When a client-centered PR firm like Clairemont Communications gets together with a customer-centered company like Newland, it’s no surprise that great things happen.

Our collaboration began in 2010, the year Clairemont Communications was founded, and has been recognized with an astounding 33 awards, including 19 InSpire Awards from the North Carolina Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America (NCPRSA) and 14 Sir Walter Raleigh Awards from the Raleigh Public Relations Society, with one or more Best in Category or Division almost every year!

We’re frequently asked just what a PR firm does. Often, the answer is that we turn challenges into opportunities. Here are just a few fun examples from our work with Newland Communities over the years:

• How does a company secure news coverage from a national outlet when circumstances remain highly confidential until negotiations are complete? Find out how we got our client’s preferred news outlet to break the story, as well as coverage from other national outlets here! This campaign earned Clairemont a Best in Division award from Raleigh Public Relations Society and an Award of Excellence from NCPRSA in 2013.
• How does a new housing community announce itself in a way that both attracts potential buyers and also dispels a myth that it’s too far away from the action? (Hint: you raise a barn!) Read how Clairemont and the Newland team shaped public understanding of Wendell Falls, Newland’s newest Triangle-area community as one that combines proximity to Raleigh with its own vibrant community life here. The Wendell Falls Grand Opening Barn Raising campaign received the Gold Excellence Award for Total Campaign from the Raleigh Public Relations Society as well as Best in Category for Events & Observances from the NCPRSA in 2016.
• How does a festival get busy media outlets to tune in to news of its eighth year when interest in annual festivals seems on the wane? See how we turned up the heat for the Pepper Festival on behalf of Newland’s Briar Chapel, the largest master-planned green community in North Carolina here. With 50 percent of the development (900 acres!) maintained as natural space, Briar Chapel naturally appeals to home buyers who care about sustainability, the environment and local agriculture. The key was getting the word out. Our creativity in piquig the interest of media resulted in record coverage and top attendance! It also earned an Honorable Mention in Total Campaign from the Raleigh Public Relations Society and an Honorable Mention for Events & Observances from the NCPRSA in 2016.

We love it when our clients give us challenges. Here are two we received from our Briar Chapel clients that resulted in award-winning campaigns.

• Instead of adding followers just to build numbers, how can we increase engagement with existing fans so they’ll become our brand advocates?
• How can we get media to come out to Briar Chapel to see the progress the community has made in the five years since the grand opening?

The programs we devised with the Briar Chapel community involved social media Best Buddies and hot air balloon rides, garnering eight awards in 2013 and 2014, including a Best in Category for Community Relations and Media Relations. Read more about both campaigns here. We’re delighted that our ongoing relationship with Newland has allowed us to demonstrate the breadth of our talents, from media relations to community relations, from social media to news releases, from promoting events to the identity of an organization. Newland Communities, operates by this motto:

“In every community we create, one thing will never change—we start with the people who will one day live there, raise their families there, or retire there.”

This jibes with Clairemont Communication’s philosophy of loving our clients, and starting with their needs, often coming up with brand new strategies to help them meet their objectives. If you have a challenge you want to turn into an opportunity, email me at d@clairemontcommunications.com to schedule a call. I’d love to talk with you!

Images courtesy of Briar Chapel.