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Adobe Systems, Inc.
C2 Collections
of Color
Childhaven
Columbia City
Fremont
Getty Images, Inc.
Seattle City Light
Seattle DOT
Seattle Fringe
Theatre Festival
Security Properties
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A Community Marketing Success
Public Relations:
Muir Public Relations calls Fremont home and has provided public relations to the community since 1994. In that time Fremont has become an international travel destination, regularly written about in books, international magazines and newspapers. It is an example of creating a strong image, and then reinforcing it in the public's mind. In an international conference on community held in Taiwan, Fremont was invited to represent the United States. Jeanne Muir was one of four attendees. Since that conference, Fremont and Taiwan have maintained a strong cultural exchange, with many Fremont artists visiting and performing in Taiwan at national festivals.
Fremont's publicity campaign started with a splash. In June 1994, in a spoof of the City's new planning regulations, Jeanne Muir and activists from the neighborhood developed a set of images and community events that were irresistible to the media. Fremont voted to secede from the City of Seattle and declared itself "Not a foreign nation, but an ImagiNation." The community petitioned the United Nations to declare it a sovereign nation. In July of the same year, the King County Council proclaimed Fremont the Center of the Universe, by law. Muir has reinforced this theme-of quirky independence-in every media opportunity over the last decade.
Media Stunts:
In 1995 a splashy event was needed to publicize Fremont's first Art Walk. The Fremont Fine Arts Foundry (Peter Bevis) teamed up with Muir Public Relations to import a statue of Lenin. Erected in the dead of night, at 16.5 feet and 18 tons it was a notably quirky event. Muir managed the media whirlwind that ensued: a Horsey editorial cartoon, open-mike speeches, letters to the editor and many, many late night discussions at Lenin's feet about art, politics, morality, ethics and history. The statue also put Fremont on the tour-bus route.
Marketing Materials:
As a travel destination, Fremont needed a brochure. Muir teamed with a local designer to create a set of urban myths about Fremont and images to fit, and published a "Walking Guide to Fremont." After five printings, more than 250,000 copies have been distributed. Fremont is an example of how consistent media relations pays off. Stories that might have been a mere mention, or even a negative article, are transformed into feature-length articles about the myriad personalities that make Fremont successful. Local notables are well versed in helping the media get the story that the community wants. The media can depend on a well-rounded, interesting story.
Results are spectacular. The community has weathered a storm of development without being significantly bashed by regional journalists, and the artistic, funky nature of the community remains well known.
Following is a very brief sample of the high-level media attention the campaign has enjoyed:
- In the summer of 2002, Fremont was filmed by The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Wheel of Fortune (just imagine Vanna White at the Fremont Troll) and Antiques Roadshow - all within one week.
- Feature stories have run all over the world: the front of the New York Times National section, Minneapolis Star Tribune three-page color story, Northwest Airlines five-page story, three separate stories in 1999 in Designer/Builder, a national architecture magazine.
- Local coverage is vast.
- Fremont citizens have been featured in a live interview on BBC radio, in a KRON TV San Francisco travel segment, and on ABC Boston, which also filmed in Fremont for a travel segment.
- CNN maintains a worldwide Travel Destinations web site. Fremont commands 20-plus pages on that site and for years was the only Washington State location listed.
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