bobdonpaul blog

The creative forces behind the scenes at bobdonpaul.com extend far and wide, and one of the partners at this innovative marketing group is tapping into a personal passion of his and bringing a fun, new business to life.  When Bob Manley is not at the helm of bobdonpaul.com and working to produce results for their many clients, he rolls up his sleeves and gets busy at his new venture:  Hermit Woods Winery.

Bob opened Hermit Woods Winery this past June with partners and friends Ken Hardcastle and Chuck Lawrence.  The trio met while mountain biking several years ago, and their friendship grew through their mutual love of wine and locally-produced beer and cider.  They began a monthly wine-tasting gathering with their wives, and one year, all six friends went on a wine-tasting tour throughout Quebec. That trip became part of the inspiration to start their own winery.

They did a lot of research and preparation by sampling a wide variety of wines produced in the Northeast and Canada.  They also experimented with local fruit and learned what would make good New Hampshire boutique wines.  Then, three years ago, the friends decided the time was right to plan their own wine venture.  Ken had many years of wine and beer making experience, and Bob and Chuck had the marketing and sales experience that would get the business off the ground.

As described by Bob, Ken, and Chuck, Hermit Woods Winery is a small boutique winery specializing in a wide variety of traditional grape wines, fruit wines, and honey wines (mead).  Ken, Hermit Woods’ winemaker, says, “With the wide variety of locally-grown fruit available to us, the possibilities are infinite for the wonderful flavors that can be extracted, blended, and fermented into wine.”  Their first season introduced wine lovers to a collection of traditional and fruit wines, including Kiwi, Crabapple, Apple, and Blueberry Wines.  They also offered Three Honey Mead and a multi-berry honey wine, and a Malbec made from South American grapes.

So far, the winery is an overnight success.  Says Bob, “We surpassed our expectations on all fronts this year, including number of visitors, response to our wine, wine sales, etc.”  The winery’s first barrel tasting event on October 9^th was a smash hit, with wave after wave of visitors coming to taste wines that are currently available, as well as two new wines, South American Carmenère and Cabernet Sauvignon, that are aging in oak barrels for next season.  Several NH establishments are now carrying Hermit Woods wines; an assortment of varietals can be found at The Holderness General Store, Burt’s Better Beers, Smoke N Barley, The Beer Store Tavern 27, The Drinkery, and The Concord Co-op.  During the warmer months, Hermit Woods wines can also be found at the Sanbornton Farmers Market and the Tilton Farmers Market.  The folks at Hermit Woods will be working to make their wines more widely available, and plan to add new locations to their list in the coming year.  The winery has been getting stellar reviews, and, as a feather in the partners’ caps, Ken and Bob were the keynote speakers at the Northern NH conference on Tourism last week.

For next season, Hermit Woods Winery has more than doubled their production, and will be opening on Memorial Day with 18 or 20 wines, many of which are their most popular wines from this year, plus a number of new ones.  “We are very excited about next years’ Kiwi wine,” says Bob.  “We had it in short supply this year—next year we should have about 20 cases.”

The Hermit Woods team is striving to make wines from local and organic fruit as much as possible, and this fall, the winery will be making its first wine from its own four-acre vineyard, where several varieties of hardy hybrid grapes have been growing for three years.  Says Chuck, “What we do want to do is to make good, locally-grown products.”  So far, the winery is right on track!

Carrie Reed
bobdonpaul.com blogging team

Adding to its list of notable clients, bobdonpaul.com has recently gained the confidence of a few more organizations, and is currently working hard on new strategies for them.  The crew is excited about these new relationships and happy to announce their partnerships with Lake Morey Resort, Moulton Farm, and Preferred Rentals.

As social media and web content become increasingly important in the exchange of information and ideas, many companies and organizations are realizing that embracing this new medium is the best way to get their messages out and grow their businesses.  But to find success online, groups need to create a unique presence that separates them from the rest.  This is where a good marketing team comes in.

“In today’s business climate you don’t want to go the cheap route for marketing and design,” explains Don Manley of bobdonpaul.com, one of New Hampshire’s most innovative marketing and web design firms.  “You want to stand out.  The web is crowded with websites and strategies that are the same.”  Don says custom-designed sites and marketing strategies are the way to go for most businesses – even though they may take a little more time to develop, there are few better ways to set your business apart.

The team at bobdonpaul has found their approach quite successful for their many clients, which include The Inns and Spa at Mill Falls, New Hampshire Higher Education Assistance Foundation (NHHEAF), and The Balsams Grand Resort Hotel, where their avant-garde “Inn-Bedded Resorter” campaign drew national attention and established bobdonpaul.com as social media marketing experts.

Because of his experience with The Balsams, Bob Manley of bobdonpaul.com is particularly delighted to be working with Lake Morey Resort in Fairlee, VT.  “The resort is owned by Mark and Jeffrey, the grandsons of Borden and Louise Avery, important and influential figures in the hotel business,” says Bob.  “Borden and Louise were pioneers of the ‘American Plan’ service model, a model that has more recently served The Balsams Grand Resort Hotel very well for many years.”  Lake Morey Resort is one of the few remaining hotels in New England that runs primarily on the American Plan, in which the room rate includes meals and all amenities.  The bobdonpaul crew is developing a distinctive new website for Lake Morey Resort.

Moulton Farm in Meredith, NH has also signed on bobdonpaul to create a new website for them.  This farm, market, and bakery is a favorite local destination that has enjoyed continued success with their produce since the 1980s, and was awarded “A Farm of Distinction” by the New Hampshire Department of Agriculture in 1996.  A new bobdonpaul.com website will creatively organize all the varied features of this vibrant farm.

For Center Harbor, NH’s Preferred Rentals, a company that specializes in vacation rentals in the central Lakes Region of the state, bobdonpaul.com is taking on its website redesign, rebranding, advertising, marketing, and social media.  This is where the marketing team really shines!  bobdonpaul’s ongoing partnership with Preferred Rentals will be able to bring more of New Hampshire to the rest of the world, generating more tourism business for the entire region.

Another organization bobdonpaul is courting is Home Builders & Remodelers Association of New Hampshire (HBRANH).  Last month, HBRANH sent out a public request for proposals from qualified firms for the development of two websites, one for consumers and one for HBRANH members, along with marketing plans for each project.  The team at bobdonpaul.com responded to this request by creating a clever web page and proposal demonstrating the artistic, visionary, and technical skills that set this marketing company apart.

Over the last few years, bobdonpaul has really made an imprint on the marketing and social media landscape, and its success in the business world is evident with its growing reputation and expanding clientele.  Stay tuned as all these new relationships blossom!

Carrie Reed
bobdonpaul.com blogging team

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http://www.ragan.com

Nestled in the breathtaking mountains of northern New Hampshire, The Balsams Grand Resort Hotel is a special place that offers a “magical” experience, which is often difficult to describe.  In order to convey that experience, the marketing team of bobdonpaul.com needed a strategy that was equally magic.  During one brainstorming session, Don Manley of bobdonpaul.com threw out a wild idea.  “Wouldn’t it be great to get someone to live at the hotel and tell the story everyday,” he said.

A year later, Don’s idea took hold, and the creative team of bobdonpaul.com launched the Balsams very first Inn-Bedded Resorter campaign, a social media experiment that turned out better than anyone had anticipated.  After a fast-paced online search last June, Martin Earley spent July and August golfing, hiking, kayaking, and enjoying fine cuisine at the grand hotel, as well as going behind the scenes to get a glimpse of what makes The Balsams so special.  He shared his experience through various social media outlets, including the resort’s blog and Facebook page.  His video and blog posts were followed by thousands of viewers, and traditional media outlets came calling for interviews.

The campaign was a huge success, and The Balsams saw their Facebook statistics and visits to their website soar, as well as a 20% increase in bookings in August.  Then bobdonpaul.com was faced with the question of what to do next.  Fortunately, Bob Manley had his eye on another Internet sensation—a duo from Canada who were using social media to navigate a North American adventure:  Alex and Luke.

“They were on their cross-country journey and they landed in NH,” says Bob.  “Tai Freligh from the State of NH heard about them and started posting about them on the state Facebook page, and I just saw one of the postings and immediately took an interest.  I followed them all the way around the country, and as it got closer to the end of their journey I started thinking, ‘I wonder if these guys would be interested in coming to New Hampshire in a couple months.’  I loved what they were doing and knew they would make really great candidates… so we invited them to The Balsams.”

Alex and Luke had developed a huge following during their trip, and as The Balsams’ winter Inn-Bedded Resorters, they brought those followers with them and took the program to another level.  While at the resort, the couple frequently updated their followers on their new adventures via their own website, Facebook and Twitter accounts, along with The Balsams’ various social media platforms.  Says Bob, “They have done an amazing job and blown away the summer program 10-fold by generating excitement, traffic, and new fans.”  The Balsams’ opening week of this winter season nearly sold out and was the busiest holiday weekend in many years.

With Alex and Luke, traffic to the hotel’s website doubled.  “January broke the all-time record for the number of people that hit the Balsams website, and that’s January—that’s not a month that we should be breaking that record—so that’s huge,” says Bob.  In addition, the entire marketing campaign got some attention and media coverage of its own.

Ultimately, the success of the Resorter program is in the result of the effort.  “What we have allowed is a great dialog between guests and future guests,” says Bob.  “People who have been guests virtually now want to experience the resort in person.”  And that’s what it’s all about.

Carrie Reed
bobdonpaul.com blogging team

Alex & Luke come to The Balsams

Martin Earley’s video application to be the first Inn-Bedded Resorter

Martin Earley campaigns to be the Inn-Bedded Resorter at The Balsams

A brainchild of bobdonpaul, The BALSAMS Inn-Bedded Resorter campaign was recently recognized by Mashable, http://mashable.com/2011/03/08/social-pr-campaigns/ Read the article below.

5 Smart Social PR Campaigns to Learn From

by Leyl Master Black, 3/8/2011

4. The BALSAMS Grand Resort Hotel: Using Social to Share an Experience

It can be hard to convey the magic of an experience through an ad or a magazine article. Working with agency bobdonpaul, The BALSAMS Grand Resort Hotel in New Hampshire decided to use social media to tell the hotel’s unique story.

The hotel’s “InnBedded Resorter” campaign used social media to find the world’s first-ever “Resorter” — a person who would live at the hotel for July and August 2010 and use social channels to share all of their experiences at the 8,000 acre resort. Entries poured in from all over the world — after narrowing the field to a few finalists, The BALSAMS then used online voting to pick the winner.

The company’s first Resorter was 23-year-old Martin Edgar Earley, who spent two months at the resort this summer. Early blogged and posted daily social media updates, photos and videos about all The BALSAMS had to offer. The campaign was a hit, and the hotel saw a 20% increase in bookings in August.

The resort then ran a winter campaign with Canadian social media travel superstars Alex & Luke. While at The BALSAMS, the couple used their own website, along with the resort’s Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr and other social media platforms to continually update followers on their adventures at the resort. As a result, the hotel’s opening week of Winter 2010/2011 nearly sold out and was the busiest holiday weekend in years. Since launching the campaign, website traffic has also doubled.

The Inn-Bedded Resorter, Live the Story, Tell The Story

Spend a “Social” Summer at The BALSAMS.

To put it simply, we want you to be a guest at The BALSAMS Grand Resort Hotel for two months and totally immerse yourself in the experience. While you’re summering with us we want you to use every social media platform out there to share with the world – as it happens – your BALSAMS experience. Come be inspired by our history, and go behind the scenes with our staff. Play golf. Play tennis. Kayak, mountain bike, hike and swim. Taste fine foods and learn to ballroom dance. Explore our endless 8,000 acre estate and participate in every adventure under the sun and get paid while doing it! We believe the story will meet you here. You just have to live it and tell it.

Learn more… Click Here!

bobdonpaul.com tapped as Agency of Record for one of New England’s Premier Destinations

Dixville Notch, NH bobdonpaul.com, a full-service agency based in the Lakes Region of New Hampshire has been selected as the Agency of Record for The Balsams Grand Resort Hotel.

The BALSAMS Grand Resort Hotel

The BALSAMS has recently brought in Jeff McIver to serve as President and General Manager of the resort hotel. McIver served as a general manager at The BALSAMS from 2002 to 2005 under Steve Barba and has made it his mission to return the resort to its core values of exceptional quality and hospitality, while updating the service offering.

The BALSAMS has always been about creating an unforgettable experience for our guests, and I believe boddonpaul.com is the right team to help communicate and market that experience to the world, said McIver.
The BALSAMS is a premier New England resort hotel, featuring award-winning dining, outdoor wilderness adventures, unique events, endless activities and fun for the entire family. The 15,000-acre mountain resort nestled in the North Country of New Hampshire features everything from golfing, skiing, hiking and biking to kayaking and guided Moose Safaris.
bobdonpaul.com is already diligently at work developing an updated marketing and branding campaign for The BALSAMS, and over the next several months will be developing new interactive and web-based tools including an entirely new website as well as traditional media and public relations.
As Jeff said, The BALSAMS is an experience, and we have pulled together a team from across New England to develop a multi-media approach that will enable our audience to get a taste of the wonder and excitement of the resort, said Bob Manley, Head Chef and Bottle Washer at bobdonpaul.com. Whether they’re sitting in front of the computer or driving their car, our audience will be able to see, hear and interact with The BALSAMS like never before. We are excited to be on Jeff McIver’s team, to consider all the possibilities for the future of The BALSAMS.

The bobdonpaul.com team on The BALSAMS includes bobdonpaul.com principals, Bob Manley who will lead the account, Don Manley as creative director and Paul Gurney as web architect. Senior level talent across a variety of disciplines has also been brought in to augment the team, including Grace Duke, media planner; David Donohue who will lead the public relations effort; Kent Rich, videographer; and Karen Hansel, copywriter. Other partners include Backbone Media, Inc., a pioneer in the field of SEO and HMA Marketing, a consulting and database maintenance division and mail house.

The BALSAMS has been honored among the Top 100 Hotels in North America by Travel + Leisure magazine (2008) and was rated #1 resort for food in the United States by Condé Nast Traveler magazine (2007). The BALSAMS Panorama Donald Ross Golf Course has been consistently named among the top rated golf courses in New England.

For reservations and information call (800) 255-0600 or visit online at www.TheBalsams.com.

We have recently completed our latest web project www.bearriverlodge.net, a land development in North Carolina. Take a look and let us know what you think, we would appreciate any feedback.

bobdonpaul.com/Bear River