Susan Farb Public Relations has been public relations agency of record since the 1,400-acre master designed development began marketing home sites in spring 2005. The firm’s very first publicity placement was an article on the development of Houston’s “western-most” development that ran on the front page of the main section of the Sunday Houston Chronicle newspaper. The story included a color photo of the new Firethorne sign on the property. That publicity placement has set the tone and the bar for publicity that complements the theme “Kindle the Spirit. . . . at Firethorne.”
The public relations campaign has embraced the evolution of Firethorne from a development of a handful of homes and homeowners to a true community of neighbors. Susan Farb Public Relations uncovers “gems” of stories to then generate editorial coverage on television, radio and in print in the Katy and Houston-area media. The projects cover a wide range of projects, including:
• Firethorne’s commissioned sculpture erected at the grand entrance (feature stories on the artist, who worked at the Brookwood Community, in several Katy publications and KTRK-TV Ch. 13’s “Hometown Live.”)
• “The Milkman Still Delivers” – Houston’s last home delivery milkman delivered free milk to new Firethorne residents as a “thank you” to new homeowners (News story in Houston Business Journal as well as Katy publications)
• Houston area’s first regulation Lacrosse Playing Fields – Major feature stories in Houston Business Journal (which ran in sister business journal publications nationwide); two days of pre- grand opening coverage, including a wild art photo of the finishing touches on the field, plus a Houston Chronicle Sports article; various Katy newspapers and magazines; and Health Sports & Fitness News Magazine.
• Fitness Center Director Peggy Skaggs – Susan Farb Public Relations took a basic announcement of the first personal trainer for the Firethorne Fitness Center and, upon learning of the trainer’s personal weight loss triumph and transformation to a certified fitness trainer, launched a publicity campaign. The results of which included feature stories in the Houston Chronicle “Health” section, KTRH Radio interviews, several Katy publications, and, ultimately, national coverage in Prevention magazine.
• Sandee Horton – David Weekley Homes/Firethorne “Top Sales Consultant of the Year Award” – Susan Farb Public Relations launched a publicity effort that generated coverage in the local residential real estate media, Katy media and a “Faces in the Crowd” feature story in the Houston Chronicle Katy Neighborhood News. Horton praised the benefits of the publicity/third-party editorial endorsement as follows: “ . . .being named in the Houston Chronicle in the Katy Section, the Real Estate Section, and in Real Estate & You, has brought out some of the really wonderful Realtors and clients. I have had 3 Sales in the last couple of weeks, and I truly believe your putting this information in the publications has helped tremendously.”
• Sun Shade dedication at WoodCreek Elementary School – Firethorne, with Susan Farb Public Relations at the publicity helm, took the lead on media relations for the 2009 dedication of a new sun shade Firethorne helped sponsor for WoodCreek Elementary School. Upon interviewing Beverly Tucker, the Firethorne mom in charge of fundraising for the giant sun shade, which covered the school’s playground equipment, Susan Farb Morris learned that Tucker’s son suffered from Alopecia Areata, an auto-immune disease that causes severe hair loss; Beverly’s motivation was to help protect her son from the intense rays of the sun while playing outdoors. Agency principal Susan Farb Morris rallied the media to the Katy I.S.D. school’s playground for the sunshade opening ceremonies. The media results included “live” coverage by the FOX 26 News Helicopter hovering overhead, Ch. 2 News, weather blogs on the MyFOXHouston.com, as well as feature stories in the Katy media, including a major byline story in Katy Magazine.
Firethorne is a big believer in being involved it the local community, whether sponsoring charitable events, donating sponsorships, helping its residents respond to community needs, mentoring students and many other activities. Susan Farb Public Relations works hand-in-hand with Firethorne’s marketing director to complement the community service program through a series of concentrated media relations campaigns.
The agency’s most recent publicity effort landed a significant feature story on Firethorne’s third anniversary and its exceptional home sales to date in the Houston Chronicle “Neighborhood News” – Katy (July 30, 2009.) Published on Chron.com and in print, the story was extremely positive, focusing attention on Firethorne’s community spirit through the hearts and minds of its residents. The news story helped generate exceptional traffic at Firethorne in the heat of the summer that weekend, normally a slow time in real estate. For the week ending Sunday, August 2 Firethorne sold a phenomenal amount — seven homes.