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Special Events Can Produce Big Results in a Down Market
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Bridal shows, mural artists and events featuring top chefs were used to cross-promote and bring traffic to The Hollywood, high-end condominiums in Los Angeles. |
 Faced with competing for fewer home buyers and working with reduced advertising budgets, more and more savvy marketing professionals are using cross-promotional marketing events to generate media interest and brand awareness and, most importantly, bring in foot traffic.
One such marketing program that brought success to a 54-unit, ultramodern luxury condominium project in the heart of Hollywood, Calif. involved hosting a series of special events that would appeal to the area’s creative class — specifically those working in the film industry who could afford the condominium project’s $700,000 to $2.4 million price tag and were part of the condominium project’s targeted audience.
The Hollywood, developed by Metro Modern Development, was completed just as the Southern California housing market collapsed around it, and the developer had no budget for advertising.
So the developer of the first ground-up condominium to be built in Hollywood in decades, working with redrocket LA, a public relations and marketing firm, developed cross-promotional partnerships to create several newsworthy events that generated free publicity for all involved.
Partnering With Popular Muralists
One of the first events planned capitalized on The Hollywood’s modernist architecture and turned the building’s parking garage into an art canvas for three very popular, local muralists.
Given the downturn, the timing couldn’t have been more perfect.
The City of Los Angeles had recently banned mural art on structures and in spaces within public view. So, with nowhere public in Los Angeles to display their art, the muralists accepted the invitation to participate at The Hollywood and word of their new murals quickly spread throughout the local arts community.
“There was a snowball effect,” said Lisa Redmond of redrocket LA. “It started with a few muralists, but then every day new artists showed up, some from as far away as Italy, to paint the walls.”
And with the artists came their fans and admirers.
“It was vibrant, energetic and entertaining, and the residents love it,” Redmond added. “It’s an incredible space that cost the developer nothing, and the artists were getting commissioned work as a result of our events.”
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A bridal fashion show, held in The Hollywood parking garage, gained plenty of memorable media attention. | Building a Working Partnership
Redrocket also developed a partnership with Angeleno magazine, a slick, regional publication with a well-heeled readership, to host events at The Hollywood. This partnership built a network of co-sponsors with a similar customer demographic, providing them cross-promotional opportunities in exchange for assuming some of the event expenses.
The magazine invited its affluent readership to The Hollywood to discuss mural art’s role in the Southern California culture and the art’s fate under the city’s edict. About 500 people attended and the magazine published a feature article of the event.
Angeleno magazine paid for the music, food and beverages. Event co-sponsor BMW brought in Mini Coopers and placed then strategically around the garage to help light up the murals.
Two local nonprofit art organizations, GenArt and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles — both with demographics The Hollywood was targeting — also sponsored the event and invited their members.
A private art dealer added to the evening’s activities by holding an exhibit of Harry Vincent artworks in one of The Hollywood’s unsold penthouses. Vincent was a turn-of-the century artist who was a vital part of the Rockport, Mass. art colony. The art dealer displayed Vincent’s paintings on the penthouse’s tall, minimalist, gallery-like walls. The dealer also hosted a VIP party in a furnished penthouse for its wealthy clientele prior to the event.
Two home furnishings and art retailers decorated condominium models. LIMN, a high-end San Francisco retailer that recently opened a showroom in Los Angeles, provided $350,000 in furnishings and art for the penthouse where the VIP event took place, and a Los Angeles showroom carrying the Ligne Rose line furnished the other models.
Top Chefs and a Bridal Fashion Show
Two other cross-promotional events at The Hollywood included a celebration of the top 50 chefs in L.A. and a bridal fashion show.
Working with The Hollywood, Angeleno sponsored and hosted an event to highlight the magazine’s annual issue celebrating the region’s top 50 chefs. The event was held at The Hollywood pool.
The Hollywood also held a bridal fashion show hosted by and featuring creations by Deborah LaFranchi, a former costume designer who now creates custom bridal gowns. Publicity photos taken in The Hollywood’s garage provided a stark, edgy, urban contrast to models in the beautiful wedding gowns. The event generated plenty of media interest.
The events have created a healthy amount of foot traffic and generated several sales, so far. The sales office staff also continues to receive daily inquiries about the community from people who either have attended an event at The Hollywood or know someone who did.
While it is more difficult to track sales generated by networking events than by advertising, people generally will recall memorable events months after they were held and long after they would have forgotten billboards or newspaper ads.
To effectively market homes in today’s economic environment, developers must create a unique brand that differentiates their projects from the competition.
Unique, well-planned events, like those at The Hollywood, not only attract media coverage, they generate foot traffic among a desired demographic and provide visitors with a sense of the lifestyle that the project offers — and lifestyle is the most important selling point in today’s home buying market.
Mel Kimman is a partner with Metro Modern Developers, a privately owned real estate development firm based in Los Angeles and the developer of The Hollywood. Currently focused on contributing to the revitalization of Hollywood, the firm’s formula for success goes beyond the traditional development model, incorporating contemporary and ageless architectural elements that energize the environment and create aesthetically unique projects that appeal to discriminating buyers. For more information, e-mail Kimman, or visit The Hollywood Web site.
This article was originally published in NAHB’s Sales + Marketing Ideas magazine.
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Entering a living room in The Hollywood |
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