown Raleigh, on their recent 2017 Women in Business awards.

This accolade recognizes accomplished and outstanding leaders in the Triangle renowned for industry innovation, community involvement, thought leadership and dynamic change. The panel of judges, comprised of some of the Triangle’s top business personnel, selected Lindsay and Shannon from approximately 100 other nominees. 

Wanna know a little bit more about our superstars?

Shannon McSwiney

Marketing Director, Newland Communities

As the marketing director for Newland Communities — the nation’s largest privately held developer, Shannon leads real estate growth and development across three master-planned communities in North Carolina. She researches, develops and implements marketing strategies for RiverLights in Wilmington, Wendell Falls in Wendell and Briar Chapel in Chapel Hill — overseeing everything from brand development to team development. Oh, and she’s also a mom of two fantastic kiddos, a former tap dancer and carries the title of Pepper Festival Pepper Queen from 2011.

Lindsay Rice

Owner, Vita Vite

Lindsay Rice, entrepreneur and founder of Vita Vite, is pursuing a lifelong vision to discover, curate and share hidden treasures and cultures from across the globe. In December of 2015, she opened Vita Vite, a wine bar and art gallery in the downtown Raleigh Warehouse District that features southern art, southern flavors and global sips. A mentor for the Boys & Girls Club of Wake County and a member of the Junior League of Raleigh, Lindsay also has a few hidden talents. For example, she’s an accomplished photographer who launched her own notecard line! Next time you stop by Vita Vite, be sure to ask her about her two pups, some of the cutest pooches in the Triangle.

It’s one of the wonderful things we get to do. We love partnering with our clients not only to position them as candidates but also to celebrate their well-deserved success with them.

Want to learn more about what we do as a PR agency? How about a barn raising, the chicken dance or an Instagram game of tag? We’ll stop at nothing to get results for our clients.

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What Does a PR Agency Do? Gratitude Video

Sarah HattmanAwards, Blog, Case Studies, , , , , ,

It’s a well-known fact that the five-year anniversary is a critical milestone for any business, and it’s one that Clairemont Communications achieved in 2015. Looking ahead to our sixth anniversary in 2016, we took our love of dancing to a whole new level and created a gratitude video to celebrate our success in a fun, creative way.

Strategy

Clairemont opted to celebrate with a virtual dance party set to the tune of Andy Grammer’s “Good to be Alive.” We felt it was the perfect match because its positive lyrics expressed our sentiment that we were happy and grateful to be in business doing work that we love, and that our hard work had paid off with wonderful clients for six amazing years.

Execution

  • Stepping out of our Comfort Zone: It’s something we often ask our clients to do for us in the way of media interviews, public speaking and being in the spotlight. Therefore, we felt that it was important for us to demonstrate that we don’t ask them to do anything we wouldn’t do ourselves. Instead of using Andy Grammer’s voice, we opted to sing the lyrics in our own voices, something that was entirely out of our comfort zone as a group.
  • Clients: As a way to thank our clients, we wanted to celebrate our success together. We went into multiple kitchens and community centers, a restaurant, bar and produce warehouse. We even captured one client dancing on the roof of his business!
  • Families: Clairemont also wanted to thank our families in the video, so we invited them to join us on the front porch of the Clairemont House for dancing.
  • Mentors: To honor Mike Herman, a PR mentor who passed away in 2015, we opted to include information about the Michael Lee Herman Memorial Award Fund at the end of the video. We also recognized other mentors who have helped us in our PR journeys.

Results

At the completion of the project, we met every goal, exceeded expectations and produced the following results:

  • Clairemont surpassed its goal of 10,000 views in the first year by receiving 10,000 views within the first four months of the video’s release, and the number continues to climb.
  • Much to our surprise and delight, clients enthusiastically said yes to our request to dance with us on camera. The video featured nine clients in the video.

Clairemont’s “Good to be Alive” video earned a Best in Division for Digital Communications at the Raleigh Public Relation from the Raleigh Public Relations Society. We are proud that this is one of the 137 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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What Does a PR Agency Do? Community Relations Case Study

Josephine ButlerAwards, Blog, Case Studies, Marketing, Public Relations, Raleigh PR Agency, Social Media + Influencer Engagement, , , , , , , , , , , ,
ABC 11’s Angela Hampton poses with Santa Claus, himself!

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 recently recognized 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: Triangle Family Services, a United Way of the Greater Triangle partner agency that has been dedicated to assisting families in need for 75 years, providing programs focused on financial stability, family safety and mental health services to more than 7,000 area residents.

Objective: Provide media relations support for the Annual Gingerbread Benefit, the premier fundraising event for TFS, with the following goals in mind:

  1. Use the event to boost overall awareness of TFS and the role it plays in the community by securing local news stories
  2. Help TFS repeat revenue generation of the 2010 event, totaling $93,165 (the largest in the event’s history)
  3. Increase attendance of new donors to help address an overall challenge facing TFS – its aging donor base

Execution: In addition to providing media relations support, Clairemont team members served on the event planning committee for the Gingerbread Benefit.

  • Research: The Clairemont team researched the Gingerbread Benefits held in   previous years. We interviewed the organization’s director and event co-chairs to determine their expectations for the event. Additionally, we took a look at what other popular holiday events were going on in the Triangle around the same time. We used this information to identify what types of events would garner the most attendance and what types of auction items would secure the most interest from bidders.
  • Planning: The Clairemont team participated in monthly meetings and calls to begin planning for the event. Based on our research, we identified several target audiences, including first-time (or new) donors, as well as outlined objectives for our media relations support.
  • Execution – pre-event: Previous pitching experience, including pitching the 2010 Gingerbread Benefit, taught us that local reporters often feel overwhelmed by the number of pitches they receive surrounding holiday benefits. Because of this, we knew we had to get creative with our pitches and took the following approach:  Business angle: Any information or updates surrounding the corporate sponsors of the event, we submitted to business outlets and reporters. Business angle: Any information or updates surrounding the corporate sponsors of the event, we submitted to business outlets and reporters. Chef pitch: Because the event featured gingerbread houses created and then donated for auction by local celebrity chefs, we identified the area’s most recognized local food blog, the News & Observer’s Mouthful, as an appropriate target. With the idea in mind that building gingerbread houses offered excellent visuals, we also successfully pitched local TV stations. Attendance drivers: We submitted event information to local online event calendars. Additionally, we issued two releases on Business Wire to share with reporters and boost SEO.
  • Execution – onsite logistics: The Clairemont team provided onsite support the day of the event, with one team member serving as volunteer coordinator. Because of our strong ties to ABC 11’s Angela Hampton, the emcee for the event, the Clairemont team also served as her point of contact. Additionally, we took photographs of the gingerbread houses as they were being delivered and shared them via the Triangle Family Services Facebook page. Tagging participating vendors and chefs created last-minute buzz that enticed additional people to come to the event that evening.
  • Results: Our media relations campaign was a success! Here’s how we measured up to each of our stated objectives:
  1. Through the placement of nine news stories including interviews on ABC 11 and NBC 17, we strengthened brand recognition of TFS and the Gingerbread Benefit. Additionally, advance coverage from outlets such as Cary Magazine and Mouthful, gave the event credibility and helped increase ticket sales.
  2. Clairemont helped raise total event revenue by 3 percent from 2010 and 174 percent from 2009.
  3. Tickets purchased by new donors represented 50 percent of all ticket sales (a 20 percent increase from last year).

All in all, our efforts were a total success and helped us exceed each of our objectives. Now, we’re already kicking things into high gear to begin planning (and pitching) the organization’s 10th Annual Gingerbread Benefit and 75th anniversary! Stay tuned…

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Clairemont Shares Award-Winning Advice with Raleigh PR Group

Josephine ButlerBlog, Public Relations, Raleigh PR Agency, , , , , , , ,
Dana strikes a pose with Eva Hornak, awards chair for RPRS, at the May luncheon.

Last week, I had the pleasure of attending the Raleigh Public Relations Society May luncheon, where a panel of past Sir Walter Raleigh Awards recipients shared advice on how to create award-winning entries. The group of panelists consisted of Raleigh PR agency experts including Clairemont’s very own CEO, Dana Hughens (did you know that last year, Clairemont Communications received 10 Sir Walter Raleigh Awards?).

I was excited to attend not just to hear Dana speak, but also because it was a great opportunity to jot down a few tips and tricks on how to make my own entries stand out. These are a few of my favorites:

1)   Have someone from the outside review your entry. This may mean having your client proof the entry, but someone at your agency who isn’t on the account could also work.

2)   Presentation is important. Impress the judges with your organizational skills and visual aesthetic.

3)   Write your entry early. Even though Sir Walter Raleigh Award entries aren’t due until around June, it’s a great idea to get started early. If you complete a project in February, go ahead and write the entry in February! Continue reading “Clairemont Shares Award-Winning Advice with Raleigh PR Group”

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