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PROJECT OVERVIEW }
Shortly after Carolina Turkeys acquired the Butterball
brand, the company addressed the immediate need
to expand its corporate headquarters and move
to a location more accessible to Butterball plants
and offices across the United States. The CEO
finalized plans to move the main offices from
Mt. Olive to Garner, just outside of Raleigh.
Talk,
Inc. was hired to handle the event planning for
this occasion. We also saw this as an opportunity
to build community relations among local business
and political leaders, ignite pride among Butterball
executives and generate widespread publicity for
the company.
The
challenge we faced was designing an event that
was simple to execute, cost effective and newsworthy.
Since groundbreaking is a dirty word in media
circles, we needed to attract media attention
while satisfying the event’s major players
with the execution.
In
lieu of planning a traditional shovel-turning
ceremony, we decided to incorporate Butterball’s
product into an event that would better reflect
its goodwill towards the Garner community. We
came up with the idea for Butterball to break
ground by breaking bread.
Thanks
to a local Butterball customer, Firehouse Subs,
we commissioned a 6-foot, doublewide turkey sandwich.
We ordered commemorative garden trowels engraved
with the event’s date and location, and
gave these, along with custom aprons and hard
hats, to key executives and local political and
business leaders. They “dug” into
the giant turkey sub to signify Butterball’s
move to Garner. Each guest was given a Butterball
apron in appreciation of their support and attendance.
From
concept to completion, Talk made sure everything
ran according to plan. We carefully coordinated
logistics to hang banners from construction equipment
and install “Butterball Lane” street
signs on site. We designed invitations, agendas,
a media kit, name tags and ad specialty items.
The
publicity team sent a media alert to press across
the state, focusing on the Triangle region. Talk
also drafted talking points for each speaker and
wrote a speech for Butterball’s CEO.
This
unique groundbreaking received wall-to-wall TV
coverage on six Triangle news stations, two radio
stations, multiple newspapers, including a front
page story in the business section of the News
& Observer. The Associated Press picked up
on the story, which then appeared in nine publications.
More
than 200 guests were in attendance. Butterball
executives were proud of their company and inspired
by the CEO’s speech. The Town of Garner
felt like the recipient of incredible goodwill
from their new friends at Butterball. Butterball
in turn felt like a united company and a positive
force in their new community.
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