Tag: PR Agency

What Does a PR Agency Do? Vita Vite Creates “Raleigh’s Sunday Spot”

Clairemont InternAwards, Blog, Case Studies, , , , , , , ,

Two Decembers ago, Lindsay Rice opened Vita Vite, a wine bar and art gallery in downtown Raleigh’s warehouse district, and the concept quickly became a hotspot for locals to gather for a glass of wine after work or to sit by the fireplace on a date night. While Vita Vite attracted steady traffic throughout the week, especially on Fridays and Saturdays, the typical Sunday crowd was smaller. Clairemont Communications help designed a creative approach that would bolster the number of Sunday Funday guests at Vita Vite.

Strategy

Targeting downtown Raleigh businesses and residents, Clairemont devised an events-based campaign, leveraging Vita Vite’s event space to host fun happenings on Sundays and position the wine bar as “Raleigh’s Sunday Spot.” Clairemont’s goal was to increase guest traffic on Sundays by the end of 2016 by planning and executing community events that would attract at least 50 people on-site. We planned to share engaging content from these events as a part of a larger strategy to increase followership on Vita Vite’s Facebook page.

Execution

Since Vita Vita is located in a vibrant downtown location, Clairemont identified a ready-made audience all within walking distance of the wine bar’s front door. Our research revealed that downtown Raleigh residents enjoy exercise, value social activities (that include their pets) and believe strongly in supporting local businesses. As a result, Clairemont crafted an event series that creatively targeted each of these preferences. We decided to push the boundaries and combine several favorite activities into a few key events to “pack a punch.” The best part? The soirees would be just a short stroll from their own homes and businesses!

Sweat and Sip: To tap into the active lifestyle of this demographic, Clairemont partnered with Barre3, a popular Pilates studio, to host an exercise-meets-wine experience in Vita Vite’s event space. After class, participants received a complementary glass of wine, bubbly or beer to allow them to experience the wine bar and socialize with friends. The first Sweat and Sip filled to capacity and was such huge hit that we immediately planned additional events with other downtown Raleigh fitness studios, such as Core Power Yoga and Cirque de Vol. This event also gave Vita Vite a chance to showcase its large event space behind the main bar area. Many attendees commented that they were very impressed by the space and had no idea it was even there.

Pooches on the Porch: We let Vita Vite’s porch go to the dogs on Sundays –literally. Vita Vite partnered with Unleashed, a healthy minded pet store located nearby, to set up a treat table where guests and their dogs can create “doggie bags” of natural and organic snacks. Pet owners lounged on the porch with wine and took selfies in the pet photo booth with their pooches, and the dogs played with wine-shaped dog toys. We encouraged guests to share their puppy portraits on social media and tag Vita Vite to increase online reach and visibility.

Results

In direct correlation with our stated objectives above, we helped bring more people to Vita Vite on Sundays by planning and executing events that attracted approximately 100 people on-site. We were able to increase our Facebook followers by almost 200 percent, as well as engage additional followers when partners shared on their channels. Clairemont’s creative events program boosted business on Sundays, and Vita Vite continued to developed business relationships and gained new regular customers.

The work Clairemont Communications conducted in partnership with Vita Vite earned an Award of Excellence for Creative Tactics from the North Carolina Public Relations Society of America. It also won a Silver Award in Event Marketing from the Raleigh Public Relations Society. We are proud that this campaign represents one of the 175 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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Fake News

Dana PhelpsBlog, Counselors Academy, Public Relations, , , , , ,

Fake news. Early this year, gathered in a conference room with PR agency owners from across North America who make up the executive committee of PRSA’s Counselors Academy, we debated how long that trending term would remain trending. While some of us thought that #fakenews would have faded by now, it is holding strong.

My fellow executive committee member, Brenda Jones Barwick, penned an article for the March issue of PRSA Tactics called Combating Fake News: How to Protect our Profession, Our Clients and Companies. It remains as relevant now as it was at the time of publishing.

As a member of PRSA‘s Counselors Academy executive committee and now chair-elect, I have collaborated with Tactics editor John Elsasser since 2015 as a liaison of sorts to secure monthly thought-leadership pieces contributed by Counselors Academy members and experts in the field of  public relations. Want to know more about Counselors Academy and its members? Read our previous posts here.

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What Does a PR Agency Do? Pepper Festival

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

More exposure and higher attendance were the desires of the Briar Chapel marketing team as it planned its 8th Annual Pepper Festival to support North Carolina agriculture. Briar Chapel is the largest master-planned green community in North Carolina and part of Newland Communities, the country’s most prominent privately held residential real estate developer. It turned to Clairemont Communications to achieve these goals and draw potential homebuyers on-site.

The Strategy

Clairemont faced the challenge of engaging busy media with an overall dwindling interest in annual festivals and one located nearly an hour’s drive from the community. We established an event strategy with target audiences of local media and influencers and area residents with interests in new homes, local foods and sustainable agriculture to drive attendance for the Pepper Festival.

Execution

Our creativity spiced up the festival, securing record coverage and top attendance for this one-day, local event.

  • The People Behind the Pepper: Hosted on-site at Briar Chapel, the Pepper Festival features local culture, food, music and art, while inviting the community to support North Carolina agriculture. For the festival’s eighth year, Clairemont told the story of the people behind the pepper. We dubbed the festival founder as “The Pepper Queen” and touted the fact that her vision now funded more than 200 local farmers due in part to the festival’s success. Farm tours gave reporters the chance to experience the farmers’ stories, interview Briar Chapel partners and highlight the appeal of the festival.
  • Hot Media: We invited key members of the media who personally enjoy spicy dished and craft brews to serve as food and beer judges, and secured attendance from seven prestigious reporters from print, radio, blog and TV outlets that directly correlated to resulting media coverage. Clairemont also sent journalists pepper-themed materials, including news releases, fact sheets, media alerts and pitches that incorporated highly themed verbiage.
  • Event Logistics: Clairemont provided on-site support for the Pepper Festival and served as concierges for the media and judges. We crafted judging criteria, provided media kits, escorted media members through a festival tour and oversaw the judging, the emcee of the event and the awards presentation.

Results

After turning up the heat on the 8th Annual Pepper Festival, Clairemont exceeded each of its objectives and produced the following results:

  1. Clairemont secured a total of 13 blog posts and nine news stories, which included two stories in the area’s largest newspaper, the News & Observer, and a full blog with Triangle Explorer. For the first time in Pepper Festival history, we secured television coverage – both pre-event stories and on-site interviews – and a feature article in a long-lead magazine.
  2. We bolstered Briar Chapel’s online visibility by securing third-party social media mentions from bloggers and reporters on social media to approximately 200,000 combined followers on Twitter alone.
  3. Clairemont boosted ticket sales more than seven percent.

Clairemont’s strategic plan and creative tactics revitalized the Pepper Festival, garnering record attendance of 1,500 people. Additionally, Briar Chapel’s marketing manager declared the event was the tipping point for many homebuyers already considering a home purchase at Briar Chapel and the impetus for increased on-site and online visits by those just beginning a new home search. Moreover, Clairemont broke through the barriers with media and influencers – distance and lack of interest – to generate event excitement and news coverage that will continue to benefit North Carolina agriculture and drive consideration for Briar Chapel as a new home community long after the 8th Annual Pepper Festival.

The work Clairemont Communications conducted in partnership with Briar Chapel earned an Honorable Mention in Total Campaign from the Raleigh Public Relations Society and an Honorable Mention for Events & Observances from the North Carolina Public Relations Society of America. We are proud that this campaign represents two 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.

Image courtesy of Briar Chapel. 

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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? Papa Spud’s

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

The Triangle Business Journal captured this shot at the behind-the-scenes media breakfast and featured it as the Photo of the Week.

At a time when people have become more interested in knowing where their food comes from, community supported agriculture (CSA) delivery services have become increasingly popular. Papa Spud’s is a farm to fork delivery service based in Cary, N.C. that has been serving Triangle families since 2008. Each week, the team works with more than 50 local farmers and artisans to fill the CSA boxes.

While interest in this type of service did seem to be on the rise in 2014, the vast majority of Triangle residents had never heard of Papa Spud’s, and were not aware of the service it provided. To combat this issue, Papa Spud’s engaged Clairemont Communications to help raise awareness of the service and ultimately increase signups.

Strategy

We determined that the best approach to differentiate Papa Spud’s from its competitors was to highlight the fact that the service was completely customizable and offered a much broader offering than other CSAs in the area. Additionally, we wanted to feature the local farmers and food artisans to share an inside look at how the food makes it from the farm to customers’ front doors.

Execution

Clairemont Communications crafted and implemented a comprehensive strategy to increase brand awareness for Papa Spud’s.

  • We planned and executed an event targeting local mommy and food bloggers that allowed them to see a typical weekly box and gave them ideas on how to use it. Guests also had the chance to meet the Papa Spud’s team and hear from the company’s founder, Rob Meyer, who shared why he started the business and how it works.
  • A select group of media were invited to a breakfast and behind-the-scenes tour to see firsthand how the boxes are pulled together before delivery.
  • We formed grassroots partnerships with restaurants, gyms, schools and organizations –  including the Junior League of Raleigh that led to an ongoing sponsorship where Papa Spud’s supplied fruit for the Backpack Buddies program.
  • Creative and individualized pitches were used to maximize engagement from reporters and bloggers. We also invited mom bloggers to try the service for a month and blog about their experiences.

Results

Clairemont exceeded expectations and met all established objectives, along with increasing general awareness and customer registrations. As a result of our efforts, we secured the following:

  • 10 community partnerships
  • Four traditional media placements
  • Three blogger trials
  • More than 30 social media posts on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter
  • 10 blog posts that featured in-depth information about Papa Spud’s

The work Clairemont Communications conducted in partnership with Papa Spud’s earned an Honorable Mention Award in the Total Campaign category from the Raleigh Public Relations Society and an Honorable Mention Award from the North Carolina Public Relations Society of America. We are proud that this campaign represents two 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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