Chernoff Newman

A Day at the Races

Sarah Derreberry — Tue, 15 May 2012 13:36:18 +0000

Some of the Chernoff Newman crew made it to the Bojangles’ Southern 500 this past weekend to revel in the Southern institution of NASCAR and celebrate with our client Darlington Raceway. We offer you the highlights. Click a thumbnail to see the pics in all their full-blown glory.

Liquid Blue wants you

Tye Price — Wed, 09 May 2012 20:06:59 +0000

What’s up for your Thursday night? How about some live music at your favorite and famously hot venue – Riverbanks Zoo and Garden. Liquid Blue, “The World’s Most Traveled Band,” is a part of Rhythm & Blooms at the Riverbanks amphitheater in the botanical gardens on Thursday, May 10^th at 8:00 PM. Gates open at 6:00, so come throw a blanket out on the lawn and enjoy great music and a beautiful backdrop to your Thursday evening. Cash bar and food will be available.

Order your tickets ahead of time here.

A Rewarding Night At The 2012 Mercury Awards

Tim Kelly — Tue, 08 May 2012 17:24:34 +0000

Chernoff Newman received five awards last Thursday at the South Carolina Public Relations Society of America’s (SCPRSA) annual Mercury Awards. The awards recognize communication leaders and excellence in public relations campaigns and tactics.

We took home three Mercury Awards of Merit and two Silver Wing Awards of Merit. The Mercury Awards, which focus on public relations programs and campaigns, acknowledged work in public service, marketing consumer services, and events less than seven days. The Silver Wing Awards highlighted our multimedia campaigns and creative tactics.

Mercury Awards of Merit:

Events and Observances, 7 days or fewer: 2011 Liberty Fellowship Summit
Public Service: Waste Management and LG Electronics SC eCycles Day
Marketing Consumer Services: Santee Cooper’s Free CFL Recycling Drive

Silver Wing Awards of Merit:

Multimedia Communications – External Programs and Presentations: “Your Bottom Line with Bill Dunkelberg” for National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB)
Creative Tactics: Chernoff Newman’s Holiday Gift Guide

The cool thing about the Mercury Awards is that the focus is all about the results for our clients – and it’s great to get recognition from our fellow PR pros.

Not to toot our own horn (oh, who we are kidding, we’re playing our own song here), it was awfully fun to win a Silver Wing of Merit in the category of creative tactics for our holiday gift guide. If you haven’t seen our Pinterest-based guide to awesomeness in more than 20 customized categories, check it out now – just in time for Mother’s Day!

Go Behind the Scenes with The Pitch

Emily Brady — Thu, 03 May 2012 14:04:13 +0000

This week AMC debuted its new documentary style series, “The Pitch,” offering a behind-the-scenes look at the world of advertising. Each week two competing advertising agencies are given a creative assignment and a chance to win a new client. With only a week to develop the campaign and make the big pitch, the stakes and pressure are extremely high. Dynamic brainstorming sessions, creative debates lasting until the wee hours, and a fervent dedication to finding the perfect tagline shed some light on the real-life work of advertising agencies.

The premiere episode features Waste Management (WM), North America’s largest waste company, which presents the firms with an assignment to develop a comprehensive advertising campaign, heavily incorporating social platforms to communicate WM’s corporate shift of rethinking waste as an energy source. One firm takes a more straight-forward approach selling a concept based on two compelling words, “Trash Can,” while the other firm presents a multi-layered campaign, “Turn waste Into WOW,” including high-tech interactive techniques and a stirring video manifesto to kick-off the pitch.

…So, which firm made the best pitch? Is it all about an inspiring concept or showing the client an executable campaign complete with bells and whistles?

From our point of view, it seems that the most effective pitch is one that evokes emotion while conveying to the client a deep understanding of their mission and goals.

What do you think? Are you watching “The Pitch”? Which firm should WM have selected and why? What makes a winning pitch? Find out more about the series here and learn which firm WM selected: http://www.amctv.com/shows/the-pitch.

Stay cool!

Elizabeth Rogers — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 15:54:01 +0000

As the summer months continue to heat up, it’s always a good idea to have your HVAC unit
checked out. The folks who come to your house to do this call it a tune-up. With this service,
your air conditioners and heat pumps run more efficiently.

We worked with our friends at DP&L to promote the savings offer attached to their HVAC
tune-ups. And since summer is on the way, we decided to roll up our own sleeves and have
some fun with it.

Whether you’re sweating it out in Ohio or basking in the South Carolina heat, do what’s
best for the environment and your home. Schedule your tune-up today!

In full bloom

Heather Price — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 18:53:53 +0000

The Midlands Plant & Flower Festival starts today at the South Carolina State Farmers Market.

Running through Sunday April 22^nd, festival attendees will enjoy the colorful sights and smells as 100 vendors will be on hand to sell plants, flowers, hanging baskets, yard furniture, garden statues, fruits and vegetables.

In order to get everyone from the local garden clubs to the weekend warriors we had to think outside the flower pot. What better way to ‘mark’ the event with a larger than life plant marker? This unique sign was planted at the South Carolina Farmers Market property prior to the event.

So come on out to this four-day event and find just what you need to make your yard the envy of the neighborhood. There’s free admission and free parking.

The State Farmers Market is located at 3483 Charleston Highway.
Get directions from where you are now!

Did you get the digits?

Elizabeth Rogers — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 18:48:15 +0000

SEWE (Southeastern Wildlife Exposition) brings many a visitor to Charleston, but that doesn’t
keep the locals for enjoying the big weekend as well. MINI of Charleston recognized this as an opportunity to create a presence during the festivities downtown – and of course we jumped at the chance – or coasted, if you please – to help out.

Because between gallery openings, auctions, dog competitions and cooking demos, people get thirsty. They need a cold beverage and, of course, a place to rest it.

As you can see, we embraced the nature of the venues with our messaging, and from what we hear people loved them. So much, in fact, they took them home. And we’re stoked the digits they got that weekend were those of our great client.

Here’s to good times and driving topless* this spring.

*Just as soon as we get our hands on one of their convertibles.

The Hunger Games Feeds Appetites of Its Fans Through Social Media

Emily Brady — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 15:51:46 +0000

The Hunger Games, a dystopic teen action film adapted from the novel by Suzanne Collins, grossed $155 million over the weekend making it the third highest domestic film opening. The film’s remarkable success opening weekend was due in no small part to the novel’s bestselling status, but also to the marketers who mastered what New York Times reporter Brooks Barnes calls the “marketer’s ultimate trick: persuading fans to persuade each other.” Enter one of the most effective ways to creatively generate word of mouth among fans: social media.

IGNITING THE FLAME: Steadily building online buzz

Back in June 2011, Lionsgate teamed up with thismoment.com, a startup social media management site, to launch a yearlong digital campaign for The Hunger Games. The campaign utilizes multiple platforms to reach its younger audience and encourage them to generate their own content to promote the film. The campaign has kept its messaging concise and focused by centering it on the 12 Districts and the Captiol, integral to the film’s plot.

Twitter: Fans had the chance to win tickets to the film by retweeting @TheCapitolPN, see behind the scenes photos, R.S.V.P. to a Yahoo! live streaming of the premiere event and share their outfits for the premiere with the hashtag #LookYourBest, which prompted thousands of fans to tweet their Hunger Games-inspired looks.
Facebook: Over 800,000 fans so far have become virtual citizens of Panem, the fictional country in the novel, by visiting the Capitol Network, The Hunger Games main Facebook page, and registering their District pass, or digital ID card, that makes them a part of a district. From there, fans are assigned an occupation and prompted to join their specific District’s Facebook page.
YouTube: Fictional Capitol TV Productions released YouTube videos periodically and encouraged fans to submit their own videos about their love for the story.
Tumblr: Fans who want to learn how to dress like they’re from the Capitol can visit the fashion magazine-inspired Capitol Couture Tumblr page and read stories on fashion trends and culture in the Capitol.

FUELING THE FIRE: Maintaining the conversation

After visiting The Hunger Games Facebook page, which now has over 3.5 million “likes”, the tremendous fan interaction is evident- even after the film release- with each post featuring film quotes and photos and garnering thousands of comments and “likes.” @TheCapitolPN is retweeting fans’ reactions to the film and posting videos from The Hunger Games actors thanking their fans for making the film such a huge success, and encouraging fans to sign up for its official Facebook game, coming soon.

With three more films to go, the world is watching to see the lengths to which The Hunger Games marketers will take this campaign that has generated so much buzz. What do you think about The Hunger Games use of social media? Will it continue capturing its fans to circulate its message, or is the campaign’s fiery flame destined to burn out before the DVD release?

People don’t like change. Period.

Heather Price — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 14:13:38 +0000

Anytime Facebook makes a change to its platform, it seems like all 850 million of its users automatically reject it (usually by updating their status). But once they realize Facebook has left them with no other option, they accept it and carry on (adding more friends or fans as they go).

In early 2012, Facebook officially launched the new look for personal profiles, the Timeline. To no surprise, the initial response was not overwhelmingly positive. But after deleting any incriminating photos and nixing the posts that would not make anyone’s mom (or boss) proud, people began to publish their Timelines…and they actually liked them.

So much so, that Facebook recently announced that Facebook Pages, not just profiles, would take on the look of the Timeline. In fact, it is happening soon. By March 30, 2012, all Facebook Pages will be converted to the Timeline format.

So, what does this mean for you and your brand?

For the first time on Facebook, users will actually get to see a big picture view of your brand. The Timeline looks at your brand from a historical perspective, starting from the day your brand was born. It allows users who visit your page, to not only see where you are going, but also where you have been. It is no longer a feed that updates, pushing old news to the bottom and eventually off the page. On the Timeline, your posts live on forever.

Timeline gives your brand depth, but only if you utilize the tools it provides. To take full advantage of the Timeline, you must consider the milestones, the highs (and the lows) and the visuals that go along with your path to building the brand you own today. And then, you have to fill it in.

We recently updated the Chernoff Newman Facebook Timeline, and had a lot of fun while doing it. But, you can bet we did not go at it blindly, we developed a strategy for what we wanted our Timeline to look like and then assigned tasks to get it accomplished. In fact, we pulled out all the stops. We combed through old photos, picked the brains of our founders and solicited input from all employees. We wanted our fans to get a “behind-the-scenes” look at some of our finer moments, which you can check out here.

The prospect of updating your Timeline can be intimidating, and we are here to help. We gauge social media interaction, just as we do traditional advertising and PR, with strategic insight. And that starts with a plan of action. If you are looking for an influential social media strategy or simply a plan to switch your Facebook Page to Timeline give us a call, we’ve got you covered.

Mad Men Causes a Stir

Sarah Derreberry — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 13:32:52 +0000

We don’t know about you, but for us the 17-month Mad Men hiatus crawled by about as quickly as an ice age. Thankfully the season five premiere is this weekend, and before we can fully plan our retro-inspired appetizers for the premiere party – Jell-O molds, Melba toast and a fully stocked bar – the show is already stirring controversy.

As any good ad (wo)man will tell you, an image speaks volumes. The Mad Men folks unveiled an arresting one last month with a minimalist teaser campaign that evoked the show’s opening credits. For some, the falling man was a reminder of all-too-real photographic images of September 11.

Then a few weeks ago, we spied the season five poster and more series chatter about what our main ad man Don will experience starting March 25. The poster features Don staring at two mannequins in a store-front window and his stoic reflection between them, staring back at us.

Is this familiar mannequin tableau a reaffirmation of Don’s womanizing ways? We doubt the message is that simple after Don’s character arc last season lead him through [SPOILERS] the death of Anna, the one woman who truly knew him; the continued evolution of copywriter protégé Peggy; and young Sally’s explorations. Our guess? The fully clothed male mannequin means Don is moving past the easy solutions that he is used to seeking and we’re in for a season of surprises.

Excuse us while we Google “how to remove Jell-O from a Jell-O mold.”

Our own Don and Betty are anxious for the new season to start.