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PR Company Case Study – Farmer’s Fridge Launch: Breaking the Fast Food Mold

Chicago PR Company Paramount Public Relations Client Case Study – Farmer’s Fridge Launch

PR SUMMARY

Breaking the Mold on Fast Food

Vending kiosks dispensing restaurant-quality salads and snacks made fresh each morning was virtually unheard of before Farmer’s Fridge debuted, making headlines not only in the United States but also across the globe in countries such as Brazil, France, Spain, Italy and the UK. The Chicago-based company’s mission was to create healthy salads, soups and snacks easily accessible through completely independent and technologically advanced vending kiosks. Placed in high-traffic areas, Farmer’s Fridge’s kiosks targeted anyone who wanted to make a healthier on-the-go meal choice. The PR company recommended a campaign that leveraged their environmentally conscious, unique mason-jar salad packaging as well their donation of day-old salads to a local Chicago food pantry.

Since Farmer’s Fridge was a start-up company with a very limited budget, Paramount Public Relations leveraged media relations to the fullest. The public relations launch of Farmer’s Fridge garnered over 2 billion media impressions, sparked global discussion and challenged the concept of “fast food” today as we know it.

RESEARCH

Vending Kiosk vs. Vending Machine

While traveling for his previous job, the founder and CEO of Farmer’s Fridge, realized that healthy eating on-the-go came with a tradeoff. At highway rest areas and common fast food establishments, it was nearly impossible to find healthy, fresh options. While traditional vending machines were commonly associated with candy bars and quarters, Farmer’s Fridge’s refrigerated high-tech, touch-screen and credit-card-only kiosk seemed to fall in its own category.

One of the PR company’s main strategies was appropriately positioning Farmer’s Fridge in both the consumer and vending industry. It was important to differentiate Farmer’s Fridge from traditional vending machines without offending other players in the industry. The program strategically avoided the vending machine stigma altogether by positioning Farmer’s Fridge as a vending “kiosk.”

PR COMPANY PLANNING

The objective was to successfully launch a targeted public relations campaign for Farmer’s Fridge and the goals included:

  • Introduce Farmer’s Fridge to business and consumer and trade media
  • Generate coverage of Farmer’s Fridge in key media outlets
  • Drive traffic to Farmer’s Fridge kiosks
  • Position Farmer’s Fridge as the newest innovation in the vending machines—natural, healthy, fresh food easily available to the health-conscious consumer
  • Differentiate Farmer’s Fridge from other innovative vending machines
  • Leverage the founder as an innovator and industry leader

Farmer’s Fridge target audience included key health, food and trade media, consumers, business partners and health enthusiasts.

STRATEGY AND EXECUTION

Catering & Media Drops

In addition to the kiosk locations, Farmer’s Fridge also offered catering across the Chicagoland area to local businesses. Before the official launch, the team targeted mid-size companies in the Chicago Loop that were not only located near the kiosk but also corporations that could potentially become catering customers. Not only did this help test the product but also grew organic, local buzz around the concept, especially on social media. After the catering initiative, the PR team then moved on to media drops at top Chicago media outlets.

Leveraging Competitors, TV Segments and Trend Stories

For the official launch of Famer’s Fridge, Paramount Public Relations distributed the launch press release over PR Newswire and to comprehensive, targeted media lists that included both local and national media. Some additional tactics included:

  • Identifying other vending “outliers” across the globe to align with Farmer’s Fridge, including caviar, champagne and makeup vending machines to include in a national trend story. Coverage included Good Morning America, San Francisco Chronicle and more.
  • Pitching a healthy eating television segment tied to the New Year, which resulted in a WGN-TV
  • Leveraging the popularity of the Mason jar salad trends seen on Pinterest and other websites to position Farmer’s Fridge as trend-forward.
  • Monitoring timely news for any relevant angles and competitor coverage.

PR EVALUATION

Local & National Media Attention

Paramount Public Relations secured media placements in the following media outlets: NBC Nightly News, CNN, SHAPE, Fox Business News, Chicago Grid, The Huffington Post, Good Morning America, Progressive Grocer, Huffington Post, BusinessWeek, Food Network, The Daily Meal, WMAQ-TV, Yahoo! Small Business, Vending Times, Entrepreneur, MSNBC, WCIU-TV, CNET, The Daily Mail, Crain’s Chicago Business, Examiner, WGN-TV, Daily Candy, PureWOW, Well and Good and many more.

Closing

The public relations efforts for the launch of Farmer’s Fridge garnered more than 2 billion impressions with a very limited budget.

ABOUT PARAMOUNT PUBLIC RELATIONS

Founded in 2003, Paramount Public Relations is a full-service public relations and marketing agency in Chicago that offers big-agency expertise with a boutique, entrepreneurial mindset. With every campaign, the firm makes it their goal to solve communications challenges, build brand identity and create visibility in the competitive media marketplace. The agency’s programs aggressively and creatively push client’s position to key audiences—consumers, employees, industry peers, analysts and, of course, national and local media—and they demonstrate a profound understanding of how to work with these audiences and gatekeepers. Above all, Paramount Public Relations works hard and measure their performance by the results. For more information, please visit www.paramountpr.com, call 312-544-4190 or email info@paramountpr.com.

GEICO Skytypers Air Show Team Case Study – Chicago Public Relations Agency

Chicago Public Relations Agency Paramount Public Relations Client Case Study

THE CLIENT:

The GEICO Skytypers Air Show Team is a six-plane squadron of vintage WWII aircraft that performs at 15 U.S. air shows annually.

THE ASK:

The GEICO Skytypers Air Show Team wanted to generate national and local media coverage to increase brand awareness and reach their target audiences – consumers and potential and existing GEICO customers.

THE CAMPAIGN:

To achieve the program objectives, Paramount Public Relations executed a national and 15 market local media relations campaign.

The PR team leveraged its media relationships and invited top-tier press outlets for an exclusive media ride with the WWII airplane squadron to experience a unique formation flight.  The results included photo and article coverage – often front-page – and numerous television segments. To further increase the exposure, the team leveraged GoPro cameras to capture in-flight video footage with strong visual brand coverage to accompany the reporter’s story or TV segment.

When broadcast TV reporters were unable to conduct a media ride, we coordinated LIVE and taped television segments from the airshow to broaden the consumer reach. To ensure the key brand messages were delivered, we crafted key messaging and media trained the client spokesperson(s) to communicate the messages during all press interviews.

In addition to media coverage and to increase target audience reach and reinforce the brand, Paramount Public Relations coordinated autograph signings with the team’s pilots for interaction with consumers and fans.

THE RESULTS:

The campaign resulted in more than 1 billion impressions. National media coverage included FOX News Channel, ABC News, among others and ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX TV affiliates in media markets such as New York, Philadelphia, Washington D.C./Baltimore, Cleveland, Miami, Tampa, Orlando and more.  Additional coverage included the top local market daily newspapers/online sites such as the Cleveland Plain Dealer, The Virginian Pilot, Orlando Sentinel, Newsday, among others.

In the 15 markets the GEICO Skytypers performed in, the team earned more than 50% of the share of voice among media when compared to the U.S. Navy Blue Angels and U.S.A.F. Thunderbirds performance teams.

ABOUT THE GEICO SKYTYPERS:

The GEICO Skytypers Air Show Team, the leading vintage airshow performance squadron, fly six WWII SNJ aircraft, the North American SNJ built for the Navy, the Air Forces T-6 variant. Both trainer aircraft were used to prepare pilots of “The Greatest Generation” for WWII combat. The team performs a low-level, precision-flying demonstration featuring tactics and maneuvers designed by team members who served in the United States military. In addition to their air show performances, the team “skytype” giant messages in the sky. Five aircraft fly in a line-abreast formation to produce 1,000-foot tall messages that can be seen for 15 miles in any direction. For more information, please visit www.geicoskytypers.com.

ABOUT PARAMOUNT PUBLIC RELATIONS:

Founded in 2003, Paramount Public Relations is a full-service public relations and marketing agency in Chicago that offers big-agency expertise with a boutique, entrepreneurial mindset. With every campaign, the firm makes it their goal to solve communications challenges, build brand identity and create visibility in the competitive media marketplace. The agency’s programs aggressively and creatively push client’s position to key audiences—consumers, employees, industry peers, analysts and, of course, national and local media—and they demonstrate a profound understanding of how to work with these audiences and gatekeepers. Above all, Paramount Public Relations works hard and measure their performance by the results. For more information, please visit www.paramountpr.com, call 312-544-4190 or email info@paramountpr.com.

"Who is Running this Magazine?" Rolling Stone’s PR Nightmare

After Rolling Stone magazine released its August cover featuring Boston bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the legendary magazine was met with a storm of backlash. Retailers are boycotting the issue and musicians are expressing their distaste, while social media is overflowing with outcry.

The cover of Rolling Stone magazine has long been a determining factor if a musician has achieved pop icon status. Alongside its commentary of the music industry, the magazine also has a tradition of serious reporting on the current cultural landscape. However, it isn’t an article about Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s descent into radical Islam that is offending people, its Tsarnaev’s rock star looking cover photo. Continue Reading →

6 SEO rules every PR pro should live by

Here is an excellent article from PR Daily every PR person should read as a reminder of the importance of SEO in any PR campaign.

6 SEO rules every PR pro should live by

Search engine optimization (SEO) determines where and how businesses rank on search engines such as Google, Bing, and Yahoo. As the competition for online real estate continues to heat up, B2B and B2C marketers have planned to increase their SEO budgets by 43 percent and 45 percent, respectively.

With marketing departments increasingly seeing more value in digital services, PR professionals must understand how to best incorporate SEO tactics into their service offerings. Become your client’s trusted SEO consultant with these six rules to live by:

1. Take advantage of Google’s free tools. Claim your business’s location on Places for Business, and suggest that your clients follow suit. The same goes for Google+, which can and does influence Google Search. A +1 is similar to link-backs and Web traffic, in that it helps Google determine which sites people deem important. Last, identify the top search terms in your client’s industry for which they’d like to “own” a top spot in search results, and then use the Google AdWords Keyword Tool to find which phrases are searched most frequently. Sprinkle these words throughout your news releases and media advisories.

2. Always link to your client’s homepage in an email pitch. News outlets’ websites can generate some of the strongest link-backs for your clients. To increase the chances that your client’s name will be hyperlinked in a reporter’s story, always include it in your email correspondence with media contacts.

3. Never distribute a hyperlink-free news release. Take every opportunity to drive traffic to your client’s website, whether it’s through a release that crosses the national newswire or one that’s simply emailed to a media list. The rule of thumb is to use three to four hyperlinked keywords per every 400 words. Anchor text should direct clicks to pages within the company website that are most relevant, such as a page where a study’s full report can be found, where people can download an infographic, or where a particular service offering is described in detail.

4. Make the most of your news release’s lead paragraph. Search engine results often display only the first 75 to 100 characters of body text. Start with the most important, keyword-rich information to ensure that’s what Google uses to describe the release.

5. Start blogging. A company blog is one of the best ways to continually update your site with strong keywords. Blogs can be shared on popular social networks, thus creating a channel to increase site traffic. Plus, guest blogging opportunities may arise, and these can generate powerful link-backs from other sites. Map out a content strategy, know which keywords you want to target and stick to a publishing schedule. Blog posts published on Monday and Tuesday mornings often do best, traffic-wise.

6. Become the Web developer’s best friend. If your client is launching a website, you will likely be brought on to write the copy for each page. Take this project a step further by working closely with the developer to see how the site is being built to accommodate strong SEO. Meta title text—the page title you see in search results and at the top of your browser—is extremely important for SEO. Suggest title text for every page on the site by using Google’s Keyword Tool and your client’s Google Analytics account, which will show you how they’re already being found online.

What other SEO tactics have you embraced in your PR work?

Kathleen McFadden is an account executive as Buchanan Public Relations and co-chair of the PR Committee for the Public Relations Global Network. Follow her on Twitter @kathleenmcf. A version of this story originally appeared on the agency’s blog.

http://www.prdaily.com/Main/Articles/14753.aspx

The Great Gatsby and Public Relations

One of America’s beloved novels and one of the summer’s highly anticipated films, The Great Gatsby, has inspired PR Daily’s “What ‘The Great Gatsby’ Can Teach Us About PR.” Elissa Freeman tells us what PR practitioners can learn from this classic tale:

  1. To thine own self be true. Originally from a poverty-stricken Midwestern family, James Gatz reinvented his persona to become a self-made, mysterious millionaire who threw extravagant parties. In PR, it’s easy to fall into the trap of being who your client, or C-suite thinks you should be. The strengths you bring to the job and the personality that goes with it are why you were hired. Colleagues and clients will soon see through any phoniness, which will hurt relationship-building down the road.    Continue Reading →

Considering a Job in PR? Here are 5 Signs that It Might Not Be for You

Simply put, the Public Relations Industry is not meant for everyone. PR Daily’s article “5 Signs You’re Not Cut Out for PR” completely hits the nail on the head when it comes to what kind of person is right for the PR industry.

If on the fence of whether or not you should pursue a career in PR, Scott Signore, principal and CEO of Matter Communications, points out a few warning signs that Public Relations might not be a good career path for you:

1. You receive critical feedback, well, critically.
Critical feedback is a way of PR life and professionals in this business are required to have thick skin. Even the very best piece of secured coverage can generate commentary from a colleague or client about a key message that was missed; the most successful social media campaign may result in a request for more “likes” or a greater number of followers. And that’s the results end of the campaign.

The feedback during materials development and/or project management is typically without a filter and often comes from a number of sources including colleagues, managers, and clients. Critical feedback is part of the gig, and the best you can do is embrace it, learn from mistakes, and improve moving forward.

Can’t handle it? Consider another career.

2. You think the PR job (or project) is finished.
An old and great client of mine, Jim Gustke, now the vice president of marketing at Internet phone company Ooma, once told me (wisely) that the problem with PR (and social media, marketing, etc.), is it’s never finished. PR people can always do more. And these were the words of a satisfied client—one who understood that the agency support I was providing his organization was the very best I could do under the budget, program, and business circumstances.

You may come to the “end” of a launch, or a short-term client project may be “over,” but there’s always the next thing, the higher level. You can send one more pitch, or comment on one more blog. You can spend more time prepping your spokesperson for the next interview, or spend more time following-up with a key contact.

In general, there’s always more to do and you should always be thinking of “what’s next.” If this isn’t in your makeup, you might start thinking about what comes next—after PR agency life.

3. Breaking news means nothing to you.
If you wake up one morning and realize that you couldn’t care less about what’s happening in the category in which you and your clients work, start thinking about your next career step.

PR pros are expected to embrace the energy and enthusiasm that surrounds their clients’ categories. Do you keep up with current events? Are you a voracious reader? If your answer is “no,” you really ought to consider a new line of work.

4. You have a perpetually low energy level.
Does this sound familiar: After several coffees in the morning, your pulse barely registers? If so, the career gods are waving a large red flag in your direction and letting you know to pick another path.

There’s natural and trained enthusiasm—and PR requires both. Trained enthusiasm is a person’s ability to credibly show enthusiasm for a topic without necessarily feeling the love. We’re not talking about faking it, but rather knowing how to make your client, colleague, or media target know that you are “genuinely” pumped about the latest and greatest. PR is a high-energy gig—and that’s one of the reasons why I love it as I do—and a lack of juice is synonymous with a “slow fade” from the PR biz.

5. You are educated and you’ve been trained, but you can’t talk or type your way out of a paper bag.
This likely seems harsh, but this list is incomplete without mentioning basic and solid communication skills. It should be a glaring sign to hang your professional hat elsewhere if you struggle with finding the right words to say or type.

I wouldn’t expect any of our clients to rely on a communicator who is anything less than top-notch. While such standards aren’t as critical at the start of a career, you need to reach them relatively quickly, ensuring that colleagues and clients have confidence in your ability to deliver key messages.

http://www.prdaily.com/Main/Articles/14159.aspx?goback=.gde_126562_member_227589910