Out to Put a Dent in the Multifamily Universe

Apartment Marketing: Cinema on the Lawn – Redux

June 16, 2010 By 9 Comments

Soulard; The Dark Knight by Frontyard Features.
We wrote about this idea back in the summer of 2007 when we experimented with it at Park Station Apartments in Saint Louis, MO. It was a big hit not only our residents but with the community at large. Park Station is set in the historic DeBaliviere Neighborhood near the popular Central West End. It is surrounded by condominiums and 100+ year old mansions. The one amenity the neighborhood lacks is a reason to get together. There is no cool factor.

Create the Experience And They Will Come

That was and still is the reason we host the outdoor movie series in the summer time. We team up with the neighborhood home owners association, DeBaliviere Place Association along with Frontyard Features to organize and execute the event. It’s set one of our parking lots near a large grassy knoll with provides for comfortable seating. Our team also provides chairs, drinks, popcorn, pizza and hot dogs to movie goers. The movies are new release features which we purchase license for via Swank [make sure you get the license as the fine is very hefty if you don't].

Invite The Neighborhood

In the spirit of marketing apartments – Cinema on the Lawn was a project targeted at the neighborhood at large. The implied effect that we were after was to get the neighborhood together – stimulated by a cool experience that they would have reason to talk about. It worked as evidenced by the growing number of attendees. The last movie we presented was attended by over 100 people more than half of which did not live in our apartments. While I can not prove out a number as it relates to leases, I can say with confidence that we enhance the experience of living in the DeBaliviere Neighborhood and as such we were raved about.

Build Your Own

I caught this on my train ride back from Chicago on Sunday – it’s not all that hard to build your own outdoor theater.

What kind of things are you doing this summer to draw in the community at large?

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Apartment Marketing: Share the Moment

June 15, 2010 By 9 Comments

Have you every kicked yourself for not writing something down because you wanted to remember it later? How many times have you been in the middle of something else and thought of the greatest thing since sliced bread and then failed to document the moment? Or, you keep 43 tabs open on your browser because your crazy cool Twitter friends keep sharing crazy cool blog post links and FREEZE – I hate this one with a purple passion.

Facebook as a way to capture apartment memories

One way I like to think about Facebook as it relates to Apartment Marketing is as a way to capture memories – be it your residents, yours or otherwise. Think of it as the time-capsule that never gets buried only to be of use later. The memories are there and always accessible by anybody and everybody.

Think of those memories as powerful little marketing messages that never rest. It’s that whole theory of your most influential evangelists selling your apartments on your behalf. Dare I say, it’s the most powerful form of an ILS out there today. And, you want to capture as many relevant, thoughtful and meaningful messages as you can.

Give your residents a crazy cool and awesome place to capture their apartment living memories and experiences – you will love them for it. It’s not just about creating memorable moments anymore – it’s also about capturing those memorable moments in a manner that is useful for all involved.

Where are you capturing memories?

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