Case Studies
CASE STUDY: RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT AWARENESS AND POSITIONING
Client: Urban Home Development Corp. and Citro
Background:
In a sea of mid-rise condo sameness, Urban Home Development Corp., a Scottsdale, Ariz.-based developer of luxury residential environments, had created a new urban living concept called Citro. Taking up six city blocks and consisting of 10 parks and more than 200 units, Citro offered a contemporary take on classic urban neighborhood design. Citro reflected a southwestern style, but was inspired from the architecture of such well-heeled urban residential neighborhoods like Beacon Hill in Boston and Lincoln Park in Chicago. For residents, Citro combined the best of urban architecture and design with the best in suburban and modern amenities – all in a high density urban environment.
The Challenge:
Spaulding Communications was charged with two main purposes: promoting Citro to drive customer awareness in support of sales, and positioning UHDC President Jeff Jones as a visionary for residential development design.
Strategy & Execution:
Spaulding Communications created a highly sophisticated and informative press kit to introduce the local and regional media to Citro and Jeff Jones’ design vision. The agency also secured a series of editorial meetings with some of the leading home, design and business outlets in the area. To raise further recognition for Jones and his design expertise, Spaulding Communications developed a comprehensive list of targeted awards that would be appropriate for pursuing. 
Finally, to help ensure consistency of the Citro message and its brand, Spaulding Communications conducted a one-day media training session with Jones and other members of UHDC.
Results:
Spaulding Communications secured coverage for Citro and Jeff Jones in each outlet that was identified as crucial. Citro and Jones were either featured or mentioned in such outlets as: the Arizona Republic, Arizona Business Journal, Scottsdale Tribune, Desert Living, and Arizona Home & Design. More than 4 million in media impressions were generated, as well as an editorial value of more than $250,000. Just as importantly, UHDC exceeded their goals for securing initial deposits from interested buyers.
CASE STUDY: REINFORCING BRAND AND SUPPORTING SALES GOALS THROUGH COMMUNICATIONS
Client: Zeftron® nylon
Background:
Zeftron® nylon, a leading fiber supplier for commercial carpet products, had long enjoyed a high level of brand recognition among its key customer audiences. This was primarily achieved through effective marketing strategies that included public relations, advertising and special events. However, the brand identified one area of importance that needed improvement: sales force communication. Anecdotal research and customer feedback had showed that Zeftron nylon’s field representatives were often inconsistent in how they presented the Zeftron nylon brand and its various products and services to the customers and influencers they were calling on. This inconsistency was primarily due to the fact that there was little or no formal communications structure in place between the marketing team and the sales force team.
The Challenge:
Spaulding Communications was tasked with developing a strategic communications program that would create brand message consistency and an affinity for sharing information between the marketing department and the sales team. More importantly, the agency needed to align the brand messages that were being communicated externally to the sales team in order to create a consistent brand message (“one voice”) across the entire enterprise.
Strategy & Execution:
Spaulding Communications started by creating a suite of electronic newsletters. Easy and quick to read, the various newsletters were given specific names and individually color-coded to help the sales team better organize the information that was being sent to them. For example, red-templated newsletters called “Zeftron Blast!” carried breaking news that needed immediate attention. Green-templated newsletters carried news about the brand’s latest eco-related endeavors.
Spaulding Communications further enhanced this communication effort by facilitating onsite brand messaging and “elevator speech” training sessions with the sales representatives. 
The agency also instituted a monthly conference call between the marketing department and the sales representatives. Finally, Spaulding Communications recommended an intranet site where the marketing department could easily share materials that the reps could access at their convenience.
Results:
Open rates of the electronic newsletters steadily increased from under 20 percent in the initial months of the campaign to 100 percent within eight months. Results also showed that the reps were more “on message” with how they communicated the Zeftron nylon brand to their customers in their individual marketplaces. Our efforts also indicated that the reps utilized existing sales materials with greater frequency and had a higher degree of familiarity and confidence in using new sales materials. Finally, sales for the brand increased slightly in the year following the roll out of the program.
CASE STUDY: LUXURY PRODUCT LAUNCH
Client: Renaissance Tile & Bath
Background:
Renaissance Tile & Bath is a leading luxury tile and bath retailer. In this highly competitive market, Renaissance President David O’Neil identified a need for even greater differentiation through product exclusiveness. O’Neil’s vision was to design a new tile line that would be exclusive to Renaissance Tile & Bath.
The Challenge:
Spaulding Communications was asked to develop a comprehensive public relations campaign that would serve two purposes: support the brand and sales goals of the new product and position O’Neil as more than just a savvy business executive, but also as an emerging product designer.
Strategy & Execution:
Spaulding Communications created a highly sophisticated and informative press kit to introduce the national media to O’Neil and his design vision for Nest, the new tile line exclusive to Renaissance Tile & Bath. 
To further position O’Neil as a design expert, Spaulding Communications instituted a series of “design trends articles” from O’Neil that were distributed to various consumer and design trade media. The agency also played an integral role in developing and communicating the Nest tile line to all Renaissance showroom managers to support their sales efforts. Finally, we secured a series of meetings with some of the leading national home and design editors based in New York City.
Results:
Overall sales of Nest exceeded expectations within 18 months of the launch, surpassing $1 million in revenue. Spaulding Communications generated unprecedented media coverage for Renaissance and O’Neil, generating nearly 10 million in media impressions. 
Coverage was generated in such high-end media outlets as: HGTV (2 separate shows), House & Garden, Veranda and Interior Design. O’Neil was featured as a noted design expert in Kitchen Bath Design News, Atlanta Magazine and other outlets, while his “design trends articles” were picked up in newspapers and regional magazines across the country.