In this one-of-a-kind experiential marketing program, the nation’s top editors are immersed into the most eco-friendly services, products and technology around to gain deep insight on Smart Living, a sensible lifestyle that helps save money and decrease a person’s negative impact on the environment. Some of the most planet-friendly and eco-conscious brands — from Ford to 3M to LG to Tupperware — are combining forces at this distinctive media relations event to revamp press members’ views on sustainability and how they will report to their millions of readers and viewers.

As you might expect, this feat doesn’t come without its fair share of good old-fashioned hard work. The Boston PR Agency crew has been working nearly 20-hour days (wow!) behind the scenes to transform a house surpassing LEED-Platinum certification into a platform for sustainable living. And through undying effort and lots of sweat (but thankfully no blood or tears), the CBC team has hit the ground running — and pretty fast to say the least.

To give you an idea of the kind of energy needed to pull off such an exhilarating event, here’s an inside look at the personal work journal of the CBC crew on site in Boulder:

6:30 a.m. - The day starts bright and early with the team opening the 300th (that’s an understatement) box of Tupperware product to stock the pantry.

7:30 - It’s time to change over the 25th load of laundry (talk about a workout!) in an amazing LG energy-efficient washer and dryer with the new Sweet Sleep organic bedding.

Not too sure how this happened, but cardboard somehow manages to get into the washer machine, and explodes everywhere.  It looks like the Terminator got a little too carried away in a paper factory. Luckily CBC had an LG energy efficient vacuum to save the day and clean up the Terminator’s mess.

Finally, the sheets come out of the wash looking more wrinkled than a shar pei puppy.  Just their luck, there’s no iron in sight.

8:30 - The ever-resourceful CBC team puts their heads together, and calls in a cleaning crew that comes through and goes to town!

8:30 - 10:30 -The architect, realtors, developers, owner, sponsors, mattress delivery crew, contractor, Ford team, 3M sponsors and CBC Green House team are all in and out of the house preparing for the open house to kick off at 11 a.m. (panic mode handled with grace and poise).

11:00 - CBS channel 4 arrives. An interview with the developer and architect commences.

Noon - Super interns Max and Chase head out on a Target run. CBC then meets with the Boulder film crew to do some creative collaborating and document the next three weeks.

1:00 p.m. - No time to rest!  The CBC crew begins drafting the sponsor and editor materials.

3:00 - A Tupperware representative arrives, and more merchandising continues.

4:30 - midnight - CBC continues to set up the house and merch, merch, merch (this stands for merchandising).

This is just a morsel of the effort that goes into creating such an amazing event…stay tuned for more of the CBC Green House frenzy!

The Summer House (and its Park City-based Winter House) brings the best of the national lifestyle media together with some of the the year’s best new products in a setting that can’t be beat.  They get to really experience these products in a real-life setting, literally living with them for three-day “sessions.”

The second session of Summer House welcomed editors from O, Oprah Magazine, Ladies Home Journal, Glamour and more, kicking off with a sail on the Endeavor and watching the sun set in PF Flyers during a game of Bocce Ball. Their next morning began by taking on the waters of Nantucket, sea kayaking with Columbia Sportswear and continued with a challenging cross-island scavenger hunt, all while outfitted in New Balance, head to toe. A cocktail party hosted by Jambu soon followed along with a delectable dinner with the lovely ladies of Vineyard Vines. The media ended their session with massages provided by Palmers and boarded their planes with an endless amount of product knowledge and the memories of an island retreat.

Next up, we’ll host journalists from NBC Today, Good Morning America, Maxim, Men’s Health, Outside and others.  32 outlets in all.

Time and time again, we hear how unique the Summer House is. Brands and journalists have both continually acknowledged the difference in our approach to experiential marketing. Companies gain the benefit of enhanced personal relationships with press, while journalists gain positive brand impressions and new brand introductions, all while enjoying everything the island has to offer.

Education through real life experience…it works, and the last five years continue to confirm what our vision was five years ago: to create something different, something that truly changes consumer PR.  Here’s to the next five years.

The Orvis Media Shootout is one of the full brand immersion media relations events we do each year at Cercone Brown & Co. The idea is to give the media an authentic experience that encompasses every aspect of our clients’ brand: the product, the culture, the people … all without hard selling.

Social media ROI — especially linking social media ROI to sales and real business growth — has been elusive… until now.

Through our partnership with Overdrive Interactive, we now offer the industry’s first social media ROI system. This Social Media Dashboard compiles all social media touch points, from Facebook to Twitter to YouTube Channels.

But what’s more, you can also bring in feeds from Google Analytics, your call center, e-commerce sales and event retail sales.   The result is an overlay that ties together your social media efforts with the real-time results that will make any CFO happy.  Contact Anne Houseman for a demo.

For several years, CBC Summer House (Nantucket) and Winter House (Park City) has seen producers and editors from the likes MTV, NBC Today, the New York Times live with the best new products from companies ranging from Ford, Honda and Subaru to Columbia, Pepperidge Farm and Wente Vineyards.  The result is an indelible, authentic experience that fuels coverage online and off.

Now the scene moves to a Net-Zero community in Boulder, Colo. for the Green House in August and feature all eco-friendly products ranging from innovative building materials, smart appliances, electric cars and many other objects of Smart Living.  We expect the elite of the green media in attendance, and many household names are getting on board (we’ll drop names soon.)

More than a media experience, the Green House will also feature the results of an ambitious research project conducted by our partner on the program Kickstand that seeks to identify the trigger points for companies to move consumers from green intentions to green buying.  The results and house products will also be reach the masses through a consumer-facing, multimedia website and social media campaign.

Visit cbcgreenhouse.com or contact Caroline Budney at to learn more.

Green marketing (including organics) and outdoor gear are two main areas of emphasis for our business at Cercone Brown & Co., and Q1 saw both categories grow with the addition of the new clients Green Mountain Coffee, Orvis and Dr. Kracker.

Green Mountain is working with our brand activation group (events and online promotions) to push their social responsibility initiatives, including its commitment to Fair Trade.  While Orvis is working with our lifestyle PR group to extend it reach through online and traditional media coverage.

The company you may not recognize is Austin-based Dr. Kracker, but chances are that you’ve tasted work of the founder, George Eckrich.  George started Whole Food’s bakery program back in the 80s, where he remained for nearly 25 years.  He left and created Dr. Kracker, a line of organic flatbreads and crackers available nationwide and building a fanatical following.  Cercone Brown recently hosted a bread-making seminar with some of the best food-press in the nation in NYC.  Check out some photos from the Whole Foods event!

Stay tuned, as more new business news is imminent!

Boston, Mass. (May 7, 2010) - Advertising and PR agency Cercone Brown & Co. (CBC) was recently bestowed one of the PR industry’s top honors: a 2010 Bulldog Award for “Best Green Campaign.”

Recognized from a total pool of 800 submissions, the Boston PR agency earned a Silver award for its “America’s Least Wasteful Cities” program, developed for reusable bottle icon Nalgene.  The program combined social media, online marketing and traditional media relations to reach millions across America.  The Twitter campaign alone reached more than one million prospects.

“Many ‘experts’ will have you believe that social media alone is the silver bullet for PR campaigns today.  But it’s really the combination of traditional media relations and social media marketing that makes the online universe come alive,” said Cercone Brown & Co. partner Len Cercone.  “Creating content that people want to share is the key, whether that be from journalist to reader or person to person.”

Launched in April, the news was featured on the home page of USA Today, AOL, numerous green and news blogs and scores of TV stations, newspapers and magazines nationwide.  Each piece of coverage fueled sharing on Facebook, Twitter, Digg and other social sites, as well as through the campaign site itself.  As a result, the news reached more than 4 million people within one month.

“Thanks to our partnership with CBC, Nalgene continues to think beyond the bottle,” said Tiffany Teaford, product manager/product development lead ,Nalgene-Outdoor. “The award-winning Least Wasteful Cities campaign reflects Nalgene’s broader mission of empowering people to create change, once choice at a time.”

The Campaign: America’s Least Wasteful Cities

During a time when many Americans sought to make environmentally friendly decisions in their lives, the “America’s Least Wasteful Cities” campaign identified wasteful behaviors in everyday actions.

As the focal point of the campaign, Cercone Brown & Co. designed an online research survey, polling 3,750 participants in the largest 25 cities (based on DMA) on waste-focused habits - from recycling, to using public transportation, to shutting off lights. When the results were tallied, San Francisco earned the title of America’s Least Wasteful City, while Atlanta ranked last.

With the news launched just prior to Earth Day, Boston PR agency Cercone Brown & Co. leveraged traditional public relations tactics along with social media tools, including Twitter and Facebook, to spread the word directly to consumers and online press alike.

In addition, the PR agency deployed a content-filled online microsite, which educated millions of Americans on their own wasteful behaviors, while providing an intimate setting for consumers to interact with the Nalgene brand.

Visitors were invited to purchase a special Nalgene bottle designed by Cercone Brown & Co., with a portion of the proceeds going to the Surfrider Foundation, an environmental organization dedicated to protecting the world’s waves and beaches.

The prestigious 2010 Bulldog Award for the “America’s Least Wasteful Cities” campaign underscores Cercone Brown & Co.’s commitment to developing campaigns yielding socially responsible outcomes.

“As an action-oriented advertising and PR agency, we feel a tremendous amount of accountability toward our clients, the general public and the environment around us,” said Caroline Budney, director of corporate social responsibility at Boston PR agency Cercone Brown & Co. “With the ‘America’s Least Wasteful Cities’ campaign, we encourage the general public to make environmentally-responsible decisions by highlighting the impact simple, everyday actions can make.”

In addition to developing campaigns for individual clients, PR agency Cercone Brown & Co. is renowned for its annual Green House event, where the nation’s top “green” editors are immersed in the latest practical and planet-friendly products, services and technologies. This year’s experiential marketing event will take place in Boulder, Colo. in August. For more information on getting involved, visit the Green House website at http://www.cbcgreenhouse.com/.

About Cercone Brown & Co.

Located in Boston, Massachusetts, Cercone Brown & Co. (CBC) provides branding, advertising, public relations and promotions services to companies in a range of industries. Founded in 2001, the company has worked with leading brands that include adidas, GMAC Insurance, Hasbro, Nantucket Nectars, Orvis, Cognos, Sperry Top-Sider, K2, The Timberland Company, Vibram and ZOOTS. For more information, visit www.cerconebrown.com, join the Cercone Brown Facebook page and follow Cercone Brown on Twitter.

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Splash Ultra Lounge on Kneeland St. (Photo: Matt Baldelli)

As a Boston PR agency, folks expect us to be in the know around town…the parties, people and places that are on the A-List.  Truth be told, we entertain media as much in New York as we do in Boston. For that matter, Nantucket and Park City, too, as part of our Summer House program.  But… we do make an effort to keep up on the best places to eat, drink and do business around the Hub of the Universe.

That’s why we’re both happy and sad to see Boston.com’s list of roof decks around town.  It’s a one-stop-shop to make some of these lesser known gems even more crowded than usual this summer.

All the same, these are great spots for the right kind of business meeting, aprés office drinks or just for fun.

So…go ahead and enjoy, and don’t forget the shades.

And improvement seems to finally be here.  In the past two weeks, Cercone Brown has received more new business inquiries than any period in recent memory.  Granted, we’ve been very fortunate during this downturn.  In fact, through hard work and creativity, CBC had one of its best years in 2009.  But that’s a subject for a different post.

If RFPs, requests for meetings and general tire kicking is any indication, client-side spending is making a comeback.  And though CBC is does not specialize in Boston PR (our clients are mostly national brands that are scattered across the USA), a many of these requests cite the Boston area as key to success.  Also interesting is the make up of the inquiries: only one is replacing an existing agency.  Several are overseas companies launching in the U.S. (China, New Zealand), and all target consumers (not B2B).

Social media is the other common theme, as expected.  But what may be surprising is that each and every company puts a premium on traditional media relations.  They want magazines, national TV, local press…the whole gamut. Seems the rumors of the death of traditional media are overstated (at least for now.)

We’ll keep you updated on how we do with these proposals.  In fact, we’ve quietly added a good number of new clients in 2010 that we’ve yet to announce (Orvis, Dr. Kracker, Green Mountain Coffee to name a few). But for now, the good news is that the spending seems to be on the uptick, and that’s great news for everyone.

Last Friday, CBC employees, family and friends gathered at The Vault in Boston to raise funds for the Red Cross Haiti relief efforts. With an initial door donation, the revelry-for-a-cause featured dance-worthy tunes by DJ Drama, lip-smacking cocktails with Triple Eight Vodka and scrumptious appetizers for all.

During the festivities, guests opened up their wallets for the cause and also took their chance at winning a slew of raffle prizes, including gift certificates to area restaurants, individual cooking lessons, a private party at Crush boutique and Celtics tickets. The most coveted prizes? Three sets of Red Sox tickets, including opening day, Green Monster seats and regular season admission.

“We know that times are tough for a lot of people right now, so it was amazing to see such an unbelievable turnout, and everyone was extremely generous,” said Robin Whalen, CBC account supervisor and lead organizer of the event.

After a whirlwind evening, the shindig raised approximately $4,000, one hundred percent of which will be donated to the Red Cross. For those who were unable to attend, CBC encourages direct donations to the Red Cross Haiti Relief and Development fund.