Author: Sarah Hattman

Raleigh: An 18-Hour City

Sarah HattmanBlog, Real Estate PR, Trends, , , ,

This year is expected to be a great one for the Triangle’s real estate market and its residents. In fact, Raleigh-Durham was named the 10th most overall promising market of the year by Emerging Trends in Real Estate. Additionally, based on the survey, the area received the following market accolades:

  • 7th in Office Market
  • 9th in Single Family Housing Market
  • 13th in Retail Market
  • 15th in Industrial Market

There were a lot of factors that influenced these rankings, but in general, respondents favored the Triangle for its urbanization, ability to attract and retain a high-quality workforce and competitive cost of doing business.

Another trend I find to be of particular interest is the coming of age of the 18-hour city. These cities combine the best of 24-hour cities (think New York City) and 9-5 cities that are only active during business hours. I feel that Raleigh has always been somewhere between the two, but many 9-5 cities across the country are transforming into 18-hour cities.

The City of Oaks has done a wonderful job combining essential elements of housing, retail, dining and walk-to-work offices to help grow it as an urban hub. In turn, it has spurred investment and development. I see the growth everyday as I make my way to the Clairemont House in Downtown Raleigh.

Since last summer, I have been watching one of the city’s latest massive urban apartment complexes literally rise from the ground. What was not much more than a grassy field just last year has burgeoning into the shell of a four-story building featuring 224 studio, one- and two-bedroom apartment units. Known as the Lincoln, this new development stands within walking distance of local shops, boutiques, restaurants to sate any appetite and bars with live music and entertainment.

Cities like Raleigh that combine work, live and play aspects generate a feeling of excitement and therefore stay bustling well past work-day hours. Many of these 18-hour cities are said to be under-the-radar but rapidly on the rise due to the realization of great opportunities for homeowner investment.

 

 

 

 

Read More

What Does a PR Agency Do? T.MAC Restaurant Opening

Sarah HattmanBlog, Case Studies, Public Relations, Restaurant PR + Hospitality PR, , ,

Client: T.MAC

Situational Analysis: The original T.MAC was founded in Atlanta, Georgia in 1979. More than 30 years later the company has grown to include 30 restaurants – 25 of which are in Georgia. With the majority of its restaurants located in its home state, it is no surprise that T.MAC is well known there. However, T.MAC executives realized the company’s brand recognition wasn’t as strong outside of Georgia.

Until 2014, T.MAC was known as Taco Mac. In the restaurant’s early days, the founders had enough money to revamp the kitchen or change the sign outside the building that was once home to a taco stand. Ultimately, the kitchen remodel won and Taco Mac was born. The problem is that Taco Mac is known for its signature wings, not tacos. In fact, there is only one taco on its menu. T.MAC dropped the “aco” before it opened its first Triangle restaurant in Cary, but its team of executives knew they needed to do more to establish brand recognition in the months leading up to its opening, and they hired Clairemont Communications.

Planning: Based on extensive primary and secondary research, Clairemont established the objectives as follows:

  1. Develop local community relationships with T.MAC ahead of the opening, engaging at least 40 community influencers.
  2. Introduce media to T.MAC, securing at least 10 local print news stories and 25 blog and social media posts.
  3. Arrange meetings with local high schools and facilitate at least two sponsorships.
  4. Select two local non-profit organizations and donate a portion of opening week proceeds to those organizations.

Execution: In order to effectively meet the primary objectives, Clairemont focused its efforts on the following areas:

  • Local High School Sponsorships: By building relationships with local schools,  T.MAC was able to introduce itself to Cary families as part of the community and position itself as a place to hang out with teammates, friends and family. With a fall opening of the restaurant, high school football sponsorships provided opportunities to show T.MAC’s community involvement and give Cary families a reason to check out the restaurant.
  • Clairemont Social: Clairemont hosted a T.MAC social at The Clairemont House. The purpose was to give our network of contacts and influencers the opportunity to learn more about T.MAC, sample food from the menu and taste its local beer offerings and meet the T.MAC team. We hosted approximately 60 guests including media and local personalities, local business owners, hospitality professionals, leaders in the community, bloggers and foodies.
  • Media Preview Lunch: We invited targeted media to a special preview lunch at the restaurant two days prior to the opening. This allowed media to preview the restaurant and meet on-one-one with key members of the T.MAC team.
  • VIP Preview: Clairemont compiled a list of city officials, dignitaries, local media and local university administration for T.MAC to invite to special VIP dinner the evening before T.MAC opened to the public. T.MAC hosted 125 VIP’s who were able to sample the menu and beer selection for the complete T.MAC “experience.”
  • Check Presentation Event: Before T.MAC’s opening, Clairemont arranged and recommended two local non-profit organizations for T.MAC to support with money raised during the restaurant’s opening week. Less than a month after its opening, T.MAC donated $2,000 to both Life Experiences and JDFR each of the organizations. Clairemont arranged at check presentation ceremony and invited media to attend the event highlighting T.MAC as business that supports the community it serves.

Evaluation: The creative, tiered campaign exceeded expectations by engaging more than 75 target community influencers at the social at The Clairemont House, friends and family night and the VIP preview. We exceeded our goal media coverage and secured 10 traditional media placements 38 social media and blog posts, introducing T.MAC to the area. We also exceeded our goal and secured sponsorships with three local high schools. Clairemont met its goal and arranged for T.MAC to donate money to two local non-profit organizations that support the community.

We anticipate that we’ll continue to work on our goal of trying all of the beers that T.MAC has on tap for at least a few more months! In the meantime, we hope you enjoyed this Tasty Tuesday post, and stay tuned for more restaurant PR case studies that showcase the work Clairemont is doing with a variety of types of food service organizations.

Pilsner Glass

 

Read More

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.

 

 

 

 

Read More

PRSA Leadership Rally 2014

Sarah HattmanBlog, Professional Development, Public Relations, , ,

When I was approached by the president of the North Carolina Public Relations Society (NCPRSA) about attending the Leadership Rally in New York with our chapter’s president elect Tony Arnold and website chair Lauren Parker, I was flattered and excited. The Leadership Rally is an annual event designed to help prepare leaders for the next year and beyond with important orientation, networking and of course leadership sessions. It was an amazing experience! Not only did I have the pleasure of meeting industry leaders and getting a lot of great ideas, I also got to spend three days in the Big Apple (but that’s for another post).

I gleaned important information on topics ranging from increasing engagement among members to financial literacy, and the highlight for me was keynote speaker Fred Cook. He is the CEO of GolinHarris, one of the world’s largest and most successful PR firms. Cook has worked with big companies including Nintendo, McDonald’s and Walmart, and big names ranging from Sheldon Adelson to Steve Jobs.

Cook’s presentation discussed highlights from his new book “Improvise: Unconventional Career Advice from an Unlikely CEO.” He told us about his unusual path to success that began with odd jobs ranging from tour guide to chauffeur. Eventually he found his passion for PR and realized there are many paths to success. Cook gave us his best advice from his long, winding and (what many would consider) unconventional path.

Here are a few of my favorite tips from Cook that can be applied to evoke the leader in us all, no matter where you are in your career.

1. Expose Yourself – No, it’s not what you are thinking. It is about getting outside of your comfort zone and experiencing new things. Pick up a magazine that is not necessarily of interest to you. For example, I often find myself reading Southern Living, Better Homes and Gardens and People, but in order to expose myself Cook says I should be reaching for the latest issue of  Guns & Ammo. The idea is to get you to experience new things. You will benefit from exploring ideas outside of your comfort zone and learn a lot about the world around you.

2. Ask the Captain – By literally asking the captain, Cook was able to talk his way into a job as a cabin boy on a tanker ship heading to Asia. In the business world the “captain” is usually a senior executive who can be intimidating to anyone just starting their careers or new to a profession. But Cook’s advice is to not be shy because the captains are the one who can guide your career.  He says if you aspire to be a captain, you should talk to them and ask questions every chance you get. After all, you never know where it might take you.

3.Enlist an Entourage – You’ve probably heard the phrase, “It takes a village to raise a child.” Well this saying can also be tailored and applied to successful people too. Behind every successful person, whether it is a billionaire, a politician or an entertainer, there is a team of people responsible for making them look good. According to Cook, there is always someone one step ahead of you, and you are always going to be competing with people who have more experience and better connections. So in order to get to the top, you need to start compiling your entourage now.

 

 

Read More

Feeling “InSpired”

Sarah HattmanAwards, Blog, Professional Development, The Clairemont Team, , , ,

Each year in May the North Carolina Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America (NCPRSA) hosts the InSpire Awards, which brings together the top PR pros in the Triangle to celebrate the “best of the best” in public relations. I am pleased and honored to say that Clairemont Communications won 10 awards at this year’s event, including two best in category awards, six awards of excellence and two honorable mentions. This means that since Clairemont opened its doors in 2010, the team has won 85 industry awards.

I wish I could take credit for the awards, but the truth is that I have been a member of the Clairemont team for only a little over a month, and the award-winning work was done many months ahead of my arrival. Based on the smile that was plastered on my face each of the 10 times that the evening’s emcee, WRAL’s Debra Morgan, read Clairemont’s name, you might think I single-handedly crafted and executed the campaigns and tactics. However, I was simply in awe of my new teammates and excited to know that I joined such an extremely creative and wildly successful team.

I attribute the success to an outstanding team. In my short time with the agency, I have learned that Clairemont takes the word “team” to a whole new level and gives validation to the old saying, “There’s no ‘i” in team.” I know it seems rather cliche, but it really is the truth when it comes to Clairemont. Whether it’s a brainstorming session, working through a challenge or simply going through the daily routine, everyone is working together, supporting each other and having fun.

This is why I wasn’t surprised to learn that each year Clairemont develops a “team theme” for the InSpire Awards. In previous years, team members arrived at the banquet wearing all yellow or waved Facebook “Like” flags as a team member accepted an award for a social media campaign. This year we discussed several options, ranging from straw hats or scarves to an animal print of some sort. After several conversations and much consideration, (Could we find a hat shop? Did we all have animal print clothing? What was within everyone’s comfort zone?) we opted to wear black and/or white with orange accessories.

I liked the idea; it was classy and had a feel of understated elegance. But I couldn’t help but wonder if people would actually look at me and think, “She has on a black dress, a white blazer, an orange necklace and orange earrings. Oh, she must be with Clairemont!” After all, it was an awards banquet at The State Club. I expected many attendees would be dressed in black and white with a splash of color.

Well, it turns out that not only did they did notice, several of them commented saying it was a “fun idea” or a “nice touch.” I admit it was pretty obvious that our color scheme was intentional as I looked around our table and saw everyone dressed according to our “team theme.” That’s when it hit me. Our colored-coordinated attire was a true testimony of the Clairemont culture. We all had the same goal of presenting ourselves as a united team by wearing the same colors, but each of our outfits was different and represented the fact that we each bring our own sense of style and personality to the table in everything thing we do.

I look forward to the days, weeks and months ahead at Clairemont, and who knows, maybe next year will be the year that Clairemont wins its 100th industry award.

 

Read More