Salon Lofts
Salon Lofts traditionally steered clear of PR, relying instead on the strength of its brand. But 2013 marked a year of aggressive, nationwide expansion for the chain, prompting it to look for new ways of reaching both beauty professionals and potential customers in markets that had never heard of the company.
Business Challenge
Salon Lofts expansion included new stores in as many as five different markets. And while the target audiences are beauty professionals and potential customers in each market, the circumstances differ. For example, the Cleveland market was unfamiliar with the Salon Lofts business model that allows beauty operators to essentially run their own business without the risk. However, the Cincinnati market was familiar with the business model. Thus, the “stories” in each market needed to be unique.
Team Fleisher Communications PR Strategy
Our strategy focused on crafting a unique pitch for each market. In addition, we highlighted the business angle of the expansion story, emphasizing that with each Salon Lofts comes the potential for as many as 25 new business owners.
Elements of the campaign included:
- Forging connections with industry- and market-specific media to ensure the pitch would resonate with the reporter/editor most likely to be interested in the Salon Lofts story.
- Initiating aggressive media outreach that began with emails but was followed up with phone calls, tweets and other methods of outreach.
- Creation of market-specific web releases to enhance SEO for the company website.
- Forging relationships with influencers in the beauty industry who are likely to be interested in Salon Lofts continued expansion.
- Outreach to select industry trades to directly reach beauty professionals.
Results
- After 5 weeks numerous placements had been secured in 4 different markets (Cleveland, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, and Columbus) in addition to leading trade publications.
- Over this time period loft rentals in Cleveland, Cincinnati and Indianapolis continued to grow.
Lisa Wilkins, VP of Operations, Salon Lofts
“Team Fleisher Communications stepped in, assessed our needs, and developed an aggressive strategy that resulted in positive media coverage in all the new markets. The stories they generated were on point. Our brand was reinforced, and the coverage highlighted what makes us unique, different and appealing. It definitely raised awareness. Team Fleisher Communications exceeded our expectations. In fact, our CFO recently commented that it is one of the fastest, most effective PR campaigns he has ever seen.”