Tag: Clairemont Communications

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 21 – Super Bowl

Jasmin SessomsBlog, Entry-Level PR Job, Marketing, Social Media + Influencer Engagement, , , ,

Although the Super Bowl to most may seem like a thing of the past, fans and foes are still discussing the recent choices made by artist Katy Perry.

Katy Perry’s “flame” dress in which she opened the Super Bowl halftime show was made of detailed orange patent leather worth $15,000 to $20,000, according to ABC News. It is also stated that she worked with the designer over two months to perfect the design. It is reported that her finale dress also cost a whopping $15,000 and had to be slipped on by Perry in just 45 seconds. With four total costume changes, Katy Perry is the only halftime show artist to have changed this many times in Super Bowl history.

From a PR standpoint, I think Katy Perry did the show justice. Not only did she embrace her own identity, but she also left something for her fans to talk about. So I think this falls under branding as well as the importance of social media to PR. The order of public relations and branding is a key difference between the two. Developing a brand must come before engaging in public relations, advertising, marketing or any other communications-related company activity.

At Clairemont, we take a tactics-agnostic approach to devising PR and marketing strategies using both traditional tools such as media relations and event planning and newer tools such as content marketing and social media. We acknowledge the importance of social media followings to help a brand, and Perry has an amazing following on her accounts. With 64.6 million twitter followers and 14.2 million followers on Instagram, Katy Perry is no stranger to social media.

Why? We live in a world of media hype and skepticism where advertising has lost some of its power to influence. Marketers are leaning more to word-of-mouth programs to create the sought after buzz for a brand. Katy Perry does just that, with her larger than life set to include a Lion to ride in on and dancing Sharks her name was trending all over social media channels and even received many spots on the news.

According to reports, this is the most watched Super Bowl half time show in history. Good job Katy Perry — we heard you “Roar” loud and clear.

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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The Beauty of Raleigh PR: Day 19 – Photo Day

Jasmin SessomsBlog, Entry-Level PR Job, Raleigh PR Agency,

A Day in Photos


For nearing my one-month anniversary, I got a special treat from my boss.

Mrs. Hughens has me obsessed with Vanilla Chai. I found her secret stash in the cabinet.

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Cherith works diligently on multiple projects.

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Sarah gets comfortable. We try not to stress at work!

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Mrs. Hughens and Reid exchange laughs over scones from the Yellow Dog Bakery.

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 My workload slowly piles up each day.

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For us, to-do lists are always helpful. IMG_5269

Need to find an office supply? Fret not; Mrs. Hughens is the organization fairy.

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The AP Stylebook has become my best friend.

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We occasionally trade our desks for couches.

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If you are in need of an agency, head to The Clairemont House. Our team is  transforming PR and social media from “blah” to “voila”!

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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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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The Beauty of Raleigh PR: Day 15 – Dear Jasmin

Jasmin SessomsBlog, Entry-Level PR Job, Wonderfully Random, , , ,

A Letter to my 18-Year-Old Self

Dear Younger Self,

Right now, I know you are focused on who likes you and maybe even how you will fit in at school. The summer is ending and college awaits you. I know that college seems intimidating and you fear rejection. Don’t fret, my dear, you will do just fine.

You fear disappointing your parents. I want to tell you that it will be okay. Your parents couldn’t be more proud of you. Everything you’ve ever wanted is over there on the other side.

There’s independence. Acceptance. There’s college and a career — one with dignity and a livable wage. There are friends ones that you will cherish; the best you’ll ever have. There is love, so much love from the ones that matter most. There are tests and trials. There is some failure. Oh, my darling, there are some rainy days. Some days you will feel so blue, know that trouble doesn’t last always and you will pull through.

Here’s what you need to know or what you already know but may not fully believe just yet:

What if I told you that next year you would step out of your circle of friends and run for Miss Sophomore, representing the entire class of 2015? What if I told you that you would win? What if I told you that this accomplishment would open so many doors for you in the university?

How about if I told you that in three and a half years you would graduate early with honors? Jasmin, you are the first in your family to finish in less than four years.

What if I told you that on your graduation day, your future boss would send you an email requesting to meet you? What if I told you that in two short weeks you would enter the working world with a full-time job? That one email would be the start of a brand new career.

So walk on campus with your head high and shoulders back. It will all come together soon.

With all of my love,

Your older self

 

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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