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.

PR would be the primary vehicle for creating buzz about events in order to drive customer traffic. Tactics included developing a social media presence for Fountains at Roseville, creating and implementing a PR plan that included monthly press releases that outlined the highlights of entertainment each month, staying ahead of calendar deadlines to maximize “low hanging fruit” media opportunities, and pitching broadcast to cover specific events and guests that had the most appeal as vehicles to promote certain events.

Results:

• Fountains entertainment program drew more than 15,000 people over the course of the four month program
• Fountains at Roseville had live TV feature television coverage more than 15 times on property at least 10 additional in-studio. They conservatively received more than 225 media hits over the course of the year
• Some stores had sales that increased year over year despite the sagging economy. New retailers continue to come online and sign leases with Fountains at Roseville. Only two retailers have closed their doors, Right Start and Smith & Hawkin, both which shut down ALL of their retail stores across the U.S.

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:

• All of the regional Game Stop outlets
• Bookstores
• Greek systems and radio stations at CSUS and UC Davis

Additionally we’ve developed a regular program with local media station Good Day Sacramento to do a free show for their viewers on the opening day of the film. We work with Mark S. Allen to develop creative live shots to draw audience down throughout the show that morning, thus creating great TV for them to draw audience. Good Day partners with the Esquire IMAX on most openings.

We also employed creative marketing outreach after the opening to make sure the momentum continued. Once the milestones of AVATAR’s success at the Esquire IMAX Theatre began to seep into the media, we went to our local media to share our own milestones of success to show our contribution to the overall numbers.

Results:

• The Esquire IMAX Theatre experienced the most successful film run in its 10 ½year history with dozens of sold out shows
• Esquire IMAX Theatre listed as 5th highest attendance for a single screen on opening weekend in North America
• Media coverage was extensive upon opening with reviewers and entertainment media, but media coverage continued in the business media as the film and the local theatre continued to hit milestones

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.

The 2008 Election Project was to create a web portal at www.citizenvoice.org where voters could find neutral information on the 12 ballot initiatives. Video interviews with representatives of both sides of each of the 12 ballot propositions were moderated by Northern California-known nonpartisan political analyst, Gary Dietrich (founder of Citizen Voice). Written analyses of each side were also posted to the site. The fall 2008 election had an exceptional number of propositions in one election, with several very hot topic issues include Prop 8 on gay marriage.

Citizen Voice had a goals of 1) reaching one million citizens to use the portal, 2) to perform media interviews throughout California.

Approach:

A statewide media tour was initiated and continued over the course of two weeks in early October 2008. Gary Dietrick traveled from Chico to San Diego to do media interviews to promote the web site’s valuable and free information just as voters were starting to decide how they would choose to vote on the propositions.

Results:

• The portal, www.citizenvoice.org, received just over one million hits between October 1, and the election on November 4, 2008
• Media interviews were conducted in:

• Chico – all three major networks
• San Francisco – radio interviews
• Santa Cruz – radio
• Santa Barbara – radio and TV
• Los Angeles – print/online
• San Diego – TV and radio
• Fresno – TV

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.

Minneapolis was a bit different as we were asked to create an unusual media event that would create great visuals for media and photos for the web site. We developed the concept of a “Mass Renewal of Vows” ceremony outside of the original Buca di Beppo in downtown Minneapolis. We secured a media partner in a daily afternoon television show with a male and female host who would help officiate the “renewal” ceremony. A contest was held via the television show and a radio partner to find 15 couples to join Buca for the ceremony and a private reception in the restaurant. Each couple was invited to bring two other guests.

Results:

• 30 TV, 30 radio and more than 100 print media hits secured across the 14 markets. Broadcast were either live cooking segments or live food drops (deliveries) to stations where they chatted on air about the restaurant and promotion.
• Buca di Beppo was very impressed with the results as they had not received that number of live broadcast interview opportunities in a two month period in the past.
• The event was a tremendous success. We quickly secured our 15 couples who all had fantastic stories to share. Photos were used to promote the ongoing promotion that lasted through mid-August. It solidified the relationship with KSTP TV and radio station KS95 in their headquarters.