Louis Esposito and Misha Chiporukha of Prudential Douglas Elliman’s Fort Greene office. Photo by Mikael Johnson.
Can good deeds go over in conjunction with marketing?
With the recent heat wave in New York and exceptionally higher than average temperatures in the area, two real estate agents new to the Brooklyn area came up with a clever way of branding their new office in nearby Fort Greene.
Prudential Douglas Elliman’s Misha Chiporukha and Louis Esposito rented a handpushed ices cart, added signage and a branded umbrella and put on retro aprons and in the hot afternoons, began serving free ices to residents of Fort Greene and Clinton Hill, two Brooklyn boroughs that are up and coming.
Word of the team’s visits to the neighborhood spread quickly and the two claim to have given out over 500 business cards to locals on their first day.
The team says the good deeds have already garnered numerous leads from renters looking for new apartments in the area to homeowners looking to sell. The two added a postcard mailer to the campaign with a vintage styled photo of the two at their cart with “get the scoop” printed on the card, inviting locals to ask about the market.
Most “good deed” campaigns come across as smarmy, but when a true need is met (like a good chill on a hot day), people remember the gesture, and we are told the team is already highly recognizable in the streets, after just a few days of generosity.
Ben Fisher
August 6, 2011 at 2:47 pm
Very cool idea here. Something that would be a little more difficult to implement in other areas, but the concept can be duplicated for sure.
James Chai
August 6, 2011 at 4:50 pm
These guys are prime examples of the various ways that Agents and Brokers can market themselves. They came up with a unique idea and attached it to a Marketing Strategy.
What would be good to see is if they put a tracking code on the flyers and business cards that would allow for data collecting and analyzing. Ultimately they could determine the ROI.
Well done guys!
Andrew
August 7, 2011 at 10:48 pm
I think that is a great idea. Selling real estate requires more relationship building than just handing out a business card. Giving them an icy and a business card sounds like a good start to that relationship!