by threshold | Jul 22, 2017 | General
Threshold/Carve introduced the “Meet Charlie West” campaign to residents and investors in Waterloo Region with outstanding results. This new high-rise condominium is another Momentum Partnership project, a joint-venture between Momentum Developments and Zehr Group.
Momentum Partnership hired Threshold/Carve, who created a tasteful brand strategy in a way that condominiums have never been marketed before in Waterloo Region. The colourful marketing approach helped achieve an essence of Charlie West’s location where, coincidentally, is located across the street from the city’s future creative hub. From the creative branding, colourful website, attention grabbing ads and interactive sales centre kiosks, Threshold/Carve has helped achieve successful sales events.
See the campaign creative developed for the campaign, which included naming, logo development, brand campaign design, website and kiosks, scale model, sales centre design, print materials and more.
by threshold | Jun 30, 2017 | General
Threshold/Carve Positions Itself for Growth in Markets, Industries Spanning Two Countries
AUSTIN, Texas – Two creative and digital marketing powerhouses have joined forces to launch a new agency, Threshold/Carve, to deliver customized integrated communications strategies using compelling copy, captivating design and proven inbound and outbound marketing strategies to build client brands and businesses in the United States and Canada.
The acquisition of Canadian boutique agency Carve Creative + Strategy by Austin, Texas-based Threshold results in a broader agency group that is better positioned to serve clients in two countries with a vast suite of agency services. Both agencies come together with strong reputations for their creative campaign solutions and proven digital marketing strategies.
“The acquisition will allow us to continue our growth by expanding not only our creative capabilities but our footprint in North America,” said Chief Strategy Officer John Wilkinson, who as founder of Threshold has more than 20 years of experience successfully building brands in the multifamily and single-family housing industries.
Carve President and Creative Director Dave Freund has moved into the role of chief creative officer for the newly formed agency.
“Both agencies have brought together well-established reputations for building campaigns that are meaningful, memorable and measureable,” Freund said. “Our creative teams in the U.S and Canada will continue our passion for delivering great work. We bring unique and strategic creativity that engages consumers emotionally to convert leads into something that grows our clients’ businesses and builds their brands.”
Wilkinson said the acquisition of Carve immediately diversified the new firm’s client base to include healthcare, technology, consumer brands, retail, B2B and financial services while continuing to expand its capabilities in the real estate industry where Threshold has already become a leading agency. The newly formed group has an impressive track record of high-profile clients that span from national brands to local retailers to technology start-ups.
In fact, Threshold/Carve was recently named as one of Central Texas’ fastest-growing firms when it earned recognition as one of the Austin Business Journal’s Fast 50, which annually highlights Austin companies that have grown rapidly in the past three years.
Besides the extensive marketing experience and diversified client base, Wilkinson said, Threshold/Carve will benefit from offices in Austin and Waterloo, Ontario, just west of Toronto. While many people may know of Austin’s reputation as a high-tech hub, they may not realize the Waterloo region of Canada, which is informally called “Silicon Valley North,” is home to companies such as Research in Motion (Blackberry), Shopify, Hootsuite and satellite offices of Facebook, Twitter and Google. Threshold/Carve’s location near these high-tech centers perfectly positions the company to serve new clients in technology with their integrated marketing expertise.
The acquisition of Carve by Threshold became official on June 30, and the new agency has spent the past three months working behind the scenes on its new strategy as Threshold/Carve, beginning with the recent unveiling of its new website.
by threshold | Jun 22, 2017 | All, Marketing
Your job, as an owner, manager or leasing agent, isn’t over when the prospective resident signs their lease. When key staff members consider their job complete after securing a signed lease, that property management company is going to have a hard time keeping residents happy —and an even harder time getting residents to renew for another year.
Creating a memorable move-in experience is one way to show residents that you’re prepared to take care of them even after you’ve secured their signed lease.
- There’s no such thing as too much communication
Whether you’re marketing to students and parents at an off-campus community or communicating with young professionals and empty nesters at a luxury complex, it’s important to send emails explaining the move-in process. You don’t have to talk down to residents, but make sure to give them explicit instructions on what to expect come move-in day. Here at Threshold, we see hundreds of reviews come in on Yelp and Apartments.com from new residents complaining about the move-in process. Generally, they’re complaining about things that could have been resolved with a little more communication.
You can prevent negative reviews for your property by sending emails ahead of time. We promise, new residents won’t get tired of them. Everyone would rather be over prepared for a big-move than underprepared, and your new residents will appreciate the fact that you gave them all the necessary information.
- Use move-in as an opportunity to brand your community
Student housing is unique in that the properties generally have everyone move in on the same day, but conventional apartment communities can have move-in days too, such as on the first day of the month or, for new developments, on the first day the property opens. If you’re anticipating lots of move-ins, take some time to create signage for your community. You can point people towards their building, parking, dumpsters and identify points of interest near the community. Here at The Anti-Vacancy Agency, we believe that properties should take advantage of branding their apartment marketing ideas whenever possible. People want to feel like they belong to a community, and branded signage is an easy way to help them feel that why while you promote your company.
- Make it easy for residents to follow your property on social media
Move-in day is the perfect time to get residents to follow your property’s accounts on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Have a computer open in the lobby so they can sign into their account and follow you as they pick up their keys. You can even offer free swag to everyone who takes a couple minutes to sign in.
The most successful properties engage residents with events, giveaways, free food and other promotions. The easiest way to let residents know about these promotions is through social media. Just tell residents that your property’s social media followers are the first to know about events and giveaways. Maybe even offer residents the chance to snap a picture while they’re moving in, and have it featured on the property’s social media pages. It’s all about driving engagement early on.
- Make a memorable move-in day packet
Residents will appreciate anything you can do to make their transitional period easier. Consider assembling a move-in packet and placing it on the kitchen counter so they’ll see it when they walk into their apartment for the first time. In the packet, you can include magnets with helpful phone numbers (maintenance, front office, etc.), a list of nearby restaurants and coupons to those restaurants, and tips for local attractions.
It might seem small, but to a resident that’s just moved to the area, it can mean a lot that someone is willing to help them get acquainted. Make sure residents know how to access the event calendar for your community, or that they’re following you on social media so they can see when you’ll be having resident events. Most people who move into a new community are hoping to make some friends and meet their neighbors, so it’s important to provide them with the opportunity to do so!
- It’s never too early for a renewal special
If you’re going to run a renewal special, it’s a great idea to do it within the first couple weeks after your new residents move-in. They probably have good feelings about their new place, and they’re likely tired of the entire moving process, maybe so much so that they’ll commit to living in the same place for the next couple years.
Threshold is the industry leader in student housing marketing and leasing marketing ideas. If you’re in need of creative work, promotional products or just some sound strategy for your property, give us a call to set up a consultation.
by threshold | Jun 8, 2017 | All, Marketing
If you’re going to convince a renter to pay for luxury amenities, upscale finishes and detailed décor, your apartment marketing ideas need to be amplified by high end marketing materials. There are other ways to sway these types of renters towards deciding to sign a lease at your property, but it starts with professional, upscale marketing.
Standard communities are forced to justify their rates by providing features that are worth the price. Luxury communities, on the other hand, don’t necessarily have to justify the price. Truly luxurious brands are luxurious because they are only accessible by a limited portion of the population, and the price creates that exclusivity. All that’s left to do is match the exclusive feel in the marketing materials.
You’ll need to use emotive messaging, high quality images and superior design of course, but these elements only work when they’re created by apartment marketing professionals using professional printing services and inventive material structure.
- The luxury is in the details
Minor elements like unique brochure structure, use of digital animation and high-end promo items make all the difference when marketing a luxury community. These small details let people know that there’s something special at your community; a community they can be a part of when they sign a lease. Every little detail should reinforce the idea of luxury. Even something as small as a typo in brochure copy will turn off luxury renters. They plan on paying for the best, so they expect something close to perfection.
- Upscale apartments require upscale marketing materials
High end apartments deserve high end production. You need bright, original images taken by a professional photographer or illustrated by an experienced graphic designer. You’re also going to want to use high end print production that leverages the industry’s most innovative printing methods and materials.
If you don’t decide to use professional services to amplify your leasing marketing ideas, your competitors will. High-end renters are used to high-end materials, and they know quality when they see it. For that reason, it’s a revenue-damaging mistake to cut corners on marketing materials for luxury communities.
- Luxury isn’t for everybody — find your audience.
Understand the different wants and needs that a luxury apartment renter has, compared to a standard apartment renter. Make sure your apartment marketing ideas take an emotional angle. People who rent luxury apartments factor both practicality and appearances into their decision. Luxury renters want to feel like they’re buying something that will make them feel cool, suave, and elite. If you just lay out the basics of your apartment, they might be impressed, but they won’t be engaged.
It takes creative design and compelling copy to stir up emotion. At Threshold, we market luxury communities by playing up the lifestyle that accompanies the apartment, sometimes even more than we talk about the apartment itself.
- Fine tune your messaging
People seeking luxury properties care about different things than those seeking standard properties. If you’re marketing to students and their parents, those renters want to hear about the amenities like an on-site fitness center, resort-style pool and Smart Home technology.
A family that’s just looking for a place to call home is going to care more about features like access to green spaces, neighborhood walkability and the reputation of the school district. You don’t have to have a luxury community to be able to talk about those things in your marketing materials, in fact, you don’t even need high-end marketing materials to talk about those advantages.
Threshold delivers detailed, impressive marketing materials for all kinds of communities, but we love creating an air of sophistication around our luxury communities. Contact us today for a free consultation to start applying luxury to your brand.
by threshold | May 25, 2017 | All, Design
Here at Threshold, we spend most days developing, creating and executing apartment marketing ideas for our clients. However, we’ve always been more than a marketing agency; we’re the Anti-Vacancy Agency. Many members of our marketing team come from previous careers in the residential industry, which, combined with years of experience interacting with residential industry clients, allows us to take on a more consolatory role when necessary for a client’s success.
In this week’s blog post, we’ll share some tips for property managers. Although we aren’t property managers, we interact with our clients every day and have picked up on some things along the way. In fact, one of our main selling points has always been the fact that we’re a third-party to the residential industry. Our unique perspective helps us provide clients with unique leasing marketing ideas.
Turn your Apartment Community into an Actual Community
As the Anti-Vacancy Agency, we make sure all our marketing efforts are developed with the end goal of getting vacancies filled and leases signed. Creating a sense of community at your apartment complex may sound like the kind of fluff that doesn’t translate to financial success, but that’s just not true.
Resident events, giveaways, door-decorating contests and pet costume contests may found frivolous, but they’re all key components of year-round resident retention efforts. Residents simply don’t want to leave communities where they have friends, familiarity with staff and opportunities to fill their social calendar. Whether you’re marketing to students, young professionals or senior citizens, creating a community within your complex is vitally important to long-term success.
In 2017, Being Resident-Friendly Means Being Pet-Friendly
According to the Washington Post, “Three-fourths of Americans in their 30s have dogs. That compares to 50 percent of the overall population with dogs”
Millennials love their pets, and what millennial renters want, millennial renters get. That’s probably because they are:
- The largest generation
- The renting generation
The days of “No Pets Allowed” signs and strict breed restrictions are long gone, at least for apartment communities that want to continue to be successful. Apartment managers can make residents with pets feel welcome by hosting pet events at the property and having giveaways that are specially designed to appeal to pet owners. It’s a pet owner’s world, we’re just living in it.
Remember, Your Property’s Online Presence Matters
Whether we’re talking about your property’s social media pages or the actual property website, your digital presence demands as much maintenance and upkeep as your physical apartment complex. Like chipped paint on the side of your building, prospective residents notice when your digital presence isn’t maintained. Keeping up digital appearances is no easy task, requiring once-weekly Facebook, Instagram and Twitter posts. That’s why of our clients use Threshold’s Social Media Management services to free them up to handle other tasks.
Sometimes, Residents Need Reminders
There’s nothing wrong with sending emails to residents now and again, but you don’t want to overdo it. That being said, residents do want to know that their management company or property manager is communicative. Sending out emails reminding residents to renew is a perfect way to show residents that you’re paying attention and available to help them out at any time.
You can count on the fact that your residents are being bombarded by ads and offers from other apartments in the area. That’s why it’s important for you to make your presence known every once in a while, whether it’s through a renewal reminder, an event invitation or a simple check-in to see if they’re willing to fill out a survey.
Threshold can you out with any of the aforementioned tips, so don’t hesitate to contact one of our residential marketing experts today.
