Tag: Raleigh PR

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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The Beauty of Raleigh PR: Day 3 – Typical Work Day

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

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. 

When I was a little girl, I remember my mother getting dressed for work. She would curl her hair faithfully and apply her Mary Kay makeup. It seems like just yesterday I was watching her get dressed and getting dropped off at school.

Now, I  have the opportunity to get dressed everyday in the house where I was raised. I make sure to pay close attention to my hair just like my mother did.

In the morning, my mother helps me get ready and wishes me off at the start of each day. It’s amazing how time flies. When I was a little girl, working a full-time job like my parents seemed so far away. Now that it is my time it feels amazing to get up each morning and come in to work.

Today, I was tasked with finding a bluegrass band for a client event. With my list in hand, I got the chance to call agents of bands all across the country. After getting discouraged by a couple of answering machines, I finally spoke to a few agents. It was exciting to be able to use my new title “account coordinator” on the phone with band managers and agents. With my list complied, I began an excel document for all of my findings. I never realized that finding a bluegrass band that isn’t booked solid would be such a hard task.

Next task of the day: case studies. Although the idea of shortening months of work for a client into a two page summary seems tough, I enjoyed it. Writing a case study post for our blog helped me to learn more about exactly what we do for clients at Clairemont. I learned that producing good content takes time. Case studies display the process in which Clairemont works, and we also hope to generate traffic to our website through our previous work.

Overall, I would say that today was a learning experience. I got the chance to speak with agents about emerging and established bluegrass bands. I was trusted with the task of writing a case study for the very first time.

I realized today that even though I am no longer a student, I am constantly learning new things. I am so excited that Clairemont is my new classroom, and that Mrs. Hughens is the teacher.

 

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Let’s Eat Cake: Clairemont is Five!

Dana PhelpsBlog, Public Relations, Raleigh PR Agency, , , , , 1 Comment on Let’s Eat Cake: Clairemont is Five!

It seems like yesterday that I tacked Monty Hagler’s letter on my wall announcing that RLF Communications had hit that important milestone of five years in business. “Wow,” I thought, “What an accomplishment! I can’t wait to say that for Clairemont.”

When you start a company, you read all kinds of scary facts about the number of businesses that never make it to a fifth anniversary. Thankfully, the days where doubts crept in have been far outweighed by the days that my inner voice shouted, “Woohoo, we are doing this! It is really happening!”

So many things have been learned including the fact that when you start a PR agency, it is hard to determine “the” day that you become official. Was it the day we got the business license? Was it the day we signed a lease? (Buying The Clairemont House two years later trumps that, though!) Was it the day we got our first client? Because of this, we plan to celebrate all year. We’re kicking off the festivities starting today since it was five years ago today that I didn’t go to work somewhere else due to the fact that I had announced the day before that I was starting a new agency.

It was also on this day in 2010 that I first blogged as Clairemont’s CEO and promised, amongst other things, random dancing. We’ll mark this milestone by dancing for five minutes on the hour for five hours today on the Clairemont porch. If you are local, please join us. Otherwise, feel free to cut a rug from where you are, but we’ll only believe you if you send us a video we can post on our Facebook page.

We have some exciting things in the works for 2015 and our fifth anniversary. Five seems to be a magical number for us right now. Check back here for more on all that real soon. Love and hugs to everyone who has cheered us on as we’ve felt like the Little Engine That Could! xoxox –D

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Clients Who Care: Wendell Falls

Cherith AndesBlog, Clairemont Client News, In Our Community, Real Estate PR, , ,

In the spirit of holiday giving, “Clients Who Care” is a blog series that recognizes some of the recent acts of kindness and caring demonstrated by Clairemont clients. We hope these stories inspire you to be charitable this holiday season and throughout 2015. Happy Holidays!

After grand opening, many companies make an effort to get to know their new neighbors–perhaps with an open house, a product promotion or even a donation to a local charity.

But what if your business that hasn’t sold a single product? Or signed a single contract? Or even opened your front doors?

Wendell Falls Steps Out Before Even Starting Up

Wendell Falls, the upcoming master-planned community nestled among the quaint rooftops of Wendell, N.C., exceeded the standard protocol for cursory introductions. Inspired by its mission to forge lasting relationships and strengthen the foundations of its community, Wendell Falls offered a helping hand to its new neighbors long before it even broke ground on its first house.

At first, Wendell Falls started by providing monetary contributions to assist the community where it needed it most immediately. With a focus on bolstering economic and academic growth, the new development team locked arms with local business owners and civic leaders to identify opportunities for growth in the chamber and schools.

And while these ongoing partnerships boldly demonstrate Newland’s caring spirit, we think there’s something else that makes this client “rock”.

A Client That Truly “Rocks”

Newland Communities, the developer of Wendell Falls, is fueled by its vision to “create enduring, healthier communities for people to live life in ways that matter most to them.” Newland has woven this principle of sustainability into 140 commercial, residential and mixed-use communities in 14 states nationwide; Wendell Falls carried on the legacy with a big bulldozer…and some creative thinking.

As the team commenced grading on the new Wendell Falls site, they encountered challenges excavating and disposing of the rocky terrain. And we’re not talking about a few pebbles; these hefty boulders posed an expensive challenge to export and stow offsite. And then Newland’s team encountered a “light bulb” idea: why not donate the boulders to the local Wendell Parks and Recreational department to aid its renovation efforts?

A dump truck (and a crane and a few hard hats) later, Wendell Falls donated eight hefty boulders to the Wendell Parks and Rec, footing the entire bill for the excavation, exporting and unloading while saving the town thousands of dollars in landscaping fees.

This creative form of “recycling” showcased the team’s heart to support and care for their community in every way possible—including a little “rock and roll.”

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Clients Who Care: T.MAC

Sarah HattmanBlog, Case Studies, Clairemont Client News, Restaurant PR + Hospitality PR, , , , , , ,

In the spirit of holiday giving, “Clients Who Care” is a blog series that recognizes some of the recent acts of kindness and caring demonstrated by Clairemont clients. We hope these stories inspire you to be charitable this holiday season and throughout 2015. Happy Holidays!

In the months leading up to T.MAC opening its doors in Cary on October 5, 2014, I became familiar with several key numbers related to the casual, neighborhood restaurant. One hundred beers on draft, 40 local craft beers, 75 HDTVs, 7,150 square feet and seating for 183 guests were all part of frequent conversations. However, in my opinion, the most impressive number was revealed on Giving Tuesday almost two months after the restaurant opened its doors to guests.

The number is 8,000. It’s the amount of money T.MAC raised for two Triangle-based non-profit organizations during a campaign that ran in conjunction with the restaurant’s opening. Life Experiences in Cary and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) of the Triangle were both presented with a check for $4,000. In case you’re wondering, JDRF plans to use the money to support its annual walk held in October and Life Experiences says the money will help with its day-to-day operational expenses.

I feel it’s important to point out that these sizable donations are about more than getting news coverage during what some consider to be the “giving season.” The people behind T.MAC believe it is just as important to a be good community partner as it is to offer a fun and enjoyable dining experience to guests — a message I feel was demonstrated when the restaurant donated $8,000 two organizations that do so much for the local community.

At a time of year when many of us are reflecting on 2014, I cannot help but to look ahead and wonder what T.MAC’s impressive numbers will be in 2015 as it continues to give back to the community it serves.

 

 

 

 

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