Out-of-the-ordinary advertising media such as theatrical performances or forum discussions could prove just the thing to get your services noticed by the right people, writes Kim Tasso
Property marketing caught my eye several times this past month.
Yes, I saw the annual Chesterton play. The fifth production, at the Mermaid Theatre in London – it will also play in Cardiff, Birmingham, Manchester and Glasgow – was entitled Time After Time. Over 30 minutes we learned about the origins of the firm and were given insight into what the marketing jargon “competitive advantage through close and long-standing client relationship” really means.
It was all set within a modern-day ghost story and included contemporary and traditional music plus some dance.
I admired Chesterton for its ongoing commitment to a bold and unusual marketing initiative, which won a Special Judges Award in the Property Advertising Marketing and Design Awards 2002.
Scoff if you like, but there were almost 300 clients and contacts at the performance, including luminaries from banking, fund management, property investment, property development, legal and accountancy.
An engaging event
You’d never get these clients or prospects to invest 30 minutes in learning about your firm from a brochure or website, but they were engaged in the play and enjoyed a networking drinks reception afterwards.
If the job of marketing is to get the right people through the door, inform them about your firm and put them in a convivial mood to chat to your surveyors and agents, then the Chesterton marketing team have earned their keep – and the award.
Meanwhile, the rapidly growing membership of the Profile property marketers’ forum was invited to another media briefing in an effort to get the property industry into more productive interactions with leading property, business and national media.
This time, The Sunday Times’ deputy business editor, John Waples, and home editor, Karen Robinson, explained how the commercial and residential property sectors respectively might interest writers with topical news and feature ideas and thus gain national newspaper coverage.
How to gain column inches
Among the snippets of advice were: keep the interests of the readership firmly front of mind; “exclusive” means exactly what it says; use e-mail to communicate ideas concisely; and don’t take it personally if your idea is dropped at the 11th hour.
Pitch business ideas on Tuesday or Wednesday and they are finalised in the early hours the following Saturday. For the home section, submit ideas from Thursday and include good photo opportunities.
Waples started his career in the property trade magazines, so he is familiar with the language and issues of the real estate sector. Bearing in mind the recent Ernst & Young research that showed only 60% of FDs thought real estate a boardroom issue, let’s hope we see some more high quality property-related material in the business pages.
Finally, while waiting for a flight home from Poland recently I glanced through the Warsaw Frederic Chopin Airport magazine entitled, rather distressingly, Terminal. It contained features on the latest Hollywood blockbusters, luxury goods and European travel destinations. The only property firm advertising in it was CB Richard Ellis. Good to know that even when domestic marketing is so high on the agenda, some have their sights on developing overseas markets.
Kim Tasso is an independent marketing consultant and freelance writer
