BEHIND THE SPARKLE
We think differently.
We find the sparkle.
Here's a look at some of our shiniest examples.
Potential clients ask us all the time “what can we expect” or “how many stories will you get for us?” We don’t promise anything because earned media coverage is earned and can never be guaranteed.
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But here’s what we can say: we started working with Macon, Georgia and in less than 10 months were able to land them on not one, not two, but EIGHT “Where to Go in 2023” lists including The New York Times, Bloomberg, Men's Journal, CondeNast Traveler, AFAR, Frommers, Southern Living, Insider and a bonus pick up by CBS This Morning.
We Will Never
Guarantee Results
PR is a Long-Term Strategy
On March 23, 2019 restaurateur Carl Sobocinski appeared on CBS This Morning’s The Dish, a beloved segment that celebrates the most accomplished culinary talent in the country.
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Just shy of two years later on March 5, 2021 he received an email from a stranger who went on to share that he had spent the last 5 weeks in Greenville, SC where Carl’s restaurants are located. He revealed that one of the primary reasons for choosing to vacation in Greenville was seeing his appearance on CBS Saturday morning. “We were fascinated by the variety of restaurants and the philosophy behind the first restaurant and subsequent ventures.” The gentleman went on to recap his experiences at every single one of Carl’s six restaurants and concluded by saying “Thank you to your entire team for making our time in Greenville so exciting that we are actually talking about making a repeat visit. We have never done that before, but there is a first time for everything.”
WORLDWIDE
Since 2009, we've been talking about Greenville, South Carolina's up-and-coming food scene to anyone that would listen. Touted as one of the next great food cities in the country in 2022 by Food & Wine, there is no shortage of amazing bites in Greenville — from Southern cuisine to International flavors. We decided that one of the most delicious ways to experience Greenville would be via a self-guided food trail; and a taco trail at that. After sorting through more than 5 dozen taquerias and local restaurants to identify the best of the best based on authenticity, accessibility, customer reviews and word of mouth, the official VisitGreenvilleSC GVL Taco Trail launched on October 4th, 2022 (National Taco Day, of course). Perfect for the taco-loving traveler, the trail features 11 must-stop spots in Greenville and a passport to win prizes along the way. The launch of the trail reached more than 83 million readers through television, social and online media outlets.
When in Doubt…. Tacos!
Get Your Event Noticed
Landing National press coverage for a festival or event can be difficult, so how do you get some of the country’s most celebrated food journalists to notice your city?
Invite them to judge the largest annual food festival in town.
When we began working with Fall for Greenville, we had an idea to not only shake things up for the annual “Silver Spoon” competition- a culinary showdown amongst all 45+ restaurant participants- but to get noticed by major National media. Instead of using local judges as the festival had done since inception, we decided to invite guest media from across the country who write about food for a living to do the tasting.
Since we began working with Fall for Greenville, we’ve hosted 28 journalists spanning four festival weekends. Not only has the title of Silver Spoon champion become more coveted than ever, but the festival National media attention has reached new heights. Journalists representing Real Simple, Southern Living, Garden & Gun, Eater, Food & Wine, Every Day with Rachael Ray, The Local Palate, and more have experienced Fall for Greenville firsthand, and the festival has been featured by AARP, HGTV, Country Living, Taste of the South, The Local Palate, Well + Good, and more.
If You Can’t Bring Them to Your Destination, Bring Your Destination to Them.
Perhaps the greatest lesson a tourism destination could learn during the pandemic was how to bring their destination to others — or armchair tourism as the media coined it. When you can’t travel, how can you experience somewhere far away? We hosted a virtual tour of Daufuskie Island for some of the top media in the US when travel was at a standstill.
During the live experience, four spokespeople from the community shared their personal stories (and businesses) with the media and toured attendees around some of the island’s most popular attractions. Twenty six virtual participants including editors from Travel + Leisure, Conde Nast Traveler, AFAR, Southern Living, Taste of the South led directly to 14 national media features and mentions, in national outlets such as Southern Living, Forbes, Parents and The Points Guy. In total, the subsequent media coverage following the virtual event was valued at more than $5.3 million. With an investment of just $1,200 the ROI for this event was just shy of 450,000%.
Give Them Something New to Talk About
Inevitably in the lifecycle of working with a PR firm, there will be slow periods. But when months have gone by and there’s nothing “new” or timely to talk about, it’s time to create something that will generate some buzz. During the pandemic in 2020, one of the biggest trends in travel became a play on working from home but at hotels…
As a weight loss and wellness resort, Hilton Head Health already had a majority of guests staying for weeks at a time. We encouraged them not to reinvent the model but just modify it slightly to offer a new program with designated work hours during the day so that professionals can schedule zooms, calls, emails time etc at specific times without missing any of the scheduled wellness activities.
Within just a few weeks WorkWell at Hilton Head Health was live on the website and we were able to secure a story with The Wall Street Journal (along with a pretty fantastic quote from the CEO). WorkWell wound up being featured by CNBC, Essence, American Spa, Recommend.com and Islands- reaching 31 million people that may not have ever otherwise heard of Hilton Head Health prior to 2020.
Find a Reason to Celebrate
Sometimes you have a great client but when the product doesn't change, the media opportunities run out. After securing major features for SuperflyKids' top product — Powercapes — in Inc., The Huffington Post, Redbook, Parents, CNN Money and on Nightly Business Report, NBC Nightly News and Good Morning America, we knew we we had to find another story to tell.
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We found out that April 28 is National Super Hero Day, but it wasn't a widely recognized holiday. TK PR decided to change that. We sent custom superhero capes to news anchors and reporters at 47 affiliate news stations nationwide from the biggest markets like Los Angeles and Chicago to Jacksonville and Portland.
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18 stations dedicated more than one full minute of air time talking about the "holiday" and mentioned the website to purchase your own custom superhero cape. That April be came the single best month of sales in the company's then 2.5 year history. The previous year they say 502 visitors to their website on April 28. That year, they say 28,289 visitors in one day.