Bringing the Message Home: A Case Study

By building the Bella Montaña community, Cal Poly Housing Corporation answered the call for affordable, lifestyle-friendly employee housing. Unfortunately, the real estate market saw some noticeable changes between the planning phase and completion of the development. Sales stalled. Despite the university's motto of "learn by doing," Cal Poly Housing Corporation decided to let marketing professionals with a strong foundation design a plan to build excitement for solid sales. A recommendation from the developer led them to Web Feet.

• Restricted target market
• Potential homebuyers were:
• Wary of a changing real estate market, taking a "wait and see" attitude
• Unaware of recent changes, including more attractive terms and more flexible eligibility requirements
• Confused about information they'd received in the past

• Analyze local real estate market and competing properties
• Interview current residents to learn why they purchased
• Gather feedback from potential buyers to determine what was preventing or delaying purchase decisions
• Design a fully integrated campaign to:
• Clarify terms and eligibility
• Dispel misinformation
• Highlight sense of community (photos, testimonials from homeowners, graphic design)
• Showcase benefits (beautiful photos, easy to understand copy, inviting graphics)
• Integrated Marketing Campaign components:
• Enticing new web site
• Full-color information package
• Direct-mail postcard campaign
• E-mail outreach

Within 24 hours of the first outreach piece the agent's phone started ringing and web traffic soared. Four homes entered escrow in the first two weeks of the new campaign. Less than three months after the launch, 11 homes had sold. That's an average of 1.1 home sales per week during a "slow" housing market. At the end of May, our campaign for the current school year was coming to an end, and 23 homes had been sold. The ongoing campaign continues to generate interest in the property. A pretty darn good job for a down market.

By building the Bella Montaña community, Cal Poly Housing Corporation answered the call for affordable, lifestyle-friendly employee housing.

If you are interested in becoming an integrated marketing success story, let Web Feet lead the way! Click Here to learn more about integrated marketing, the services we provide, and how we can help you make a splash in the business world.