The Challenge

As STIR by SquareOne Holding Company prepared to enter Upstate, SC, the challenge was to build awareness and excitement while staying true to its roots in a new market. The team needed a hyperlocal PR campaign that resonated with local audiences—including proactive story pitching, securing media opportunities, and positioning STIR as an exciting new option within the local culinary landscape.

The Approach

I developed a comprehensive earned media campaign to generate buzz prior to opening and beyond, also assisting with preview tours resulting in impactful coverage from a range of journalists as well as social media influencers. Onsite tours and interviews also resulted in long-lead story opportunities with coverage publishing for consecutive months post opening.

The Results

• Secured impactful feature stories in all leading, local lifestyle publications as well as weekly and daily journals and newspapers.

• Hosted media and social media influencers just prior to opening, resulting in 2,000+ net new followers in 48 hours.

• Introduced media to concept, resulting in additional long-format features for three consecutive months post-opening.