Magnolia Farm

Ciara Gray

University of South Carolina

Advanced PR Writing Fall 2017 (Professor Kelly Davis)

 
 
Cover Letter:

Dear Mr. Tom Hall,

My name is Ciara Gray and I am a Public Relations major, business minor in my

senior year at the University of South Carolina. As a student in Professor Kelly Davis’

Advanced Public Relations Writing class, I have enjoyed getting to know Magnolia Farm

and its extensive activities and offerings.

This portfolio contains several pieces of work surrounding Magnolia Farm Lodge

and its additional facilities: Brice’s Country Store, Honeysuckle Hill Bed and Breakfast,

and Magnolia Creamery. My hope is that these ideas and plans will help you to expand

Magnolia Farm in order to reach a larger audience and spread sustainable ideas and

delicious food across all of South Carolina and further.

Having you visit our class gave me an inspiring glimpse into the foundation of

Magnolia Farm. The historical roots being preserved as Magnolia expands are an

important part of your brand. What you have built in your business is an incredible

accomplishment and I truly believe that Magnolia Farm could be on the same high-scale

level as Blackberry Farm with a little more marketing and aesthetic modeling.

In this portfolio, I have included boilerplates, social media content, website design,

a feature article, a partnership recommendation and a crisis management plan.

If you have any questions or if you would like to contact me for more ideas, feel

free to do so by email at clgray@email.sc.edu.

Sincerely,

Ciara Gray
Social Media Plan:

Magnolia Farm’s target audience is the Soda City crowd, or: South Carolina
locals; single, couple or group Travelers; foodies; ages 30-65, primary education,
interested in southern culture and cuisine, nature, sustainable living, educational courses
having to do with the environment and farming, event planning, music (country), live
entertainment, hunting, fishing, beer making, trying new things, looking for affordable
weekend getaways. The brand voice for Magnolia Farm’s social media should be Tom
Hall: southern, warm, welcoming, experienced, hospitable and professional. Would use
very warm, and descriptive language for scenery descriptions, stay away from too much
jargon around cuisine descriptions, activity-driven language would be exciting and
upbeat. The main platforms that I would suggest using for Magnolia Farm’s social media
would be Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Alternative Channels: I would recommend that Magnolia Farms start a blog for
travelers, event planners, and foodies to read. They should also have a YouTube channel,
Instagram, Twitter, Google Plus, and be featured on Snapchat and Periscope during their
events only, not for regular content. They should also have a Spotify account on which
they can promote their musical guests and establish a country vibe for road trippers to
listen to while coming and going on the farm.

Below is a sample content calendar for October 2017, which can be used as a
model for other months with important events at Magnolia Farm that require promotion.
Beneath that are 10 sample pieces of content for Facebook and Instagram.

Key:

Facebook posts:
Brice’s Country Store
The Magnolia Farm Lodge
Magnolia Creamery
Honeysuckle Hill Bed and Breakfast
All

 
  
Magnolia  Farm  Social  Media  Schedule  October  2017  
 
 

Sunday   Monday   Tuesday   Wednesday   Thursday   Friday   Saturday  

             
             
Sept.  24   Sept.  25   Sept.  26   Sept.  27   Sept.  28   Sept.  29   Sept.  30  

One  Week  until   Special  ticket   Announce   Release   Announce   Weekend  fun   One  more  
Grand  Opening!   sales  (if   contests   spotify   activities   list:  local   day!!  Last  
Posts  on  F,  I,  T,  G+   option)     F,  I,  T   playlist,  post   F,  I,  T   activities  in   chance  to  
F,  I,  T,  G+   it  on  F,  T,  I.   Ridgeway  for   pre-­‐order  
the  weekend,   tickets  at  $5  
including   less  than  at  
grand   the  door.    F,  I,  
opening  on   T  
Sunday    F,  I,  
T,  G+  
Oct.  1   Oct.  2   Oct.  3     Oct.  4   Oct.  5   Oct.  6   Oct.  7  
         
         

Grand  Opening!   Re-­‐cap  of   Announce   Announce   Feature  farm   Friday  food   Show  images  
Posts  across  all   day  with   contest   upcoming   hunting   day;  post   of  the  sun  
platforms,  including   photos  of   winners  on   events  and   expeditions   food  images   setting  on  a  
Snapchat&Periscope   activities,   social  media   deals  for  this   and  mention   and   quiet  
F,  I,  T,  G+   families,   F,  I,  T   season   contest   emphasize   afternoon  at  
farm   F,  I,  T,  G+   winners   Brice’s   the  farm  after  
features   returning  to   Country   a  busy  week:  
F,  I,  T   participate   Store’s   emphasize  
F,  I,  T   weekend   the  relaxation  
carry  out   potential  of  
F,  I,  T,  G+   Lodge  F,  I,  T,  
G+    
Feature Story:

Columbia Metropolitan Magazine:

Home away from Home

With a View
By: Ciara Gray

Sometimes we all need to get away from the madness of our everyday lives, but we can’t

afford to take a week off to jet to a tropical island. Magnolia Farm Lodge offers a relaxing

and educational experience that allows you to escape your routine and even learn a little

something new that will spice it up when you return home. Located in Ridgeway, South

Carolina, Magnolia Farm is your new home away from home.

Magnolia Farm has four different entities: Magnolia Farm Lodge, a community center to

lounge and learn; Brice’s Country Store, the hub of the farm that features weekend carry-

out barbecue to take home to the family; The Honeysuckle bed-and-breakfast, a romantic

and cozy weekend spot; and the Magnolia Creamery, which produces sustainable, farm-

to-table dairy products.

The farm is where hospitality meets functionality, offering a cultural and culinary

experience which is unique and memorable. They offer single classes to weeklong

training camps for people looking to make themselves more self-sustained, independent

and healthy. Their menu concentrates on organic, locavore, farm-to-table cuisine with a

southern twist. The sound of local musicians performing in the outdoor space and the

smell of the delicious barbeque cooking next door will surely take you to a place of

comfort and relaxation when you visit Magnolia Farm.

The farm is hosting a grand opening event for Brice’s Country Store on October 1, open

to the public. Brice’s Country Store features boudin sausage and pit-smoked barbeque. In

addition to selling smoked meats and rubs, the store features homemade cheese, milk and

yogurt from Magnolia Creamery. They also have quail eggs, pickles, jellies and fruit

butters, making Magnolia Farm a one-stop shop for a variety of food.

Magnolia Farm is not just a place to eat and relax. They also offer a variety of activities

around the farm for guests of all ages. You can have a father-son hunting expedition

around the grounds with owner Tom Hall and his staff. Riding around on the custom-

made four-wheeler chasing falcons, bird dogs and quail is an adventure you will never
forget. Magnolia Farm also offers dance, art, and yoga classes, perfect for releasing the

stress of work and fun to do with the whole family.

Magnolia Farm offers guests an escape unlike any other. The farm is open to families,

couples, singles and friends, and there is something for everyone. With fresh, healthy

food, live music and educational classes, this place is the affordable weekend getaway you

have been hoping for.

To learn more about Magnolia Farm Lodge, visit https://www.facebook.com/Magnolia-

Farm-Lodge-276768845823948/.
Website Recommendations:

Magnolia Farm’s website has been constantly improving throughout the past few
months I have been visiting it. However, I think that the layout of the website could be
more clear and include additional information about the history of the farm, each
individual entity, and the sustainability factor of Magnolia Farm. I think the color palette
should be bright, earthy greens and browns that contrast with the building colors and
colorful produce/food pictured on the website. Below is an analysis of a website that I
think would be a good model for Magnolia Farm.

Model: Trapp Family Lodge https://www.trappfamily.com/lounge.htm

Appeal: The Flow of the website is very nice, the colors are bright and go with an
autumn color scheme, which is appealing to me particularly at his time of year, reading
about “Stowe Foliage Art Festivals” and beautiful mountain scenery in Vermont. The
content is wonderful as well, makes me really want to visit this place.
I have never visited this page but I have visited ones similar to it. I want to visit this site
again and could honestly spend 30 min or more on it reading about all the wonderful fall
and winter activities I could participate in here. I have accessed all of the tabs, and the
wedding photos are all beautiful.
Compelling visuals: All of the images, photography, descriptions of food and activities,
and the history of the lodge (named for the Von Trapp family) are appealing.
Copy: The copy is somewhat lengthier than that of Apple’s website. It describes vividly
all of the activities, food, scenery, and accommodations available to their guests. Copy is
definitely meant to persuade guests to visit.
Magnolia Farm: This site would absolutely be an appropriate model for Magnolia
Farm. I think they would seriously benefit if their site looked like this one.

Website Map:
Page Name/Visuals
Home Page/
1. Photo of The Farm
2. Web bar with the names
of different brands and
history, gallery and
contact
3. Consistent photo that
moves slightly with the
page
4. Rotating testimonial
from customers at
bottom under “about”
5. About our company
6. About our founder
Individual Brand Pages
Copy Links
Magnolia Farm Each individual brand’s
focused section of the website
Food. Art. Nature. linked to its name on the web
bar
Additional links to gallery,
contact and history
Press Room Page
Product reviews
Event calendar (including
#8 community events and
partnerships)
Event planner contact for the
#1 farm
#2
Quotes from customer about Home Page
 1. Photos and description each brand/activity About Our PitMaster Jack
of the Brice’s Country Waiboer; Today’s Specials;
Store #3 Place a Carry-out Order;
2. Description of Magnolia Hours; Shop Online.
Creamery #4
Shop Online; About the
3. Logos for each
individual brand and
Creamery; Organic
photo of people at the Process
individual areas of the
farm
4. Description of Magnolia
Farm Lodge #5
5. Online registration for
classes at the Lodge. Reservations; Courses;
6. Events page and Testimonials; Concert
registration. Calendar; Gallery
7. Description of
Honeysuckle Hill Bed #6 Reservations; Menu;
and Breakfast Sustainable Food; Gallery;
8. Online reservations for Packages
the B&B.
9. Photos and descriptions
of products and places.
10. Shopping cart with
prices and shipping
information
11. Ability to purchase
products
12. Special wedding section Wedding Planner Contact;
#7 Gallery; Testimonials;
Calendar of Availability;
Locations

The next page is a visual example of a model for Magnolia Farm’s website. And the
content page follows.
Website Content:

1) We are a bed and breakfast, outdoor school, talent collective focused on Food, Art,
Nature, and Music. Our goal is to create a destination where hospitality meets
functionality. A place to relax and learn. A cultural and culinary experience, which is
unique and memorable, spiritual and physical, with a form and function that is both valid
and aesthetic. We offer single classes to week long training camps for people looking to
make themselves more self-sustained, independent, healthy. Our menu concentrates on
organic, locavore, farm to table cuisine. We are a clearinghouse for artists looking to
teach or exhibit. Live music is a huge part of our operation and our doors are always
open. Stop by or book a trip but either way we’d love to see ya!

2) Tom Hall is a born-and-raised southern entrepreneur who values experiences and

hospitality over all else. He knows that people come to Magnolia Farm for a relaxing and
fun weekend away from their hectic schedules. Hall wants guests to know that the farm is
somewhere to come listen to music, eat great food, learn about sustainability, and step
outside their comfort zone to try something new that they would not have the opportunity
to elsewhere.

3) “Welcome to Brice’s Country Store, your one-stop-shop for homemade BBQ, bread,
sauces, rubs, and original Southern cooking needs. Open Saturday and Sunday 11 AM- 7
PM.”

4) “The best Creamery in Ridgeway, producing quality cheese made from sheep and
goat’s milk!”

5) “Come visit The Lodge to learn how to be more complete. Relax. Gain skills and
knowledge. Eat delicious, sustainable food. Listen to awesome music. Become a better,
fitter, healthier, more knowledgeable you!”

6) “Enjoy three acres of uninterrupted, historical beauty as you unwind at our cozy bed
and breakfast. With gorgeous sunsets, comfortable rooms, and organic, farm-to-table
meals included with your stay, Honeysuckle Hill is your weekend getaway destination.”

7) “Here at the Farm, we want to help make your special day one you will never forget.
With our beautiful backdrops, bed and breakfast, greenery, and farm-to-table cuisine, we
can make a weekend out of your wedding. Since we value couples building sustainable
homes, we will also offer a week of sustainability classes for you and your soon-to-be
spouse available to redeem before or after the wedding.”

8) Such a beautiful, peaceful and interesting place - Tom Hall is so gracious to share it for
so many cool events. A real treat to experience the farm, animals and history of Magnolia
Farm!
Partnership Recommendation:

Memo to Tom Hall:

Mr. Hall,

After reviewing the Magnolia Farm Lodge’s class offerings, I believe that a partnership

with a local wellness clinic would be beneficial to Magnolia Farm. The classes offered are

limited, and it is written on your website that you are always looking for more teachers to

come teach various types of classes at the farm. A partnership with a wellness clinic will

open up your options of classes you can teach, and widen your network of health

professionals that can come teach your clients about healthy and sustainable lifestyles.

About Your Health is a wellness clinic located in Columbia that focuses on health

education while offering health-enhancing services. They are a resource for natural

wellness questions, needs and therapies and they teach their clients how their body

systems work, while looking at lifestyle, exposures and nutrition.

Their services could be taught at the farm to give visitors a unique lesson on how your

organic products can be more beneficial for their bodies than the products sold in basic

grocery stores. About Your Health also participates in local farm tours, so having access

to your farm would add Ridgeway as an option for a farm tour location. I also believe

they would benefit from the partnership by getting to spread their teachings to a new

audience. Teaching people about wellness so that more citizens can live long and happy

lives is important to the founders of About Your Health, Yvonne Lucas and Lois Bradley.
About Your Health also has a store in which they sell a range of organic health products,

such as local honey, natural herbs and vitamins. I believe they would be open to putting

some of Magnolia Creamery’s goat and sheep milk in their store to sell to clients as well.

This partnership would benefit Magnolia Farm by giving you a unique opportunity to

teach visitors about their health and nutrition, while showing them that your organic

products will benefit their overall health. The partnership would benefit About Your

Health by giving them a resource for healthier products that will expand upon what they

already sell, as well as giving them an outlet to teach more people about healthy lifestyles

and nutrition.

For more information on About Your Health, I encourage you to read their website at

http://www.aboutyourhealthsc.com/. Please feel free to reach out to me with any

additional questions or information.

Sincerely,

Ciara Gray
News release announcing partnership:

For Immediate Release

Contact: Ciara Gray

(845)-750-1464

Magnolia Farm Announces Partnership with About Your Health Wellness

Clinic

Columbia SC—Magnolia Farm in Ridgeway, South Carolina is announcing its

partnership with the About Your Health wellness clinic on Kaminer Way Parkway in

Columbia. The clinic will be selling select products from Magnolia Farm’s new walk-up,

Brice’s Country Store, and its creamery, Magnolia Creamery.

About Your Health is focused on providing customers with healthy, organic products that

are good for you and enjoyable. The addition of Magnolia Farm’s products to About

Your Health’s store will allow Columbia residents to get high quality milk, cheese,

proteins and other foods at a location closer to home.

“This partnership is big for the farm. We are excited to get our popular food items into

About Your Health so that more people can experience them,” said Tom Hall, owner of

Magnolia Farm.
About Your Health owner Yvonne Lucas said, “We are always happy to support local

businesses, and Magnolia Farm’s sustainable food production is what we are trying to

encourage people to eat more of. We can’t wait to expand our products to get more farm-

to-table food into the store front.”

Additionally, About Your Health will be teaching their services at the farm to give visitors

a unique lesson on how Brice’s Country Store and Magnolia Creamery’s organic

products can be more beneficial for their bodies than the products sold in basic grocery

stores.

Products will be coming from Brice’s Country Store, a carry-out store that serves

homemade BBQ, bread, sauces, rubs, and other original Southern foods. They are open

Saturday and Sunday from 11a.m. to 7 p.m. Magnolia Creamery serves organic goat

cheese, sheep and goat milk, and other dairy products made fresh at the farm.

###

Magnolia Farm is a 3-acre piece of land located in Ridgeway, South Carolina that offers
an array of services and entertainment. On the property, there is a bed-and-breakfast, a
lodge community center, Brice’s Country Store that serves an array of southern style
food, and Magnolia Creamery. The farm offers classes on sustainable living, live music,
and farm-to-table cuisine.

About Your Health is a natural wellness clinic in Columbia, South Carolina focused on
nutrition and health education. Established over 12 years ago by Lois Bradley and
Yvonne Lucas, About Your Health offers services such as Nutritional Counseling,
Thermography and Live / Dry Blood Cell Analysis. These services, plus many others
offered here, help put good health back in your hands.

Crisis Management:

In the event of a crisis at Magnolia Farm, here are some steps and messages that should
be put out into the public via Magnolia Farm’s website and social media accounts, as well
as from local media.
Key Points to include in statements given:

• What happened

• Why it happened

• Who did it effect

• What they are doing to fix it

• How consumers can receive compensation or apologies

• Counteracting negative PR

Initial action steps:

• Determine if you are actually at fault

• Tom Hall, entity manager, appropriate legal organizations, PR

representative should all be a part of the decision-making process

• Key stakeholders: employees, owners/managers, and actual stakeholders.

Reach out to them first and then the public second once a clear message

that answers all above questions in as much detail possible has been

drafted

• Audience: (internal above); external: effected customers, regular

customers, visitors to the farm, social media audience, newsletter recipients

• Depending on the magnitude of the issue and how many people it

affected, I would focus on social media as well as traditional media. Send

out newsletter to subscribers and send out consistent messages on all social

media platforms. Hold a press conference to address issue and answer both
 media and consumer’s questions. The media’s role is to spread the

important information that could be time-sensitive with a food issue/crisis.

Communications materials to draft ahead of time: an outline of a release that

explains the situation, anticipants reactions and questions and attempts to answer them

ahead of time; a committee or team that can be readily available by a hotline to answer

questions from people effected; a compensation plan for effected consumers. The brand

voice/tone should be very serious during this situation. There should be no jokes, or

lightness when informing the publics of the mistake that was made and the effect that it

had. The spokesperson should be as honest and transparent as possible. All crisis

communication issues are time-sensitive, the message should go out as quickly as possible

(within the ‘golden hour’ aka one hour after event occurs/is brought to company’s

attention, even if that means we have to say that we do not know the answers to some of

the questions our audiences have. Never say “no comment.” Be genuine. Spokesperson

being Tom Hall will show seriousness and importance of situation.

Message for Magnolia Farm’s Website:

 On the [date and time of incident], [a few South Carolina residents whom had

consumed take-out barbeque from Brice’s Country Store began feeling ill during the

Carolina-Clemson game at William’s Brice Stadium in Columbia, SC. Later that

evening, guests of an event at Magnolia Farm began feeling ill with symptoms consistent

with food poisoning.] [state what the incident was in a factual manner]

Brice’s Country Store and Magnolia Creamery, both entities of the Magnolia

Farm, are under thorough investigation at this time to determine whether facilities had

been contaminated, and whether or not the Farm is responsible for this issue.

Thank you for being patient with us while we conduct an investigation into our

facilities at the farm. This investigation is a precaution and does not in anyway confirm

the reason for this group of people’s illness. At the conclusion of the investigation, we will

determine our next actions steps according to the results and the regulations of the FDA

and DHEC.

Brice’s Country Store received a grade A rating from the South Carolina

Department of Health and Environment Control last week. Both Brice’s and Magnolia

Creamery follow cooking practices that are consistent with the proper food handling and

storage regulations in South Carolina.

We appreciate your loyalty and share in your concerns as we proceed, and assure

you that we will keep posting updates as we receive them. Thank you.

- Magnolia Farm family

Media Statement:
 Date of [food] incident

Incident in Ridgeway, SC

On the [date and time of incident], [a few South Carolina residents whom

had consumed take-out barbeque from Brice’s Country Store began feeling ill

during the Carolina-Clemson game at William’s Brice Stadium in Columbia, SC.

Later that evening, guests of an event at Magnolia Farm began feeling ill with

symptoms consistent with food poisoning.] [state what the incident was in a

factual manner]

Brice’s Country Store and Magnolia Creamery, both entities of the

Magnolia Farm, are under thorough investigation at this time to determine

whether facilities had been contaminated, and whether or not the Farm is

responsible for this issue. [do not assume blame unless it is 100% proven]

“We are disheartened at the thought of our stores possibly having

something to do with whatever is making these people sick, and we will not sleep

until we get to the bottom of his issue,” Tom Hall, owner of Magnolia Farm said.

“Our thoughts and prayers go out to those feeling ill at this time, and we urge

anyone feeling ill for whatever reason to seek medical attention immediately.“

[quote from owner Tom Hall]

Brice’s Country Store received a grade A rating from the South Carolina

Department of Health and Environment Control last week. Both Brice’s and

Magnolia Creamery follow cooking practices that are consistent with the proper

food handling and storage regulations in South Carolina. [reassurance for

consumers]

Message for Magnolia Farm Facebook Page:

 “Good morning South Carolina Residents. Thank you for being patient

with us while we conduct an investigation into our facilities at the farm (if food

issue). [Mention how you found out about incident or if you know what happened

state incident]. These reports are from concerned guests who are understandably

upset and confused about what is going on. [address social media responses]. As of

this time, we are investigating our facilities to ensure that the source of their illness

is not Brice’s Country Store or Magnolia Creamery’s food. [What we are doing to

take action to fix/investigate crisis] Brice’s Country Store received a grade A

rating from the Department of Health and Environmental Control last week, and

we are confident that our cooking practices at the farm are consistent with proper

food handling and storage. [Reassurance to consumers] We hope to resolve this

issue in a timely manner, and thank you for your patience while we do so.”