Tag: Newland Communities

What Does A PR Agency Do? Wendell Falls Grand Opening

Jasmin SessomsBlog, Case Studies, Real Estate PR, , , , , ,

Ponies and rickshaws and bluegrass, oh my! On May 16, 2015, Wendell Falls, a new-home community in Wendell, N.C., hosted its grand opening celebration, a southern-style affair featuring homebuilder models, bands, food, family activities and the unveiling of the all-new Grounds Café. Wendell Falls turned to Clairemont to raise awareness about the grand opening activities and reach the target homebuyer demographic through a series of coordinated pitches and creative invitations.

The Pitch

As part of the outreach, Clairemont connected with a variety of regional and local media outlets through targeted pitches to pique the interest of contacts, garner coverage and secure onsite visits to Wendell Falls. Clairemont brainstormed “out-of-the-box” angles beyond home construction, highlighting green features, holistic lifestyle options, parks and trails, family oriented amenities and the onsite Grounds Café—the city’s only coffee shop.

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Execution

– Coordinated Pitches: Media outlets received personalized pitches showcasing unexpected elements of Wendell Falls. For example, Clairemont worked with the daily newspaper’s features columnist to spotlight the custom-designed Asheville Playgrounds structure at Wendell Falls. The local city paper featured the community’s historic tobacco barn quilt while the home magazines received stories about Wendell Falls’ new ecoSelect green building program.

– Blogger Outreach: Clairemont sent VIP invitations to key bloggers and local media to attend a behind-the-scenes tour of the new home community in addition to grand opening. For example, mom bloggers received details highlighting the family friendly amenities and activities at the grand opening. Food bloggers were invited to taste the local coffee and DIY grilled-cheese bar at Grounds Café while beer experts were offered tidbits about the café’s craft brews.

– Media Materials: In addition to a news release, Clairemont provided a “pre-grand opening” prep kit for reporters that included sample tweets, feature photos and hashtags to share. Media guests who attended grand opening left with a “Taste of Wendell” media kit that included pool passes, gift cards to Grounds Café, information about Wendell Falls for future stories and an assortment of local Wendell goods.

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Screen Shot 2015-12-21 at 11.24.28 AMThe Results

The team secured coverage in several major media outlets, including stories in the Wake County and Eastern Wake News sections of the News & Observer, a front page story in the Sunday edition of the News & Observer, an article in New Homes & Ideas, double coverage in the WRAL What’s On Tap section and two segments on WNCN-TV.

Clairemont also secured articles with prominent lifestyle, parenting, food and beer bloggers, including Durham Foodie, Carolina Parent, The B Keeps Us Honest, NC Beer Guys and Triangle Food Guy. Additionally, we hosted representatives of WRAL, the News & Observer and the Triangle Business Journal onsite before and during the grand opening.

Want to learn more about Clairemont’s work in the real estate industry? Read our posts about real estate PR.

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Moving in with Mom: Multi-Gens Change Real Estate PR

Cherith AndesBlog, Public Relations, Real Estate PR, Trends, , , , , , , ,

Matthew McConaughey’s flick, “Failure to Launch,” spins the yarn of a young professional who can’t seem to fly the coop. At age 35, he relishes the perks of rent-free living with his parents along with his mother’s home-cooked meals and in-house laundry service.

While fodder for one of the leading romantic comedies in 2006, this story has since typified today’s housing market. In 2012, more than 18 percent of the American population resided in a multi-generational family household, defined as home with three or more generations under one roof.

Junior’s Back. And So Is Granny.

The trend skyrocketed during the 2007-2009 recession when insufficient jobs and waning pensions forced families to pool mortgages to survive. What was born out of necessity has since beget a luxury. Families willingly benefit from combined resources, shared comforts and (let’s not forget) direct access to the grandkids.

The multi-gen housing trend has left its mark on the real estate industry. Nationally acclaimed home builder Lennar Homes, for example, rolled out NextGen, a new brand featuring a “home within a home” for this target market. The MEDCottage, another line’s portable “granny pod,” features a 12 to 24-foot flat plopped directly into your own backyard. Forget going “over the river and through the woods” to grandma’s house. You barely have to make it out the back door.

The new MEDCottage. Image courtesy of MEDcottage.com.
The new MEDCottage. Image courtesy of MEDcottage.com.

A New Floor Plan for PR.

So what does this mean for real estate PR?

Lots. As families place a premium on lifestyle, it becomes vital that we create and market opportunities that engage diverse age groups. For example, Briar Chapel by Newland Communities, one of Clairemont’s longstanding clients, offers a range of internally and externally marketed activities. Their Lego Camp draws tykes from across the state while their water aerobics engage active older adults from around the community.

Briar Chapel also provides opportunities from the other side of the coin–large-scale events that nurture inter-generational collaboration and maximize shared interests (such as the multi-generational love for the Rolling Stones—who knew?). Briar Chapel’s acclaimed Pepper Festival fosters relationships by providing a distinct draw for every interest and demographic—from kid-friendly acrobatic showcases to “adult-friendly” craft beer tastings. Strengthen relationships, we say, because the family that plays together, stays together…and will likely “pay” together for houses in your community!

Briar Chapel's Annual Pepper Festival.
Briar Chapel’s Annual Pepper Festival.

Invite All the Right House Guests.

These mufti-faceted avenues provide equally diverse opportunities for us to expand media relations. Not only do media highlight breaking news and overarching stories, but many also pursue niche interests—such as the Triangle’s trending wave of “beer experts.” Effective public relations strategies should dig deep to suss out fresh angles on stalwart offerings for specialized reporters, bloggers and social media experts. Creative pizzazz can unearth a whole new wave of dynamic media attention for a real estate community!

If all else fails, the multi-gen trend at least promises free babysitting from grandma for a last-minute date night, right?

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Adopt or Dump a Social Media Challenge?

Cherith AndesBlog, Marketing, Public Relations, Raleigh PR Agency, Social Media + Influencer Engagement, , , , ,

Everybody’s doing it. Or more accurately, everybody did it.

The recent ALS Ice Bucket Challenge ignited one of the year’s largest grassroots social media campaigns with more than 8 million videos posted on YouTube alone. In a matter of months, the challenge raised more than $100 million for the ALS Association from approximately 3 million donors, including celebrities ranging from bubbly Justin Bieber to grim-faced Lady Gaga.

It wasn’t just a dump. The Ice Bucket Challenge became a tidal wave, an international campaign that no doubt will earn an accolade in the Guinness World Book of Records or a spot on Time Magazine’s top ten lists. An iconic demonstration of our nation’s generosity and passion.

Naturally, other organizations were eager to join the fun and show support with their own icy baths. And as clients sought our counsel, we encouraged them to consider two key questions before deciding to adopt—or dump—any social media challenge.

1. Who Are You?

Take a moment and reflect. In fact, feel free to loop the 1978 rock classic “Who Are You?” in the background during your self-assessment (we’re fans of mood music). Does the purpose of the challenge support your company’s own core values? Does the outcome align with your organization’s mission and vision?

Don’t get me wrong. Social media thrives on spontaneity, and in fact, it’s often “off-the-cuff” videos that build the strongest personal rapport with your audience. But viral trends, such as social media challenges or picture contests, can carry weighty messages that warrant careful consideration before your team invests in an endeavor. Fortunately, many campaigns, such as the ALS Challenge, support positive change for worthy causes—and it can be an easy choice to partner with these efforts.

2. How will you take it from icy to spicy?

Viral challenges offer the perfect opportunity to showcase your organization’s personality. How can you craft your own memorable moment by adding an extra dose of creative pizzazz?

Newland Communities, the nation’s largest private developer and a Clairemont client, stepped up their game when they accepted the ice bucket challenge. Rather than follow the typical backyard-bucket pattern, Newland incorporated a key icon from its own company—a dump truck—and drenched its team with a truckload of ice and water. In addition, the team bypassed the garden hose and used water from a nearby pond, addressing public concerns that the challenge wasted water and supporting Newland’s own commitment to sustainability. In the muddy mayhem that ensued, Newland created a video that earned a spot on the ABC 11 morning news.

Cause + creativity = a hefty dose of fun!

 

 

 

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What Does A PR Agency Do? Event Marketing, Media Relations, Social Media

Josephine ButlerAwards, Blog, Case Studies, Public Relations, Raleigh PR Agency, , , , , , , , , ,

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!

Jonathan Bloom, author of “American Wasteland,” speaks to a group of Earth Day attendees.

Client: Briar Chapel

Situation Analysis: Opened in 2008, Briar Chapel is the largest master-planned green community in North Carolina and a division of Newland Communities, the country’s most prominent privately held residential real estate developer. In 2011, approximately 200 families called Briar Chapel home, leaving more than 2,100 lots available before the community reaches capacity. To embrace the interests of existing residents and potential homebuyers, as well as to honor the company’s commitment to support the larger communities around its developments, Briar Chapel relied on Clairemont Communications to help implement a community relations program as part of a comprehensive marketing strategy.

Objectives: Based on extensive primary and secondary research, Clairemont devised a plan to focus on three main community relations events for the year, designed to engage area residents with known topics of interest while benefiting The Abundance Foundation, a local charity that supports sustainable foods and fuels. Objectives included the following:

  • Demonstrate Briar Chapel’s continued commitment to supporting the larger community, predominately in the areas of education, health/wellness and environmental protection by: a) increasing attendance at Briar Chapel’s annual Earth Day Celebration by 50 percent, b) adding an initiative to Earth Day to recruit area chefs to improve school lunches in the county and achieve a 10 percent increase in participation of the lunch program and c) creating and hosting a new signature event to bring at least 500 people on property to see newly opened areas of the community, while raising an additional $2,500 for charity.
  • Raise market awareness of Briar Chapel and its attributes that relate to the identified community interests by securing at least five local news stories about the community relations events.
  • Continue consistent social media outreach to support events and media relations.

Execution:

Event Marketing: With Briar Chapel’s designation as the largest green community in North Carolina, hosting an Earth Day event for the third year in a row was a natural fit. With existing community support and local media awareness of the event, we focused on new elements of Briar Chapel’s Earth Day Celebration. In order to generate excitement in advance of the event and to shed light on nutritional challenges school cafeterias face, the Chatham County Chef Challenge was born.

Building on the area’s growing interest in locally grown and healthy foods, the Chef Challenge was designed to debunk the myth about bad school lunches and educate the public about healthier choices. Local award-winning chefs created special recipes using only ingredients and cafeteria equipment available to the schools, while following USDA guidelines. They also held culinary workshops for the schools’ cafeteria staff so the recipes could become regular school lunch menu items budgeted at $1 per student and full of fruits and vegetables. The response from students was overwhelmingly positive with more than 85 percent voting to add the chefs’ recipes to their menus.

At Briar Chapel’s Earth Day Celebration, guests sampled the dishes made for the schools. Also new in 2011, Hunt for the Green engaged visitors in a smart phone QR code scavenger hunt through the model homes that hosted the chefs and the amenities of the property. Hunt for the Green educated guests and residents about sustainability. Back by popular demand, the Earth Day 5k Race attracted 130 runners, up from 100 in 2010. Designed to promote Briar Chapel’s focus on health and wellness and to feature its outdoor amenities, the race showcased Briar Chapel’s protected open spaces and extensive nature trails.

With the success of the Earth Day Celebration in the spring and a desire to create a fall signature event, Clairemont conceptualized OktoberBEST, a day of old-fashioned fun at Briar Chapel. Prizes were awarded throughout the day to backyard athletes, armchair athletes and canine athletes who came out to “give it their best” by participating in games that were staged in newly opened areas of the community. To maximize participation, we strategically scheduled and promoted OktoberBEST as the pre-event leading up to the Fourth Annual Pittsboro Pepper Festival, which was held in Briar Chapel’s newly opened Briar Commons Park later that afternoon. Both events benefited The Abundance Foundation.

Media Relations: With local media coverage being the most relevant to Briar Chapel, creative pitching and relying on our established relationships were a must since most media outlets feel like they have covered Briar Chapel as a community. We combated this challenge by crafting pitches around the events, and when possible, we focused on the students, the charity or participants in our events so that our pitches had more feature appeal. We pitched by phone, email and social media. We also submitted community calendar listings on media outlet websites to promote our events.

Social Media: Briar Chapel relied on Clairemont for social media strategy, training and support. We developed a 2011 editorial calendar for Briar Chapel’s blog, conducted research on post topics, prepared questions for blog interviewees and edited content. Additionally, we provided content direction for Briar Chapel’s Facebook page and Twitter stream, and helped develop a smart phone QR code scavenger hunt. Much of the content throughout the year focused on Briar Chapel’s community relations initiatives.

Evaluation: In direct correlation with our stated objectives above, our results were as follows:

  • We exceeded our goals by achieving a 100 percent Earth Day attendance increase (100 guests in 2010; 200 in 2011), boosting the school lunch participation program by 22 percent, attracting nearly 1,200 people to OktoberBEST and Pepper Festival, and increasing The Abundance Foundation donation by more than $3,500.
  • We surpassed our goal of five local news features by securing more than 10 stories in priority outlets such as News & Observer, Chapel Hill News, Triangle Business Journal, WUNC public TV and WCHL, as well as garnering coverage on several community-focused blogs.
  • We continued to leverage social media to support our primary objectives and increased the frequency of Briar Chapel’s blog posts from 45 in 2010 to 55 in 2011. Approximately 65 percent of those posts, as well as Briar Chapel’s Facebook updates and tweets, supported community relations initiatives. We also added a smart phone QR code contest to one of our events.

What did you think of this public relations case study? Was it helpful? We’re here to answer any questions you may have!

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