Tag: food pr

The Power of One Pepper

Cherith AndesBlog, Clairemont Client News, Real Estate PR, , , , ,

What started with one lowly tobago pepper has heated up to be the largest food festival of its kind in the Southeast! The Annual Pepper Festival, hosted by Abundance NC and Clairemont client Briar Chapel, now tops the charts as a spicy celebration of North Carolina cooking, music, fashion and culture — and all to support sustainable food and fuels.

But few hot events come out of the gate with 2,200 attendees, 50 competing chefs and an award-winning roster of bluegrass bands. As we approach the 10th Annual Pepper Festival this fall, we wanted to take a moment to celebrate the fun milestones along the way.

2008: One Pepper, One Dream

Enter 40 friends who gathered at the Piedmont BioFarm (part of nonprofit Abundance NC) to engage in a little spicy sampling. Farmer Doug had long been dreaming up a seed-saving program to cultivate vegetables suited specifically for the North Carolina climate. Doug began growing, breeding and testing his favorite food —  peppers, but he needed palates to taste and assess his new produce. Hence, the first Pepper Fest was born! Angelina brought food (to wash down the peppers, she says!), and the sustainably minded, spice-loving friends noshed their way through almost 50 varieties of Farmer Doug’s peppers.

2009: The Second Amazing Pittsboro Pepper Festival

The Pepper Festival coined its first official name, Habanero Beer from Triangle Brewing Company made its debut, bands hit the scene, and a dozen chefs joined the fray to craft pepper-themed dishes. Briar Chapel began partnering with Abundance NC to support the festival and promote the organizations’ common goals of sustainability.

2010: Royalty Takes the Stage

This year witnessed the coronation of the first Pepper King and Pepper Queen, a tradition that still stands today. The Pepper popularity spread like wildfire with 500 attendees at the festival!

2011: A New Location!

Briar Chapel hosted the Pepper Festival first time at Boulder Park in Briar Chapel. As the largest green community in the Triangle, the partnership between Briar Chapel and Abundance NC to further sustainable lifestyles just made sense! Attendance hit quadruple digits, and more than a dozen community organizations joined forces with Briar Chapel and Abundance to take part in the Festival.

 

2012: Spice for the Whole Family

Pepper Fest added a bevy of family activities (like a vegetable circus, face painting and hula hooping). For a little extra fun, they added red-clad, pepper-themed acrobats! A record of 35 chefs and artisans fired up the culinary contest.

2013: Now We’re Winning Awards

This year, The News & Observer named the Fest as one of the “Must-Do Food Events of 2013.” Attendance skyrocketed to 1,500 festivalgoers with a record $20,000 proceeds raised.

2014: A New Location (Again!)

The Pepper Fest outgrew Boulder Park and made its debut at the all-new Linear Park at Briar Chapel. This year featured a judging panel of food and beverage experts along with a new array of dishes — from pepper chocolate to North Carolina’s inaugural batch of pepper jelly beer. And the scales reported that the chefs used a whoppin’ 800 pounds of peppers!

 2015: One of the Largest in the State

The Pepper Fest claimed the spot as one of the largest chef competitions in the state with 45 chefs and artisans. In addition, the Pepper fest debuted Pepperpalooza, kid-friendly activities to provide hands-on education about local agriculture with creative workshops like “Food Fonts” and “The Insane Science of Fairyland.”

2016: Kid Chefs, Fashion Shows and Pepper Personality Quizzes

Briar Chapel added zest and zip with the inaugural Kid Chef Competition and “Hot Glam” Pepper Fashion Show. Festival fans could find out how spicy their personalities were with the Pepper Fest Personality Quiz. In addition to a record 2,200 attendees and 50 chefs and brewers, the Pepper Fest celebrated raising approximately $100,000 over nine years to support more than 200 farmers who wouldn’t otherwise be in business.

 

 2017: It’s the Big 10! 

What do you think we’ll cook up this year? Tune in on September 24, 2017, the spiciest day of the year (and the date of the 10th Annual Pepper Festival). Who knows — we might even break a Guinness World Record!

 

 

Images courtesy of Briar Chapel.

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Chef Teddy Diggs at James Beard House

Dana PhelpsBlog, Clairemont Client News, Restaurant PR + Hospitality PR, , , , , ,

Tonight Clairemont client, Chef Teddy Diggs of Il Palio, will take diners at the James Beard House on an Italian Olive Oil Road Trip. We are honored to work with Chef Teddy and for Clairemont’s Cherith Andes to be in attendance at tonight’s dinner.

Wish you could be there, too? Watch Chef Teddy live on the James Beard kitchen cam! Interested in other work Clairemont does in the restaurant industry? Read our Restaurant PR posts.

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Writing Copy: When in Rome

Cherith AndesBlog, Marketing, Restaurant PR + Hospitality PR, , , , ,

Active verbs, lean sentences, compelling facts. We’ve heard all the tips and tricks to crafting copy, and it’s one of things we love to do at Clairemont! This fall, we had the privilege to pen an article for Chapel Hill Magazine on behalf of Clairemont client, Il Palio, to unveil an upcoming Italian celebrity chef dinner — and the Instagram story behind it!

Here is the copy as it appears on ChapelHillMagazine.com!

chm-logoTasting Rome: Two Chefs Unveil Italy

 

Teddy Diggs, executive chef at Il Palio, has long championed the heart and soul of regional Italian cooking, from his early apprenticeship under legend Fabio Trabocchi to his recent pilgrimage through Tuscany. Italian guests claim that Tasting Romehis authentic pastas, smoky sauces and daring dishes – like wood-grilled octopus – summon fond memories of their homeland. So it was no wonder that Teddy connected almost through cosmic destiny with Katie Parla, acclaimed Italian author and colleague of Mario Batali.

After volleys of bounced emails, Katie sent Teddy an Instagram message with a friendly yet unlikely dinner invitation. She lived in Rome. Teddy worked in Chapel Hill. But as luck would have it, Teddy just happened to be on a nine-day sojourn through Italy, and it wasn’t long before the two were sharing forkfuls of carbonara in a Roman cafe.

“Italian cooking is like a language of its own,” said Chef Teddy. “It’s accessible and approachable, but there’s a deep connection between the ingredients and the heart of the chef. Both Katie and I have a passion to share the spirit of Italian cooking with guests around the world.”

Tasting Rome Cacio e PepeWith that, these two fast friends set their sights on Chapel Hill. On November 15, 2016, Katie and Chef Teddy will fire up the grill to offer a culinary tour of the hidden hearths of Italy’s capital. Hosted at Il Palio, this Tasting Rome feast will feature recipes from Katie’s acclaimed cookbook, Tasting Rome, along with classics from Teddy’s regional Italian repertoire. The culinary line-up features gems like cacio e pepe, an elegant Italian hallmark crafted from only three ingredients. And lest ye forget, Italy is famed for its wine, and no Italian feast is complete without a glass (or three) of the country’s treasured vintifications.

“After spending more than a decade in Rome, I have cultivated a love for the heart Italian cuisine,” said Katie. “I was excited to connect with Teddy, since his approach to ingredients and regional cooking so closely reflects what I have come to know as true Italian food.”

For those saving pennies for a plane ticket to Europe, Teddy and Katie recommend Flavio, a delightful ristorante tucked off the thoroughfares of Rome. For the rest of us, they’re bringing the heart and soul of Rome directly to you.

For more information, visit www.ilpalio.com. Tickets may be purchased by calling 919-918-2545 and include signed copies of the Tasting Rome cookbook, wine pairings, tax and gratuity.

Image courtesy of Katie Parla.

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Mighty Mentors & Pepper Proteges

Cherith AndesBlog, Photo of the Week, Real Estate PR, , , , ,

WHAT is that?

On October 2, Briar Chapel‘s 9th Annual Pepper Festival is spicing up the agenda with its inaugural Kid Chef Competition! Six of the Triangle’s top chefs pair up with aspiring kid chefs to compete for title of “Pint-Sized Pepper King or Queen.”

We snapped this shot at the first meet and greet between chefs and kiddos as they sliced, diced, tasted and tried the gamut of pepper flavors and plotted their recipes for the festival. Teddy Klopf (left), executive chef of Provenance in downtown Raleigh, mentors his protege (and the protege’s excited sibling!)…and those expressions said it all!

Feeling zesty? Nab your tickets to the Pepper Festival, or find out once and for all: how spicy is your personality?

 

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5 Tips to Spice Up Event Marketing

Cherith AndesBlog, Marketing, Social Media + Influencer Engagement, , , , , ,

Nobody is quite sure of the timeline. But tombstones line the road of marketing strategies that memorialize the slow yet certain death of the that the heavy-handed sell.

Enter content marketing. Although not a new concept in 2016, its metamorphosis continues to shape our strategies, tactics and messages in pursuit of one goal: providing value to consumers. And not just value – value that spurs interaction, a sense of shared ownership and eventually affirmative action toward a particular brand. Customers transform into co-creators who maintain an emotional “stockholder share” in an organization’s vision, product or thought. Investment begets action, which in turn fuels sales.

Go on. Quiz me.

BuzzSumo unveils the magnetism of one type of content marketing. According to its research, online quizzes receive anywhere fro 1,900 to 4 million shares – dwarfing other content marketing tactics like infographics, how-to guides and the like. Clairemont recently tapped into the power of quizzes to bolster the visibility of the 9th Annual Pepper Festival, now one of the state’s largest chef competitions celebrating local culture, food and sustainability.

Certainly, we all want to know “Which Taylor Swift Song Are You?” or “What Job Should You Actually Have?” We’re just curious. But from the marketer’s perspective, how does one craft quizzes to boost engagement and market an event?

1. Decide your path.
According to BuzzSumo, there are two major types of quizzes: the graded quiz and the outcome quiz. The first measures skills or knowledge in an area of expertise while the second provides less defined results that make implications about a stance or personality trait. Both can be effective if designed wisely.

2. Make it shareable.

To echo Steven Covey, begin with the end in mind. Design quizzes that will, regardless of the outcome, provide positive, shareable outcomes. The Social Identity Theory states that individuals form identities based on the groups with which they identify. People reaffirm their affinities with various groups through sharing — sharing thoughts, actions and (ding ding!) traits that coincide with group behavior. Hence, consumers are more likely to take and share results that positively define their behavior. Here we encourage you to make all quiz outcomes positive, whether you’re a Mild Child or a Flame Thrower.

3. Make it easy and fun to take.

The Control Value Theory recaps the perks and perils of crafting quizzes that are too hard. If too challenging, the quiz will quickly spurn the interest of users and if the quiz is too simple, users will question its legitimacy and likewise lose interest. Provide a level of intrigue by including unexpected questions, keeping the quiz short (approximately seven questions) and including the word “actually” at key junctures. One particular designer uses her teenage daughter as a litmus test. If the tween laughs while taking the quiz, it’s a keeper.

While crafting the quiz for the pepper festival, we included a few fun questions, such as “your getaway vehicle” or “what would you do if your pants were on fire” — humorous queries that tapped the theme of fire and spice while maintaining a playful tone.Pepper Fest Personality Quiz Question

4. Maintain a consistent tone.

Speaking of tone, just like any branded endeavor, maintain the same tone throughout the entire quiz. Fun and off-colored? Craft copy and colors to reflect a consistent brand personality, since research demonstrates that consistency fosters trust with consumers.

5. Offer incentives.

…but do so with transparency. Customers can smell a scam a Spam Folder away. Be open about your strategy for building and sharing the quiz, and don’t be afraid to ask for information. Determine which information is vital to craft a viable lead and provide an incentive for users to comply. For example, in the Spicy Personality quiz, we collected email addresses with the overt intention of giving away free tickets to the Pepper Festival.

Chance to Win

Track metrics, encourage sharing and promote across multiple mediums. But above all, create an experience that is personal, warm and downright fun.

Want to try it out? See how spicy your personality actually is!

 

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