Tag: Raleigh PR Agency

Clairemont Celebrates 7 Years

Dana PhelpsBlog, Public Relations, The Clairemont Team, ,

This week Clairemont celebrates seven years in business. I am proud. I am grateful. I am blessed. Beyond that I struggle for words to describe how it feels to achieve this milestone. Therefore, I’ve selected seven blog posts, each offering a view into the year it was written. Together, the entries provide a snapshot of our journey.

2010: Social Media Audit for UNC’s Kenan-Flagler

2011: Take MSNBC’s Advice/Clairemont CEO Appears on MSNBC

2012: Lessons from the Lemonade Stand: What My 10 Year Old Knows About Branding and Marketing

2013: #Xmasjammies is Viral! Now what?

2014: Listen to Your Mother Wisdom

2015: Let’s Eat Cake: Clairemont is Five!

2016: Good to be Alive Virtual Dance Party

Thank you to our clients for allowing us to do what we love. xoxox

 

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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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What Does a PR Agency Do? Growers Media Relations

Tracy LathanAwards, Blog, Case Studies, , , ,

As the next generation assumes responsibility for family farms across the country, they are looking at new ways of doing business. Growers, a precision farm management business headquartered right here in Raleigh, recognized this opportunity and is reinventing the way farmers across the country manage their operations by using precision agriculture to help them improve yields and cut costs. Founded in 2011 by N.C. State graduate Steven Valencsin, Growers turned to Clairemont Communications in the summer of 2015 to help build awareness and share its story with farmers across the country.

The Pitch

Our primary goal was to build awareness and educate the agricultural community about the significant impact that Growers was having on farmers’ bottom lines. We developed a media relations strategy targeting local Raleigh business media, since Growers is headquartered here, as well as regional and national agriculture trade media. We also worked to help position Steven as an industry expert by securing media interviews and speaking engagements.

Execution

Although we quickly recognized Growers had a powerful story to tell, we knew that we would face challenges since most of our key media targets had never heard of the company. We conducted research, including reaching out to our key trade media contacts to better understand what issues were trending in the agriculture world, desired story topics and timing for upcoming feature articles for which Growers might be a fit. After conducting our research, we identified the following three angles for our media relations outreach:

  1. Technology – After talking with editors, we learned that precision agriculture and technology tools were hot topics in the agriculture industry. Growers was ready to unveil some revolutionary new technologies, so we decided to lead with the technology angle in the news release.
  2. Customer testimonials – Steven and his team had recently reached out to several customers and gathered impactful testimonials about how significantly their businesses had improved since working with Growers. Since we know word of mouth and testimonials are very effective in the agricultural community, we shared these stories in our media pitching.
  3. Founder and CEO – We highlighted the fact that Steven is a young entrepreneur with a passion for farming when telling the Growers story.

After finalizing our pitches and targets, we crafted a news release and gathered photos, testimonials and supporting materials. We posted the release on Business Wire and then contacted each of our media targets individually to pitch the story.

Results/Evaluation

Over a three-month time frame, we were able to meet and far exceed all of our defined objectives. As a result of our outreach, we secured the following:

  • A feature story about Steven and Growers in the Sunday edition of The News & Observer
  • A feature story in Southeast Farm Press, Growers’ number one media target
  • Coverage in various additional agriculture trade media outlets

We also facilitated three interviews to help further position Steven as an industry  leader  and made connections for Growers with several thought leaders and influential groups within the agriculture community. The placement of the news release on Business Wire generated additional impressions with 2,168 views and 7,095 headline impressions.

The work Clairemont Communications conducted in partnership with Growers earned a Gold Sir Walter Raleigh Award for Excellence in Communication by Raleigh Public Relations Society. We are proud that this is one of the 129 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 Growers.

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Clairemont Video Nabs Best in Division

Cherith AndesAwards, Blog, Raleigh PR Agency, , , ,

Puppy celebrities, barn quilts and sweet corn gelato: our 2015 agency diary brims with fun campaigns for our wonderful clients.

On October 11, 2016, the Raleigh Public Relations Society (RPRS) honored Clairemont Communications at the annual Sir Walter Raleigh Awards Banquet with accolades recognizing outstanding public relations campaigns. Clairemont was honored for client work in promotional campaigns, event planning, marketing strategies, industry writing and digital communications.

Our favorite, however, harkened back to a chilly but cheerful January where we spent hours traversing the Triangle to dance with clients, families and friends. Clairemont’s sixth year celebration video, “Good to Be Alive,” nabbed the Best in Division for Digital Communications.

Clairemont’s Sir Walter Raleigh awards included:

– Best in Division in Digital Communications for “Clairemont Communications Celebrates Six Years with Good to Be Alive Video”
– Gold Excellence in Public Relations Writing for: “Growers Reinvent Farming Practice with New Technologies”
– Gold Excellence in Total Campaign for: “The Lincoln Apartments Ribbon Cutting”
– Gold Excellence in Total Campaign for: “Raising the Barn: Wendell Falls Grand Opening”
– Gold Excellence in Digital Communications for: “Clairemont Communications Celebrates Six Years with Good to Be Alive Video”
– Silver Excellence in Total Campaign for: “Unveiling New Digs: Il Palio Revamps and Renews”
– Honorable Mention in Total Campaign for: “Briar Chapel Adds Heat to the 8th Annual Pepper Festival”
– Honorable Mention in Total Campaign for: “Papa Spuds Delivers Farm Fresh Food to Your Doorstep”

We’re grinning. We’re giddy. But above all, we’re grateful. Thank you to our clients and partners who allow us to embark on such fun ventures and undertake such wonderful work with you!

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How to Plan for Maternity Leave

Tracy LathanBlog, Oh Momma Monday, The Clairemont Team, ,

Last month, we helped Sarah and Dave Hattman welcome the newest member of the Clairemont family into the world. In the weeks and months leading up to Mary Lawrence’s arrival, I helped Sarah begin planning for maternity leave, since I had already done it twice. Reliving this process got me thinking about how much is involved in transitioning your entire workload to other team members. As PR account managers, there are just so many details. And so much resides in our heads…where do you even begin!

When it was time to plan for maternity leave with my first child, I had never taken more than a few days of vacation except when I got married. So the idea of preparing to be out for three months seemed daunting to say the least! I find that whenever I feel overwhelmed, the best thing for me to do is get it all down on paper, so I used the same technique to begin preparing for my maternity leave. Here are a few tips that really helped me navigate the process:

 Seek assistance. For those of you who are like me and love a checklist, there are plenty of resources out there to help you get started planning for maternity leave. I found this one from BabyCenter to be very helpful. Also, ask other moms who have been through the process for advice; they will help you think of things that never even occurred to you.

 Start early. Nine months seems like a long time, but it really goes fast! I began this process approximately four months before my due date to be sure I captured everything. This allowed me the chance to walk through the details with team members and prepare clients for the transition. Also, you never know when the baby will actually arrive, so I wanted to be sure everything was in place in case I delivered early. Alas, I was still sitting at my desk on my due date.

 Write down everything. I started outlined everything, including client contacts, contact info, schedules for weekly calls and weekly trackers, monthly reports, upcoming events, personality nuances, etc. Essentially, I wrote a manifesto for each account (which was no doubt overkill), but I wanted to ensure the transition for those jumping in was seamless. Having everything in writing eased everyone’s minds.

The good news is that even though you think the world will stop turning the minute you deliver, it won’t. Your coworkers will keep the train moving so you can enjoy that precious time home with your baby. And that three months will go by very fast; so enjoy every minute!

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