Tag: PR case study

What does a PR agency do? Real Estate PR Case Study

Jasmin SessomsAwards, Blog, Case Studies, Real Estate PR, , , , ,

In the spirit of #ThrowBackThursday, here’s a real estate PR case study that features a January 2012 article in the Wall Street Journal. The story was a result of the media strategy that Clairemont devised and executed for the client. Our team is proud to continue work with Nash-Newland and Newland Communities.

Client: Nash-Newland

Planning: Newland Real Estate Group based in San Diego and North American Sekisui House (Nash) based in Osaka, Japan formed a new joint venture in 2012, Nash-Newland, and acquired the largest operating portfolio of residential master-planned communities in the United States. The joint venture purchased the interests of the California Public employee’s Retirement System (calPERS) and the American Newland Communities in 28 master-planned communities, located in 15 markets and 11 states.

With the negotiations being highly confidential until the finalization of the agreement, NASH-NEWLAND turned to Clairemont Communications to devise a media relations strategy, counsel executives on when to release information about the joint venture and how to keep it confidential until the right time. Clairemont extensively researched what the real estate beat reporters of these outlets had written, the types of merger and acquisition stories they had produced and their professional backgrounds to determine who had experience covering similar joint ventures.

Objectives: The Clairemont team was tasked with getting news coverage under highly confidential circumstances. Specifically we identified the following as key strategies:

  1. Break the news in a national business media outlet. NASH-NEWLAND wanted the story to break in the outlet that would have the most significant business impact and reach the most readers without ignoring the other two considerations. Due to the complexity of the joint venture and assets involved, in addition to selecting the right media outlet, we needed to target a reporter who had enough understanding of the real estate industry as well as experience writing about the financial aspects of merges and acquisitions.
  2. Secure a trade story and garner coverage in five regional news outlets.

Execution: Clairemont was able to get the attention of Robbie Whelman at the Wall Street Journal with our first pitch call to him. Before telling him the companies involved, we could only share the types of organizations and give him an indication of the scope of the deal. He agreed to go under embargo, and from there we outlined the timing of our other outreach around the Wall Street Journal being issued. This included issuing a news release on Business Wire, pitching the story to additional media contacts and NASH-NEWLAND’s priority trade magazine contact.

Clairemont was also responsible for preparing media materials, answering questions from regional and other types of media. We worked with the NASH-NEWLAND executives on messaging, interview preparation, interview coordination and media follow-up needs.

Results: To the satisfaction of our clients, Clairemont secured a spot in the Wall Street Journal – the first choice to break the story- on the front page of the property report section. Additionally, we secured coverage in all of our priority outlets of Associated Press, Marketwatch and Bloomberg, as well as Reuters. Seven total stories appeared in these outlets, exceeding our goal of one national business article.

We exceed our goal of five regional stories with the placement of 11 articles. Additionally, there were 14 various online stories that were based on business and regional coverage.

This campaign earned Clairemont a Best in Division award from Raleigh Public Relations Society and an Award of Excellence from the North Carolina chapter of Public Relations Society of America.

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The Beauty of Raleigh PR: Day 10 – Case Studies

Jasmin SessomsBlog, Case Studies, Entry-Level PR Job,

PR 101: How to Write a Case Study

On my first day at Clairemont, I was introduced to writing case studies. One of my first assignments was to read and analyze previous case studies written by my Clairemont colleagues and complete three on my own.

When Mrs. Hughens gave me this task, I figured it wouldn’t be too difficult. I didn’t realize that the binders for each client would weigh ten pounds and include more than 100 pages – all of which I had to read, summarize and compress into two short pages.

Writing a great case study sounds like a lot of work, doesn’t it? It is. Don’t let it stop you from doing it!

It might feel less cumbersome if you break it into sections.

*Situational Analysis – Who is the client? What are the goals? How did you design the campaign or tactic to help reach the goal?

* Research – What information did you gather to better understand the client, target audiences, challenges, etc., and how did you gather it?

* Planning – Once you completed the research, how did you use it to develop a campaign or tactic that would benefit your client? How did you establish your objectives?

* Execution – What steps did you take to carry out your plan?

* Evaluation – Was the plan successful? How did you measure the success? What would you do differently?

Writing a case study is a great way to increase credibility with potential clients. Since Clairemont is an award-winning agency, I think its important to add these studies to our website. It is also a great way for me to quickly understand Clairemont’s clients and outstanding work.

 

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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What Does A PR Agency Do? Furniture Industry Social Media Campaign

Josephine ButlerAwards, Blog, Case Studies, Furniture PR, Marketing, Public Relations, Raleigh PR Agency, Social Media + Influencer Engagement, , , , , , , , , , , 1 Comment on What Does A PR Agency Do? Furniture Industry Social Media Campaign

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!

Client: Thomasville Furniture, established in 1904 and a leading name in the home furnishings industry.

Objective:  Manage the Thomasville Facebook page. Based on our research and several meetings with Thomasville executives, the Clairemont team identified the following objectives:

  • Boost overall interactions on the Facebook page, with special emphasis on increasing interactions among 18 to 34-year-olds by 5 percent.
  • Increase the number of likes on the page by 100 percent

Execution: Research provided insights on existing customers and younger consumers, including media consumption preferences. Focus groups revealed that younger consumers often see Thomasville’s furniture as special occasion furnishings, while they seek everyday furniture (of course, we know that Thomasville is very fun and fashion-forward these days!). Clairemont also evaluated social media networks and confirmed Facebook’s significant potential as Thomasville’s primary customer engagement channel.

We focused creative content in the following areas:

  • Interior Design: To position Thomasville as the fashionable brand that we know it to be, we shared ideas from shelter magazines, such as Elle Décor and House Beautiful. We uploaded product photography featuring new collections designed for a young demographic and shared decorating tips via professionally produced videos. Our chatter posts got fans talking and sharing their own interior design ideas, too.
  • Sweepstakes: Recognizing the traffic-driving power of sweepstakes, Clairemont generated steady fan engagement with giveaways throughout the year. The Best Bridal Shower Gift Ever Giveaway targeted 18 to 34-year-olds by awarding a bedroom suite as a wedding gift to a young couple. Our Best Seat in the House Giveaway earned more than 1,900 content likes, posts and comments, as fans couldn’t resist the chance to show off photos of their beloved pets. With a prize of a new sofa, our 1 Sofa 4 Looks Giveaway increased page likes by 13,767 alone. Along with additional giveaways such as the Bright Idea; Backyard Barbeque; No Tricks, Just Treats; Thanksgiving Dinner Disasters (with many hilarious accounts of Thanksgiving dinners gone wrong); and Stocking Stuffer giveaways, the Clairemont team successfully raised the fan count and interactions on the page.
  • Customer Relations: Because it’s our policy to allow fans to have a voice, when questions or complaints were posted, we worked closely with Thomasville’s corporate customer service team to provide quick responses instead of deleting or ignoring negative posts.

Results: Thomasville’s fan base on Facebook increased from 11,249 to 31,256, approximately a 178 percent increase from 2010, and we boosted weekly interactions from 2,964 to 7,571, a 155 percent increase. Additionally, we increased the number of 18 to 34-year-old fans from 20 percent of the fan base to 30 percent, exceeding our goal of a 5 percent increase. Based on the success of 2011, Thomasville has retained Clairemont to continue to manage its page on Facebook in 2012.

What did you think of this social media case study? Was it helpful? Have questions? We’ve got answers!

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