Tag: Facebook

What Does a PR Agency Do? Back-To-School Pitch

Jasmin SessomsBlog, Case Studies, Restaurant PR + Hospitality PR, , , , , ,

The Pitch

As a tactical component of Clairemont’s public relations strategy to reintroduce Il Palio, Chapel Hill’s iconic Italian restaurant, after the restaurant’s first renovation in 30 years and to gain exposure of the new chef, Chef Teddy Diggs, Clairemont leveraged the back-to-school season by highlighting Chef Teddy’s role as a parent. Recognizing that busy parents often struggle for fresh ideas for school lunches, we asked, “what does a top chef pack for his own children to eat?”

We selected targeted media and shared “Top Chef’s Top Tips for Back-to-School Lunches,” a series of kid-friendly recipes and photos designed to engage children and yield tasty, balanced lunches. We also offered college-friendly recipes upon request. These efforts resulted in articles, blogs and wide-spread posts on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Execution

  • Blogger Outreach: We targeted key mom bloggers and local media for a behind-the-scenes tour of the new restaurant before it was publicly unveiled. These bloggers were invited to join Chef Teddy in the kitchen to see his recipes being prepared and discuss issues important to them such as healthy, balanced meals and quality family time.
  • Media Materials: Clairemont Communications shared photos of Chef Teddy preparing lunches with his children in his own home kitchen for a personal touch. The photos and tips were incorporated into media pitches and sent to media contacts in order to help them visualize Chef Teddy’s fun approach to packing lunches with his children.
  • Coordinated Pitches: Creative and individualized pitches were used to pique the interest of targeted media contacts. For example, mom bloggers received a personal invitation to bring their children into Il Palio’s kitchen for a personal cooking session with Chef Teddy where they learned to make a special Nutella cookie.

Results

Il Palio’s reintroduction to the Triangle restaurant scene has been a success. As part of a larger, strategic campaign, Clairemont helped Il Palio engage with a targeted mom audience by finding a common connection through this Back-to-School pitch. This tactic exceeded expectations by securing five media placements and 10 social media posts, with a reach of more than 51,899 followers on Twitter alone, to generate additional buzz about Chef Teddy and his family friendly persona.

Want to see more about the restaurant PR work we do at Clairemont? Be sure to check out our Foodie Blog Posts!

 

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Blurred Lines: Social Media and The News

Sarah HattmanBlog, Social Media + Influencer Engagement, , , , , , , , ,

It has been nearly five years since I left television news for a career in public relations – or “the dark side,” as my friends and former colleagues in news call it. Five years isn’t a long time in the grand scheme of things, but it is plenty of time for social media to grow exponentially, shape the way newsrooms operate and change the way people consume news.

I remember it vividly. I was working at KRQE in Albuquerque, N.M. A colleague was walking out the door to cover a high-profile trial when the news director yelled from his office, “Don’t forget to live tweet!” It was 2009, and Twitter was exploding. During that year alone traffic on the site grew by 1,100 percent, and the total number of tweets increased by 1,400 percent.

Fast forward to 2015, and social media continues to become more and more intertwined with traditional media. Just a few weeks ago, I watched WTVD’s Stephanie Lopez record Facebook teases for her story about Dairy Queen’s Miracle Treat Day. Thinking about how social media is impacting journalism, I reached out to Sean Maroney, evening anchor at WNCN, and Andrea Griffith Cash, VP of content at Durham Magazine and Chapel Hill Magazine. I asked them to explain trends that they noticed developing in the world of news and social media.

  1. Sean: “Social Media is changing the landscape in T.V. More and more people say, ‘I saw your story on Facebook.’ It’s changing the consumption of media and the way we interact. They comment, they share, they’re engaged.”
  2. Andrea: “It used to be that I only had to consider if a pitch was good for our print products. Now, I run everything through several filters. Would this be a good print story? Would this make a nice blog post? Is it worthy of just a shout out on Twitter or Facebook? Could it work for our weekly e-newsletters?”
  3. Sean: “When I got my start more than 10 years ago, I was an intern on the assignments desk at WTVD. I would start my day with a list of about 60 numbers that I would call up and say, ‘You got anything for me today?’ That’s how we got our news – by calling the police department and other agencies to find out what was going on. Now we have a list of Twitter accounts that we follow.”
  4. Andrea: “For writers, that also means that their jobs aren’t finished when they turn in the story. Often, they are being asked to promote it on social media and possibly update it online, if it’s a news piece. They also might check online comments and respond to them. They might work on a video that ties in with the print piece. In a lot of ways, you could say the story is never finished.”
  5. Sean: “I recently moderated a social media panel as part of the State Department’s International Visitor Leadership Program. I told young journalists I understand that it is a race to be the first, but I encouraged them to be the first to get it right.”

Clearly, social media has changed the way members of the media report the news. How has social media changed the way you consume news?

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Instead of Giving “The Finger”

Cherith AndesBlog, Public Relations, Social Media + Influencer Engagement, , , , ,

Facebook “Poke” Dies, Raising Another “Pointed” Question

After what might possibly be Facebook’s shortest-lived app, the infamous Facebook “poke joke” died a silent death on Friday, May 9—sans headstone, eulogy or even so much as commemorative post.

And rightly so, you’ll agree, after a quick peek at the facts.

As legend has it, Zuckerburg developed the new Facebook Poke app (not to be confused with the original poke feature)  in less than two weeks. This “new” version touted the ability to grace your friends with videos and photos that self-destructed after 10 seconds (yes, you got it. A direct Snapchat clone.) After its premiere in late 2012, Facebook’s iOS poke app zipped around the market for a whoppin’ 16 months before fizzling into the social media graveyard (accompanied by loud Zuckerburg family drama).

Sad Day.

Except not. Originally, the 2004 inaugural Facebook poke started as a little digital tug on the sleeve: “Don’t forget about me.” “I’m here…and thinking about you.” “NO, REALLY. MESSAGE ME ALREADY.”

And for the last half-decade, social media apps have followed suit, morphing into one big sleeve-yanking trick after another to garner the attention of our family, friends and followers. Snapchat, the obvious rival for the Facebook poke, appeals to our miniscule attention spans while Instagram satisfies our unspoken yen for endless visual stimulation.

But recently, social media has done an about-face. Rather than eliciting attention, we’re desperately trying to silence the noise.

Shut up? There’s a button for that.

Twitter, for instance, just introduced a new button that enables you to “mute” chatty followers from your feed. Zap. Instant silence. Another app, “Shut Up! The Red Button” available on Google Play, allows you to tell a nearby friend to pipe down with the tap of a  button. Enjoy a similar, albeit slightly more jarring, experience with Smosh’s “iShutUp” that yells “shut up” in response to any nearby noises.

We’re dying for ways to unplug with apps like Freedom or Anti-Social that impose timed internet blackouts on your laptop. And just think: after decades of inventing ways to burn the midnight oil, we’ve now created systems like SleepStation to force us to quiet our minds and nod off.

The Newest Craze: Nothing.

We can’t help but crave it: blessed, golden silence.

So the death of the “new” Facebook poke is certainly nothing to mourn. (Did anyone even know it existed?) Rather, the shift is a reminder for us to invest in meaningful communication. Meaningful communication: this self-defined concept bequeaths us with the freedom—the permission—to step back and reevaluate our time.

You may find that tweets truly are the glue in your long-distance friendships. Or your evening Facebook chat and random Snapchat streams actually strengthen the bond among your best girlfriends. That’s all ok. Better than ok.

Tweet it. Mean it.

The medium can be irrelevant; the message is critical. So don’t bother adopting every latest app fad (the Facebook poke being a prime example). Instead, choose whatever Insta-Snap-Book-Tweet-a-gram actually works for you and your friends, and then do it: invest in meaningful messages to those who matter.

And if you’re ever in doubt, I’m pretty sure the post office still manufactures them good ‘ole postage stamps (and Target has quite the collection of chic personal stationery). Just pointing that out.

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Researchers Predict Facebook Lifespan

Margot HorganBlog, Social Media + Influencer Engagement, , , , , 2 Comments on Researchers Predict Facebook Lifespan

With flu season in full swing, it’s only fitting that researchers have extended epidemiological models of the disease outbreak to the tech world. And if you’re one of the 1.3 billion individuals addicted to Facebook, you better get your tissues ready.

Claiming that social networks are similar to infectious diseases, a recent study from Princeton University posits that Facebook will lose 80 percent of its peak user base between 2015 and 2017. Specifically, the study states that Facebook has already reached the peak of its popularity, and it has now entered into a decline phase (remember, just a few months ago, Facebook admitted to losing its hold over the teen segment). Note: popularity is measured according to search engine queries.

According to the study, “Ideas, like diseases, have been shown to spread infectiously between people before eventually dying out, and have been successfully described with epidemiological model… Idea manifesters ultimately lose interest with the idea and no longer manifest the idea, which can be thought of as the gain of “immunity” to the idea.” 

Screen Shot 2014-01-24 at 9.57.30 AM

Of course, much of the study’s argument is built on the case study of MySpace’s decline in popularity. And while MySpace may certainly be considered a relative of Facebook, I’m not entirely convinced that the two are twins. With continuous innovations in mobile and cross-platform integration, Facebook has rooted itself deeply in its users’ lives.

So, should we mourn the death of Facebook? No, not yet.

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