SERHANT.: Owning Manhattan

Leveraging a NYC-Based Reality Show to Catapult a Real Estate Brand Into the Global Eye

Client
Challenge:
AGEAN was tasked with helping leverage the debut of SERHANT.’s Owning Manhattan, Netflix’s first reality show about New York City real estate to catapult the brand into the global eye. Our efforts took the #6 residential firm in NYC, leverage its top brokers and star power, and facilitate top-tier media coverage to achieve three key goals – 1) to generate widespread positive awareness for SERHANT. and the brokerage; 2) to drive viewers to Owning Manhattan on Netflix; and 3) to drive real estate sales leads to SERHANT. and their agents.
Campaign:
Our team created tailored PR initiatives to leverage the launch of the Netflix show – it started with strategic thinking and pre-pitching. To ensure the successful launch of Owning Manhattan, we developed a comprehensive tactical plan that aligned with our strategic goals, rolling out five key waves:

1) Announcement Wave: We separated the show’s name announcement from the trailer and cast news, securing two early exclusives that kept the focus on the SERHANT. brand and its business acumen rather than just the show. This strategic move generated initial buzz and positioned SERHANT. as a serious player in both real estate and entertainment media.

2) Pre-Premiere Engagement: We organized intimidate, high-profile screenings with top-tier media, which acted as a “review” mechanism akin to a tech product launch. This approach built anticipation among influential business, real estate, and entertainment journalists and influencers, setting the state for widespread positive coverage.

3) Media Blitz: As the show’s release data approached, we coordinated with Netflix to implement a media embargo strategy, culminating in the timed release of high-impact stories, such as Ryan Serhant’s appearance on The Today Show, on the premiere day. This ensured maximum visibility and drove immediate viewership.

4) Press Photo Op and Interviews: We held a staged photo opportunity with the cast, ensuring consistent imagery and messaging across all media outlets and social media.

5) Industry Event and Premiere Party: We hosted an exclusive premiere party at Marquee New York, an iconic NYC nightclub, attended by 725 real estate agents and developers. The ‘blue’ carpet event generated additional buzz, leading to more press coverage and a surge of interest in the show and the brand.

Results:

As a result of AGEAN’s strategic planning and media outreach, SERHANT. earned more than 7.2 billion impressions throughout the launch of Owning Manhattan. The extensive reach included 224 earned placements within the few weeks leading up to and following the launch.

  • 100% of this coverage mentioned the SERHANT. brand
  • 99.99% of this coverage was positive
  • 72% of coverage was standalone features
  • 75% of coverage extended beyond traditional entertainment outlets, securing significant attention in business, pop culture and real estate press

  • The impact of this media blitz was immediately visible. SERHANT.’s social media reach surged by 88% across platforms, with Ryan Serhant gaining 200,000 new Instagram followers. The brand’s social engagement skyrocketed by 71%, contributing to Owning Manhattan reaching #3 in the Netflix U.S. Top 10 and remaining in the top 10 across 40 countries for over a week.

    Critically, the campaign’s success translated to tangible business results. SERHANT. Experienced a 285% increase in listing inquiries and a 1,915% spike in traffic to SERHANT.com. The premiere party also catalyzed a 400% increase in inbound agent leads, exceeding recruitment goals and solidifying SERHANT.’s status as a leading real estate brokerage.

Priceline: Eras to Endzone

Eras to Endzone

Leveraging The Two Biggest Events of the Year to Drive Brand Engagement and New Audiences

Client
Challenge:
The Super Bowl is the biggest marketing event of the year, but very few brands actually purchase an in-game spot. The conversation and coverage around the Super Bowl ads along with the activations and experiences are in the media for weeks – and we were tasked with getting our client, Priceline, in the news without having an in-game ad buy.

As rumors swirled about whether Swift would make it from Tokyo to Las Vegas in time to see Travis Kelce play in the Super Bowl, Priceline saw a unique opportunity to insert itself into the travel and culture conversation. They created a travel challenge to resonate with both Swifties and football fans. Priceline partnered with influencer, college sports mental health advocate and Swiftie, Victoria Browne, to shadow Taylor’s trip from Tokyo to Las Vegas – she would create content around the travel adventure and AGEAN was tasked with getting her #ErastoEndZone Challenge press coverage.

AGEAN created a press strategy to insert Priceline, a leading online travel platform, into the two biggest cultural moments of the year: Taylor Swift's The Eras Tour and Super Bowl LVIII.
Campaign:
To amplify Priceline’s “Eras to Endzone” challenge, we focused on a few key components:

  • Cultural Moment Alignment:We needed a way to more directly connect this idea to music and sports so we could get coverage on that vertical press – so we named it the #ErastoEndZone Challenge to include both cultural moments. We also got travel data on the “TOURism” trend so we had a way to add substance to our travel media outreach.

  • Pre-Launch Buzz + Media Exclusive: We kicked off with pre-campaign media outreach to generate early buzz, strategically placing Priceline into cultural dialogues about whether Taylor Swift could make it from her Eras Tour in Tokyo to watch Travis Kelce in the Super Bowl. The campaign was put together in less than two weeks' notice, which left little time to pre-pitch and secure exclusives, however we were able to leverage creative angles and offer a first-person travel perspective on the experience to a top media outlet, and offer exclusive photos to another, to further amplify the campaign in earned media.

  • Real-Time Media Integration: During the campaign, we kept media outlets engaged by continuously feeding real-time updates. We targeted entertainment, sports, travel, and pop culture publications to maximize cross-industry appeal and coverage.

Results:

The #ErastoEndzone challenge was a major success, propelling Priceline into the center of the cultural conversation during one of the most watched media moments of the year. Our team earned several stand-alone features in Today.com, E! Online, and The Daily Mail, and garnered more than 643 million impressions globally.

Floor & Decor: National Expansion

Amplifying Floor & Decor’s New Store Openings Nationwide

Client
Floor+and+Decor
Challenge:
Floor & Decor, a leading high-growth retailer specializing in hard surface flooring for homeowners and professionals, is a public company that has been around for more than two decades yet has never activated an external communications program. AGEAN was tasked with building awareness among its dozens of new store openings throughout 2023 and 2024, including their milestone 200th and flagship stores, with consistent coverage in local, consumer and trade press. AGEAN’s challenge was to develop an external PR program from the ground up while working with Floor & Decors internal teams – all to amplify Floor & Decor as a leading company in the retail and home design industries.
Campaign:
Our team developed a comprehensive strategy to position Floor & Decor as a rapidly growing entity with numerous community benefits, including job creation and enhanced consumer convenience. Our PR program employed a multifaceted approach, incorporating targeted pitches to both consumer and trade media outlets. Leveraging the power of press releases and executive interviews, our team ensured that key information about each store opening reached the right audience. Through effective media positioning, we highlighted Floor & Decor’s unique strengths and contributions to the market.

Store Openings: Between 2023 and 2024, AGEAN helped Floor & Decor launch dozens of new store openings. Each campaign consisted of precise positioning, strategic press outreach, and media interviews with an executive speaker’s bench to create a compelling narrative around the brand’s expansion. By securing coverage in prominent consumer and trade media, we aimed to solidify Floor & Decor’s reputation as a dynamic and thriving company, ultimately establishing it as a key player in the industry.

Flagship NYC Store Opening: In May 2024, AGEAN supported Floor & Decor’s flagship store launch in Brooklyn, the first store in the NYC market. We planned and executed private media events, secured top-tier coverage, and developed deeper media relationships with NYC business, retail and real estate press to introduce Floor & Decor into the NYC market. As a result of our outreach, the flagship Brooklyn store garnered over 6.7 million impressions and coverage in top-tier outlets including Yahoo! Finance, Bisnow, Brownstoner, Commercial Observer, The Brooklyn Reporter, Chain Store Age, and more.

Results:

In 2023, AGEAN built a PR news engine from the ground up, achieving over 1.3 billion global impressions through coverage in prominent media outlets. In 2024, AGEAN continued to build on this momentum, garnering an additional 3.3B+ impressions. Through strategic press outreach, media events, and national coverage, we continue to strengthen Floor & Decor’s standing as a dynamic and thriving player in the retail and home design industry.

This represented a 570% increase in press coverage compared to their last ad campaign launch.

Priceline: Go To Your Happy Price

Priceline-Go-To-Your-Happy-Price-Campaign

Launching Priceline's New Ad Campaign Featuring Kaley Cuoco ​

Client
Challenge:
AGEAN was tasked generating awareness the launch of Priceline’s newest ad campaign, ‘Go to Your Happy Price,” which debuted during the Super Bowl LVII pre-game show. The new ads starred Kaley Cuoco, showcased a new comedic jingle, and created a world with office-worker colleagues who were reluctant to travel to their happy place due to price, and included the announcement of $5M in hidden travel deals for consumers. ​
Campaign:
AGEAN worked closely with Priceline and its new ad agency (Mirimar) to create assets tailored specifically for media and crafted an in-depth media strategy to pre-pitch category exclusives in ad/marketing, travel trade and entertainment press for the new “Find Your Happy Price” ad campaign. AGEAN counseled the team on how and what to highlight about the campaign and what to add to the campaign to make it more newsworthy for different press verticals, this included: adding a travel deal that linked to Super Bowl LVII, positioning the new ad campaign as broader brand campaign in the press release, timing the PR to come well before the ads would break, fielding a study about the connection between ‘travel and happiness’, creating custom assets for key media (visuals, graphics, ad stills, the ads, b-roll), leveraging celebrity spokesperson, Kaley Cuoco, and creating story angles for travel, trade, lifestyle, ad/marketing and business press. This resulted in successfully securing press coverage to coincide with the launch and to explain Priceline’s unique and fresh POV about travel and happiness, which was then sustained with targeted pitches to ad marketing, consumer, business, and travel trade press. ​

Results:

As a result of AGEAN's strategic planning and outreach, our team earned more than 85 media placements, including 11 standalone features, and more than 1.6 billion impressions globally.

This represented a 570% increase in press coverage compared to their last ad campaign launch.

Krispy Kreme: Flagship Store Opening

ALYSSA GARNICK

Creating the Biggest Brand Moment Ever for Krispy Kreme

Client
KrispyKreme: A previous client of Alyssa Garnick
Challenge:
How do you launch a new flagship in Times Square during a pandemic and quarantine? Krispy Kreme was launching its first-ever global flagship. The opening was delayed to September due to COVID. However, the expectations did not change: create the biggest brand moment in Krispy Kreme history.
Campaign:
Alyssa and her team created a three-waved media strategy, piecing out chapters of the story, varying the activities and spokespeople and the media outlets every time: Ignite, Hype, Light. We created a virtual “Sweet Peek” where media could tour the shop before it opened, an in-person event where we lit the Hot Light with the cast of Chicago the Musical, doughnut drops to influencers, and a CEO media day.

This was a project Alyssa led at a different agency.
krispy kreme times square launch

Results:

We had 1 billion media impressions before the shop even opened.

The brand had positive, stand-alone features in all national and NY local press.

including print, broadcast, social.

This PR Program won a PRSA Silver Anvil award.

SERHANT.: The Penthouse at Central Park Tower

SERHANT. Central Park Tower Penthouse - Case Study

Launching the Highest Residence in the World:
The Penthouse at Central Park Tower

Client
Challenge:
AGEAN was challenged with launching the highest residence in the world: The Penthouse at Central Park Tower in New York City. The home stands 1,416 ft high, and spans the 129, 130 and 131 floors, its 17,545ft2 of interior space and 1,433ft2 of outdoor space, makes it the highest residence in the world with the highest private terrace on the planet. We needed to secure global news, luxury and real estate press – and because of the exclusive nature of the property, we could not host a press event or invite media in for a tour.
Campaign:
As a result of AGEAN’s strategic PR plan, AGEAN’s campaign for The Penthouse at Central Park Tower – boasting the highest private ballroom on earth – sought to not only attract billionaire buyers, but also to elevate the overall brand image of SERHANT. As the go-to luxury real estate brand within the competitive real estate industry. We strategized a multi-faceted PR approach to successfully promote the listing to global press.
  • We pitched a print, TV and digital exclusive to secure top-tier features, and we created two waves of press with launch of the listing and then the reveal of the interior.
  • We created compelling, multi-media press materials, including a detailed press release, fact sheet with all the stats and numbers, drone film b-roll showing the height of the residence towering over New York City, high-quality images of the interior, and a SERHANT.-designed microsite www.theoneaboveallelse.com to showcase the property and track interest.
  • We embarked on a mega media pitch launch after the exclusives were live, targeting the most prominent real estate publications, national and global TV shows, and print and digital lifestyle outlets to maximize earned coverage. We secured interviews for Ryan Serhant to talk about the property and share its unique stats and luxe features.

    The launch was so successful, we had national media calling us to cover it during launch week.
  • Results:

    The Penthouse at Central Park Tower was covered in more than 220 press placements, mostly all of which were stand-alone features with visuals. The PR campaign garnered 3 billion earned impressions globally.

    The exclusive video tour by Architectural Digest has more than 1.6 million views on YouTube – one of the highest ever recorded. The press coverage did not just generate awareness for The Penthouse at Central Park Tower as a luxury property and product, it generated interest among the exact, exclusive and elusive billionaire audience.

    Our PR program is award-winning: it won 2 PR Daily Media Relations Awards for ‘Best in Global Media Relations’ and ‘Excellence in Media Relations;’ 3 PRSA-NY Big Apple Awards: ‘Marketing Consumer Product,’ 'Marketing Consumer Product with less than $200,000 Budget,’ and ‘Best in Overall Business Campaign.’

    FedEx: Deliver Joy

    Fed Ex Partnership with Catherine Lowe

    Generating More Emotional Storytelling for a Big Brand

    Client
    FedEx: A previous client of Alyssa Garnick
    Challenge:
    Drive more emotional storytelling for FedEx during the peak holiday season
    Campaign:
    FedEx gets a ton of press during the holidays.  However, the press tends to be very transactional, about the volume of packages getting shipped in December.  The brand craved a way to gain more emotional storytelling during the holiday season, to showcase the important role that FedEx actually plays in the gift-giving experience. Alyssa and her team developed the campaign: “Deliver Joy” where FedEx would ship gifts for free in exchange for a simple social post.  A national survey revealed that 80% of respondents experience joy when sending gifts and feel more connected to loved ones by doing so.  Using this insight, an experiential pop up was created where New Yorkers and influencers could post on social and send a free gift to a loved one. #deliverjoy The PR strategies and experiential event activation worked together to generate a different kind of coverage for FedEx at the holiday season: lifestyle news, social posts among a younger, entrepreneurial crowd, and positive, more emotional press coverage all around the joys of giving (and shipping with confidence!) during the holiday season.

    This was a project Alyssa led at a different agency.
    Fed Ex Partnership with Catherine Lowe

    Results:

    350 million

    campaign impressions.

    65 earned media placements.

    Strong message pull-through with 93% of coverage mentioning the FedEx brand.

    82% featuring emotional language and positive emotions, 57% including a call-to-action.

    GREAT: Changing Outdated Perceptions of British Culture

    The UK Calls Americans to Revisit Britain

    Changing Outdated Perceptions of British Culture

    Client
    Challenge:
    GREAT, the United Kingdom’s global brand and program committed to changing perceptions of Great Britain, hosted a month-long events campaign throughout NYC, showcasing different cornerstones of British culture – food, innovation, sports and music. Consumers gained access to these immersive events by finding iconic red phone booths around NYC that would ring randomly and give tickets when people “answered the call.”
    Campaign:
    AGEAN was responsible for the whole U.S. PR strategy. We created the 2022 British Culture Survey to show the current state of Americans’ misconceptions and leveraged that data to build a story beyond just event press. We concepted a launch video where British celebrities read “mean tweets” about British culture only to debunk them. We secured two exclusives at launch – one print and one social – to tell the full story of the campaign and to drive traffic to the phone booths and we leveraged celebrity chef, Nadiya Hussain to secure multiple national and NYC TV, podcast and print stories showcasing modern British cuisine.

    The fully integrated campaign included radio, OOH, social & digital. We brought the best of UK culture to NYC with partnerships: the Premier League, Bompas & Parr, Sofar Sounds for concerts with British rising artists, Nadiya Hussain, Ian Wright and Michael Carrick for the events as well as Gordon Ramsay, Hugh Bonneville, Joan Collins, Dina Asher-Smith for the launch video and social content.
    Forbes articles
    AdAge

    Results:

    350 media stories

    with 50 media and 12 influencers attending the events.

    We generated 1.56 billion earned media impressions

    in March 2022 (goal was 800M)

    68% of press coverage

    was national press for this NYC-based events campaign.

    80% of coverage

    included ‘changing perceptions’ or ‘breaking old cultural stereotypes' messaging.

    100% of coverage

    was positive in sentiment.
    Influencer Paid Impressions: 12.783M (goal was 3.75M)

    90% of coverage

    included the URL (goal was 30% with CTA) ---- Traffic to website where consumers could continue to learn about and reassess modern British culture jumped 5,000% during the PR campaign the campaign shifted perceptions from 52% to 62% (up 10 points) that the UK is a place of opportunity today.