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Home Industry Market Research

December 17, 2012 By Nancy McNulty 2 Comments

Market research is an important function of having your own integrated marketing firm and definitely can be the most fun. Specializing in the home industry, this past week, Forest Home Media partners, Dana Tucker, and I headed to one of the media world meccas for us – Southern Living Magazine – and also to their latest Southern Living Idea House in Senoia, Georgia. We are preparing for the 2013 Southern Living Idea House at Fontanel in Nashville and you are going to want to follow Castle Homes as they build this impressive project on their Facebook page.

Castle Homes building the 2013 Southern Living Idea House in Nashville, TN.
Rendering by Iian Stuart of 2013 Southern Living Idea House at Fontanel in Nashville. A gorgeous relaxed farmhouse style home with adjacent guest houses. Follow the build via Castle Homes website & Facebook!

Before sharing the details on our Southern Living experience, we were amazed by the small Georgian town which has been the backdrop for around 24 movie/television projects and is currently the fictional setting for AMC’s hit show, The Walking Dead, aka Woodbury, GA.

 

Marketing trip discovers The Walking Dead set.
The Bank of Woodbury facade for “The Walking Dead,” hit AMC show actually in Senoia, GA.

In addition, the town boasts music sensation Zac Brown’s restaurant, Southern Ground Social Club. Brown is establishing a new youth camp on his area farm and is also the benefiting charity for the idea house. In my personal blog, NanceSense, I have additional highlights of the trip including a review of Zac’s restaurant and our trip to the latest trend in movie theaters, Fork and Screen.

Working on premier home tours since 1998, two years ago I was the PR rep for the Nashville Southern Living Showcase Home built by the area’s top custom homebuilder, Castle Homes. It’s incredibly exciting that in 2013 the nation’s only Southern Living Idea House will be built at the historic Barbara Mandrell property, Fontantel in Nashville, by Castle Homes, the 2012 Southern Living Custom Builder of the Year.  In prepping for this massive client PR opportunity, we visited the 2012 home currently open in Senoia, Georgia through December 23.

farmhouse style home, historic renovation, 2013 Southern Living Idea House
A historic 1830 farmhouse was moved and renovated by John Bynum Custom Homes for the 2012 Southern Living Idea House.

This charming town, located around an hour from Atlanta, has remarkably hosted two Southern Living Idea houses. Project developer Scott Tigchelaar gave us an overview of the city and the unprecedented Idea House projects. According to their website, “Senoia Enterprises Inc. and Historic Development Ventures were started by Paul Lombardi and Scott Tigchelaar,of Raleigh Studios – Atlanta. The Historic Senoia Project is a downtown re-development initiative within the Historic District of the City of Senoia, Georgia, originally undertaken by the principals of Raleigh Studios – Atlanta.”

The 2012 Southern Living Idea House is remarkable because for the first time, SL takes on a historic farmhouse renovation. We love, love a time lapse, check out this one for a great video project overview.

Southern Living Idea House Time Lapse Video, Senoia, GA

In addition to being a gorgeous farmhouse filled with great building and interior design ideas, the home has also been dressed for the holidays since mid-October. Here is my photo overview:

Photo Highlights of 2013 Southern Living Idea House taken by Forest Home Media

Throughout the home there are several QR codes available from scanning including this one from national sponsor Marvin Windows. Do you use your smartphone to scan these? We’d love your feedback at the end of this blog.

Clever QR Code for national idea house sponsor Marvin Windows.
Let us know if you like to scan QR Codes like this one for national idea house sponsor Marvin Windows.

As I also mentioned, we were also thrilled to visit the headquarters for Southern Living magazine in Birmingham, Alabama touching base with them on the upcoming Nashville project. We were given a personal tour by the oh so charming Frank Craige, Southern Living, Home Program Manager, and we were very pleased to meet Zoe Gowen, one of the editors for Southern Living’s online publication, The Daily South, a must-read for me. Here are a few photo highlights:

cake stands, storage area of Southern Living,
A dreamy glimpse of some of the a-mazing cake stands featured in Southern Living magazine.
photo stylist,
Super adorable SL senior photo stylist Buffy Hargett says there may be a little pink in the upcoming Easter photo spread for Southern Living magazine.
Southern Living chef Norm King
Talented Southern Living chef Norm King, with FHM partner Nancy McNulty, hints at a possible future visit to the 2013 Southern Living Idea House in Nashville. Fingers crossed & be sure to check out his Daily South column.

In June of 2013, Nashville will be hosting its own Southern Living Idea House at the beautiful Fontanel property.  Impressively, this tourist destination has earned a #3 ranking on TripAdvisor. You are going to want to plan a visit to see visit this gorgeous home more than once and check out the yummy Café Fontanella on site. Don’t forget to follow the build at Castle Homes.

Filed Under: Marketing Tips

About Nancy McNulty

For over two decades Nancy McNulty's public relations efforts have built and launched an interesting spectrum of projects from premier home tours and new businesses to product lines and signature events. She handled the PR for the Middle TN Home Builder's Parade of Homes for over 10 years, served on the PR team for the Southern Living Idea House and the HGTV Smart Home 2014. She delivers engaging campaigns based on strong content creation that helps to successfully build, brand and grow businesses into industry leaders.

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New Marketing Projects: Business Launch To Southern Living Idea House »

Trackbacks

  1. 2012 Southern Living Idea House Packed With Great Ideas | NanceSense says:
    December 17, 2012 at 6:13 pm

    […] by developer Scott Tigchelaar, it was totally worth the drive. Check out my Forest Home Media blog on our visit for more details on this dreamy home project and details on the upcoming 2013 Southern […]

    Log in to Reply
  2. Zac Brown Restaurant Part of Senoia, GA Tapestry | NanceSense says:
    December 17, 2012 at 9:16 pm

    […] Located outside of Atlanta, Georgia, I traveled there recently to tour the 2012 Southern Living Idea House and was pleasantly surprised by all the additional sights including this uber charming restaurant. I’ve written about the home tour on my Forest Home Media blog. […]

    Log in to Reply

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what others say:

"Forest Home Media and Nancy were our hands and feet on the ground to execute a flawless media day open house for the HGTV Smart Home 2014 in Nashville. Starting with a strategic end goal in mind, she knew all the right people to contact, all the right outlets to tap and all the right resources to utilize in creating an amazing event for HGTV. In fact, it generated more local and regional buzz for this project than any Smart Home prior. Nancy is anything but cookie-cutter with custom, solutions-oriented approach producing winning results every time." - Kristin Alm, Director Corporate Communications, Scripps Networks (HGTV) To read more client reviews click HERE

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A content marketing and public relations firm in Nashville, TN. We work with home related businesses like builders, land developers, communities, real estate brokers, interior designers, home bloggers, and home related service professionals. We build brands on line and in real life.

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