Posted by Heather Atherton on April 17, 2010 · Leave a Comment
Situation:
Fountains at Roseville had enjoyed quite a honeymoon period from opening June 30 through December 31, 2008. It had enjoyed being a “media darling” during that time with constant grand openings resulting in media interest. However, the fourth quarter of 2008 was when the economy was shaken to the core after the stock market drop in October. The holidays were still fairly strong but by January, Fountains (and most other retail establishments) were virtual ghost towns. Fountains needed to find a way to resurrect the momentum it had at the grand opening and find a way to sustain that momentum in an affordable way throughout 2009.
Approach:
Fountains management decided to create a marketing plan that was heavy on the entertainment which would rely heavily on PR to drive traffic to events. A summer entertainment series, three nights per week, ran from June through September in addition to a monthly Kids Club and special events on Easter and Halloween. The holidays again included weekend entertainment. Read more
Posted by Heather Atherton on April 17, 2010 · Leave a Comment
Situation:
2009 was a relatively “vanilla” year for IMAX films so Atherton Public Relations had created several new initiatives to “get outside the box” to strategically go out into the community and find the unique audiences for each film. By the time AVATAR was scheduled to begin, several initiatives were under way which set up a perfect storm because it was such a successful film worldwide.
Approach:
Upon initial review, AVATAR seemed to fit into the familiar category of young to middle-aged men who love video games. We’ve had great success with this genre of films in the past so we went to some of our go-to partners we’ve developed over the past few years. We traded tickets for in-store exposure with: Read more
Posted by Heather Atherton on April 17, 2010 · Leave a Comment
Situation:
Citizen Voice is a non-partisan organization with the goal of informing citizens about political issues and protecting the vulnerable. Their current initiatives include election projects for each major election cycle and the SAFELY OUT® Project, an emergency evacuation communication kit that helps families get out safely in a disaster and communicate with first responders and loved ones.
The 2008 election was historic and therefore it was the perfect time to launch Citizen Voice’s very first election project statewide. Citizen Voice and the SAFELY OUT Project had no statewide recognition prior to this outreach project, but it had received extensive coverage in the Sacramento region and minimal coverage in the SF Bay Area for smaller earlier projects. Read more
Posted by Heather Atherton on April 17, 2010 · Leave a Comment
Situation:
In order to properly celebrate its 15th anniversary in mid-July 2008, Buca di Beppo brought in Heather Atherton of Atherton Public Relations and Katy Springer, fellow PR consultant, and their virtual PR team to run a nationwide PR campaign in the summer of 2008. Objectives were twofold: 1) create an unusual event at the original Buca di Beppo in Minneapolis, MN that would generate media attention and create a model for other locations to copy, 2) book broadcast media tours to support local operators and generate traffic.
Approach:
In order to generate energy for the promotion nationwide, 10 markets were chosen to pursue for broadcast cooking opportunity as well as print/online media coverage. The markets included: Minneapolis, Indianapolis, Phoenix, Cleveland, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Sacramento, Philadelphia, Chicago, South Florida, Washington, DC, Dallas and Detroit. Media tours for TV and radio were booked in all of the markets to promote some of the most popular “classic Buca” dishes featured as a part of the anniversary. Read more
