Tag: Raleigh PR Agency

MEET DEREK, OUR NEWEST MEMBER

Derek BullingtonBlog, Raleigh PR Agency, The Clairemont Team, , , , , , , , ,

For the past three years, I have been a Clairemont Communications client while working with the International Association of Fire Chiefs on the volunteer firefighters campaign for the state of North Carolina. The Clairemont team made us feel like we were their only client. They were going above and beyond on our deliverables. No matter how hard it was to rein in all our crazy ideas. The excitement and eagerness to support the client always impressed me.

Client

During my time as a Clairemont client, I formed a very close bond with the team. I started to really enjoy learning the ins and outs of public relations. A seed was planted in the back of my mind that this would be a great career fit for me. Something I would truly enjoy doing. I also started to see how my background in art and my career in the non-profit sector for 11 years prepared me to work in PR.

If I learned anything in art school, it was to embrace my creative side and to be flexible in the work I do. Creativity and flexibility are important skills in PR. You need to be able to pitch innovative ideas and ready to change directions if they do not work. I had also gained a basic skill set that would be valuable in the PR industry. Writing press releases and building relationships with a variety of companies and individuals throughout my career in non-profits set me up for a career in PR. As my luck would have it, a position opened with the Clairemont team, and I immediately jumped at the opportunity to apply.

Client to employee

After participating in a thorough interview process and the anticipation of a job offer, I was getting ready to switch careers and move down to Raleigh! I am so excited to be here and to learn under Dana and her team! Not only do I get to work with an amazing group, but I get to use the creativity that has been dormant for so long while working a typical desk job. Only 10 weeks into the job and I am already back to creating art in my spare time. This is something that I haven’t done in several years. I think my parents would be glad that I’m finally putting my college degree to good use by carrying that artistic spark over to my work with Clairemont.

My years in non-profit were not all bad, quite the opposite. During this time I worked for some of the top medical societies, the YMCA, Travelers Insurance and the IAFC. I broke out of my introverted bubble and built relationships with diverse groups. I worked with the top pharmaceutical companies and medical research institutions, at-risk youth, did fundraising and helped recruit and retain volunteer firefighters nationwide. While I enjoyed my work in non-profit organizations and collected an amazing amount of knowledge and skills, I am ready to see what I can bring to Clairemont.

Settling in to Raleigh

My career has taken me from Washington D.C. to Tucson, AZ, out to Minneapolis and Northern Virginia. I have experienced some of the hottest and coldest weather the U.S. has to offer. It seems like Raleigh will be a good mix (but the humidity!) and I’m thrilled to settle here. I have enjoyed exploring an amazing city that seems to not stop growing and diversifying. Some of the best food and drinks I have ever had, have been here in Raleigh. I have joined group cycling rides and explored the many parks and festivals Raleigh has to offer. In Raleigh, I believe I have found my new home away from home and look forward to continued amazement with this area. I’m excited to make new memories and reach the next level of my career here at Clairemont Communications.

You can follow Derek on Instagram @DerekBullington

 

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Client Spotlight: Vita Vite in This is Raleigh

Olivia NolesBlog, Clairemont Client News, Restaurant PR + Hospitality PR, , , ,

We loved seeing our client Lindsay Rice of Vita Vite featured in This Is Raleigh as part of their “interviews with locals” series.

In the interview, Lindsay details her love for Raleigh and how she started Vita Vite, an art gallery, wine bar and event space with two locations in Raleigh, one downtown and one in North Hills.

Lindsay was raised in a family that puts emphasis on time together around the table. This value combined with her background in the arts and love for travel inspired her to start Vita Vite.

Vita Vite has a relaxed, unpretentious environment where customers can sit in comfortable seating sections while enjoying wine, beer and charcuterie. It showcases Southern artists and focuses on wines from predominately small, family-run wineries around the world.

Click here to read the entire interview and to learn more about Vita Vite!

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Instagram: No longer just for photos

Clairemont InternBlog, Social Media + Influencer Engagement, Trends, , ,

When Instagram launched in 2010, it was a single feed stream of singular square photos. Over the years, Instagram added options for video, stories, IGTV, Guides, Reels and even shopping within the app. In the most recent update, Adam Mosseri, company head of Instagram, states that Instagram is “no longer a photo-sharing app.” 

Instagram’s goal has always been to keep users in the app for as much time as possible. The networking service’s research findings have shown entertainment as the number one reason people use the app by a long shot. To captivate users against the millennial audience on TikTok, shopping websites and other competitors, Instagram has evolved. Moving forward, they plan to focus on more video content, creators, shopping and direct messaging. 

To make the app more enjoyable for users, Instagram will also experiment with recommendations, or showing users content in their feeds that they are not already following. To make these recommendations more personalized, it is launching a version that includes personalized topics so users can hand select which topics they want to see more or less of. 

What do these changes mean for creators and businesses?

The Instagram algorithm favors content that contains the newest features and keeps users on the app. Instagram has seen the growth video is driving across all platforms and wants to lean into it more. Therefore, creators and businesses should shift content creation to video formatting when possible, preferably to reels and IGTV videos. 

If you are a business with the ability to tag shoppable products through Instagram, you should be jumping at the opportunity to provide your customers an easier way to shop while gaining an advantage in the app. Anytime Instagram launches a new feature, you should be implementing it to your social media strategy as soon as possible. 

Need help launching your own Instagram account for your business or organization? Reach out to us; we’d love to help!

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Coping with COVID: Generous Interpretations

Cherith AndesBlog, Inspirational, The Clairemont Team, , , ,

A personal essay

“The new normal.”

By this point, the phrase isn’t so new anymore. In fact, many large brands quickly adopted this mantra (along with a pervasive “we’re all in this together” motif) within days of the COVID pandemic hitting America.

Normal. It’s not new. It’s not even normal. Stay-at-home orders and the ever-shifting pandemic has reshaped our society in ways we don’t even know yet. During this time, what lessons are you taking with you?

I’m not necessarily talking about new ways of doing business (although those are key), new work methods or new apps. (But can I get an “amen” from those of us that caved to TikTok?) I’m referring to personal learnings that can range from big light-bulb realizations to quiet, evolving resolutions.

How will you come out of this season changed as a professional, spouse, parent, child, student, leader or friend?

Generous Interpretations

Researcher, speaker and writer Brene Brown weaves a theme through much of her work known as “generous interpretations.” In her book Rising Strong, she defines this as the ability to “extend the most generous interpretation possible to the intentions, words and actions of others.” In essence, when we are hurt, angered, confused or simply rubbed the wrong way, we choose to assume that the other person is doing the best they can and extend the most gracious assumption about his or her behavior until we have more information. Surely difficult in practice, this ongoing art can alleviate much conflict and unnecessary judgment in both professional and personal dynamics.

While Brene interweaves this concept with several other larger ideas, generous interpretations can stand alone. And I’ve learned that during COVID.

A Not-So-Generous Example

Let’s go super simple on this example, shall we? Not too long ago, I was on a WebEx conference call. (Shocker, I know.) The speaker was trying diligently to run through her talking points while one of the 28 people on the call was typing away noisily — rather rudely, I might say. Seriously. If you’re going to multi-task, at least have the courtesy to put yourself on mute. How basic is this principle, people?!

I was starting to form a miffed grudge against one lady in the group — the clear culprit — … only to realize 60 seconds later that the culprit was ME. (For the record, I was taking notes. But regardless!) A generous interpretation would have been to assume the other person simply forgot the mute button and was taking good notes. (The added kicker, of course, being that I was said culprit.)

Generously Putting It into Practice

Brene does clarify that “generosity is not a free pass for people to take advantage of us, treat us unfairly or be purposefully disrespectful and mean.” But whether it’s the coworker that “dropped the ball,” the in-law that seems to overcorrect your parenting or the neighbor that never mows his lawn, extend your most generous interpretation to their situations. Perhaps the neighbor got sick and can’t get out. Perhaps the coworker is working feverishly and is in the midst of researching additional information for the project.

Start from a place of grace, because as Brene also says, “Grace will take you places hustling can’t.”

What learnings are you taking with you this season? 

Looking for more? We’re sharing our tips to cope with COVID.

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Soccer PR: USWNT World Cup Win

Clairemont InternBlog, Public Relations, Social Media + Influencer Engagement, ,

I’m a soccer fan – more specifically, a U.S. Women’s National Team (USWNT) fan. So you can imagine, as the concluding whistle blew at the World Cup finals this summer and the USWNT paraded around the field in Lyon, France, I was watching from my home in Charlotte with tears of joy in my eyes. The beloved team I have ardently followed for the last six years won the greatest match in its sport.

With the lingering excitement from the USA win, I can’t help but think about how these soccer icons employed an unofficial – yet effective – PR strategy during the World Cup to support their own goal of securing equal pay in the industry. Through establishing relationships, understanding their audience and leveraging the tools and circumstances at hand, these pro-athletes fostered support and acceptance for equal pay activism.

Here’s how the USWNT made an impact in the PR game.

@kelleyohara

Social Media: Every day of the World Cup, the players were extremely active on social media. These interactions garnered excitement and attention, encouraged fellow players on match day and eventually gained worldwide engagement. Seeing the team not only post consistently but also intentionally interact with each other on social media platforms helped the nation to adore the friendships and camaraderie on the team. Bolstered by this bond with its fans, the USWNT effortlessly collected supporters to rally behind it on and off the field, even yielding “equal pay” chants after securing the final victory. 

The Power of Relationships: Due to the attention drawn to the wage conversation during the World Cup, USWNT sponsors willingly responded to the noise. Secret Deodorant, LUNA Nutrition Bars and other team sponsors donated money in an effort to help close the wage gap. Because of the positive relationships cultivated by the team, the sponsors made a statement of support, providing the team greater exposure, agency and acceptance. 

Press Coverage: The women knew the amount of news coverage they would get surrounding a World Cup win, so they took advantage of the opportunity. For example, the players weaved the topic of wage equality into post-match and post-win interviews. Players Carli Lloyd, Christen Press, Morgan Brian and other notables even sat down with then-CBS News Correspondent Norah O’Donnell to discuss their next steps in spurring the end to wage inequality in their sport.

With a win, the team more powerfully leveraged its position in the media’s presence to earn circulation of its equal pay message. The country that so faithfully supports the team’s on-the-field effort has now rallied behind its message of equality.

I love soccer and PR. Check out my introduction blog to learn a little more about me!

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