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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.

Public Relations and Consumers: TikTok’s Rise During 2020 and Quarantine

The most downloaded app of 2020? TikTok of course. Its rise in popularity began in 2019, but with the onslaught of COVID-19 and most of the world in lockdown in the spring of 2020, downloads spiked and millions of users turned to the app to avoid boredom. From learning dances, to sharing funny skits and learning life hacks or new recipes, TikTok provided users, mostly Gen Z and Millennials, with an escape from the uncertainty of the year. With its popularity amongst consumers firmly secured, public relations professionals have now turned to the platform to setup brand accounts pushing content and launch campaigns with influencers on the app as well. Will TikTok rival Instagram? Time will tell, but the diversity of content on the app shows that there is a corner of TikTok for everyone and endless possibilities for PR professionals to utilize the app. Some of the biggest trends on TikTok in 2020 included:

  • Dances like the “Renegade”
  • Funky recipes such as whipped coffee and pancake cereal
  • Influencer campaigns to boost PR launched by companies from Walmart to Prada
  • Content that not only helped keep people connected during a challenging and lonely year, but kept them laughing too

One campaign, fit for the year, was launched by Lysol called #HealthyHabit6Step. The campaign incorporated the popularity of TikTok dances into the concept of the campaign, having users dancing and demonstrating six healthy habits to keep themselves and others safe in the pandemic, all to the beat of a song. While influencers have gotten more and more creative on Instagram over the year, TikTok presents content creators and the public relations industry with even more opportunities to think outside of the box and create fresh and unique content. Instagram Vs. TikTok? Time will tell.

For a closer look at TikTok’s impact in 2020, click here.

Everyone’s Favorite Ad Man Makes His Big Return

He’s the man you know and love despite his questionable life choices. He’s charming, smart and witty (not to mention incredibly handsome). He’s Don Draper and he’s back. No, the popular TV drama surrounding a New York ad agency set in the 1960s is not coming out with new episodes, unfortunately. But, AT&T Audience Network will be showing all seven seasons of the critically acclaimed series starting June 12th.

 

don draper

 

AT&T Audience Network is available to the subscribers of DirecTV, DirecTV Now and U-verse. Audience Network is the first network to have attained Mad Men’s off-network rights. The show is going to air commercial free with occasional marathons on Saturdays. Chris Long, the head of the network, explains that they have seen a major boost in their viewership because they are commercial free. He also said this gives viewers the opportunity to catch up on a show that they may not have seen without interruption or if you’re like me, an opportunity to re-watch one of the greatest TV shows ever created and swoon over Don Draper. In addition to Mad Men, Audience Network will also be airing Weeds after attaining the off-network rights for that show as well.

 

GROUP - Mad Men _ Season 7, Gallery - Photo Credit: Frank Ockenfels 3/AMC

GROUP – Mad Men _ Season 7, Gallery – Photo Credit: Frank Ockenfels 3/AMC

 

Tune in June 12th to watch Don Draper and all of our other favorite ad execs on AT&T Audience Network!

 

Read more on Ad Week.

PR – Not Just For the Workweek

blog networking infographic 100215

It’s so easy to become completely consumed in the exciting and fast-paced world of public relations. However, after an eventful week, it’s finally Friday! Utilize these next two days to refresh and regroup from the everyday hustle and bustle by taking some time to get involved in PR activities outside of the office.

While you may be tempted to leave work at the office, incorporating PR inspired activities during your personal time will help you remember why you first decided to break into the industry. Whether you are a working professional or even a student, there are plenty of ways to become more involved in the PR community this weekend.

Here are three suggestions from PR Daily to get involved in PR activities this weekend:

1. Join a PR-Industry Organization

Being a PR professional is exciting because there are so many organizations you can join to help you relate with your peers.

A few favorites are the Public Relations Society of America, PR Council and Publicity Club of New England (locally the Publicity Club of Chicago).

Being part of these organizations—and working alongside those who run them—give PR pros opportunities to meet many local communications pros along the way. You can also learn new tips and tricks, which you can then share with colleagues.

2. Focus on Trade Shows

Spring and fall are typically the biggest trade-show seasons for PR executives.

In the trade show off-season, research events that would be useful from a knowledge-share perspective that your client isn’t attending. This will give you the opportunity to attend workshops and network without client demands.

3. Attend Networking Events

Major cities like Boston, New York, Chicago and San Francisco often host mixers and socials that bring together PR pros with common interest, such as technology or consumer products. These types of events are great for recruitment and new business prospecting.

Client responsibilities are the number one priority, but by making time for industry activities, you create opportunities to bring even more creative ideas to your client campaigns. Even for students, there is the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA), which has chapters at campus’ across the country.

Hopefully these idea have inspired you to try something new you can start next week fresh, rested and ready to take on new challenges!

Read PR Daily’s full article here: http://prdaily.com/Main/Articles/19460.aspx

Public Relations Tips From The Pope, @Pontifex

Pope Francis

If you’ve turned on a television or gone online in the past week, you know that Pope Francis is in the United States. As this is his first trip to the U.S., the media and country alike are overjoyed to host the Pope during his visit. Since arriving, Pope Francis has met with President Obama, spoken before Congress and will meet with the United Nations today.

Through his philanthropy, inter-faith outreach and even social media, the “People’s Pope” has already made a huge impact on the world. His connection with the people has only been strengthened by this trip.

With over 23 million Twitter followers, he is currently the most retweeted leader in the world. Known to be straightforward with the general public on Twitter, Pope Francis has helped shape a humble, more accessible and service-oriented image for the Catholic Church. His ability to connect and understand creates a mixture of leadership, engagement and strategy, all important factors for engaging with an audience.

Here are three ways to improve your communication tactics based on Pope Francis’s social strategy via Crenshaw Communications:

  • Show, Don’t Just Tell. Our political and business leaders have mastered the art of speaking a lot while saying very little. They avoid tough questions by “bridging” to robotic message points and are quick to offer a hollow apology when things go bad. But behavior speaks louder than even the most polished tweet or speech. Much of Francis’ reputation is built on true stories about his experience in South America or his small but symbolic rejection of traditional papal luxuries.
  • Speak Plainly. When Francis does speak or write, he uses plain language. To sound the alarm about environmental peril, the Vatican’s statement was larded with bureaucratic terms. But @pontifex’s tweet was more direct. Plain speaking is powerful.

PR Twitter

  • Be Inclusive. Public Relations professionals see clients that fall into the trap of addressing only their own customers, employees and even competitors. Similarly, previous pontiffs have been preaching to the choir – literally – in reaching out to devout Catholics. This Pope includes non-Catholics and lapsed churchgoers in his communications.

Whether your beliefs align with his or not, there are many communication tips to be learned from Pope Francis. He is changing the way world leaders communicate with their audience – the world.

For more information take a look at Crenshaw Communications’ full article here: http://crenshawcomm.com/3-simple-pr-lessons-from-pope-francis/

 

Taking Control of Your Personal Brand

personal-branding
Building a personal brand, or the practice of people marketing themselves and their careers, has become an important tool in becoming more successful in the age of technology. Due to the quick spread of social media, online profiles have become some of the most effective resources to enhance your career and personal brand, as well as build boundaries between your professional and private life.

Here are our four favorite tips from Forbes on how to control your personal brand on social media in an authentic way:

  1. Embrace your story: Get used to sharing how you landed your dream job, the mistakes you made or where you went to college with others because it will ultimately help you make relationships and market yourself to influencers. Make sure you’re the primary force in telling your story to the rest of the world.
  2. Reach out: Some people go too far in trying to keep their privacy and reputation from being damaged on social media by shrinking their digital presence. When doing this, a digital search of their name means nothing. Be your own advocate and don’t be afraid to market yourself based on who you are, what you do and what you stand for.
  3. Make an impression: Your picture and profile content heavily influence a first impression. Make your profile true to you but remember to always stay professional. Sharing and publishing ideas that can help other people get a better understanding of who you are and what you’re passionate about can also help make lasting impressions on future employers or clients.
  4. Know your limits: When it comes to building a personal brand, the challenge is to portray yourself in the best light as well as being authentic to who you are. Know when posting pictures from last night is a good or bad decision. Understand the boundaries of your personal and professional life by thinking “would I want to explain this to my boss?” before you post it. Everything on social media can be seen by employers so if you are questioning whether or not you should post the picture – don’t do it!

Chevrolet Shakes Up Their Latest Press Release

Microsoft Word - 0828-Chevrolet-Cruze-3-Million.docx

Chevrolet is bringing things further into the digital age with an all-emoji press release. Emojis are small pictures frequently used in text messages to convey emotion.

The new 2016 Chevrolet Cruze was announced in a press release Monday, and was decoded the next day for those who were unable to read the emoji message.

Why did Chevrolet decide to write an emoji press release?

Previously, Chevrolet’s attempts to reach a younger demographic have been underwhelming. Creating an all-emoji press release was their way of appealing to the demographic that would have the greatest likelihood to buy a car that is priced around $16,000 such as the 2016 Chevrolet Cruze.

According to PR Daily, Chevrolet’s new technique will likely bring in more interest from the targeted audience for the new Chevrolet model. With this departure from a normal press release, PR Daily said Chevrolet is trying to attract younger consumers who use emojis often.

Chevrolet was able to create a press release that not only drew the desired attention, but required active participation for those who were interested in attempting to decode the emoji message. The car brand also took to Twitter to tease their press release by using even more emojis and the hashtag: #ChevyGoesEmoji. Commercials starring celebrities Norm Macdonald, Zendaya Coleman, Jamie Chung and Ashley Benson were posted on Chevrolet social media accounts. The commercials show the young celebrity women teaching the older generation how to use emojis.

Chevrolet’s goal was to reach a young demographic who can afford a car like the new Chevrolet model. Because consumers respond more favorably to celebrities that they recognize, Chevrolet chose young celebrities that are popular right now and are heavily followed on social media for the campaign. The celebrity and consumer interaction on Twitter is evidence that Chevrolet succeeded in making their announcement interactive. Twitter was torn as to whether the press release was effective, but it definitely drew attention and sparked a discussion.

The method was attention-grabbing, but even though this was the first time that emojis have been used in PR, other companies have used emojis as part of their marketing strategy. According to Mashable, today’s marketers have to “speak their language” to appeal to the younger generation—and emojis are part of the language.

According to Digiday, many companies are trying to be more appealing to the younger generation. Companies are using trendy words like “fleek” and “bae” in attempt to appeal to the younger audience. The incorporation of pop culture into marketing shows that marketers have realized that the younger generation is becoming increasingly important to business.

Will other companies follow suit and get creative with their press releases?

Guerilla Marketing Tactics of the 2014 World Cup

Fortune 500 companies are shelling out big bucks to advertise the 2014 World Cup, this summer’s biggest sporting event. In this Main Street article, Jason Notte reports that Adidas, Coca-Cola, Sony, Visa, Hyundai/Kia and Emirates paid $100 million each to become official World Cup partners. McDonald’s, Johnson & Johnson, Anheuser-Busch InBev’s Budweiser and BP’s Castrol each paid $20 million for second-tier sponsorship. Despite these huge expenses, many of these companies are being outshone by guerilla marketing tactics from direct competitors.

The most-viewed World Cup advertisement (at 80 million views on YouTube) is “Winner Stays” by Nike, a direct competitor of World Cup partner Adidas. This marketing battle was simply one of star power. While Adidas features several recognizable players in their ad “The Dream” (35 million views on YouTube), including Argentinian Lionel Messi, Nike compiled an all-star team of celebrity players like Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar, Wayne Rooney and Gerard Pique. Nike’s celebrity endorsers are familiar outside of the soccer sphere and created more activity on social media. Ronaldo tweeted the commercial to his millions of followers, while Messi doesn’t even have a Twitter. “Winner Stays”, which turns a group of average kids in a pick-up soccer game into star players at the World Cup, also appeals to a much broader audience than “The Dream” which, while dramatic and exciting, makes the World Cup the central focus.

Guerilla marketing is continually present during large-scale sporting events like the Superbowl and March Madness. By excluding all World Cup logos from their advertisement and relying on the power of implication, Nike has proved that partnerships are not worth the hefty price tag. While Adidas may have edged Nike in soccer sales last year ($2.7 billion to $2 billion), Nike has come out on top during soccer’s most important event.

Here are the two ads, watch and decide for yourself which is more effective.

Adidas, “The Dream”

Nike, “Winner Stays”