Know-How Exchange : Strategy

Avoid the generic and start thinking specific thoughts about your location and the unique things your project has to offer.
People are sick of goodies and promotional "stuff"
Where are you?
What is unique about your location?
What is better in your building than your competitors?
The market is getting very tough, go for a very hard and convincing,compelling story, not your average theme.

As Ilan mentioned, your marketing (to be effective) needs to answer the question, "Why Should I Live There?". Is it the convenient location? The view? The community? The furnishings? The 24-hour doorman? The on-site spa? Lots of parking? Huge apartments?

A theme is simply window dressing on the core marketing message. Don't waste your time on the theme until you've nailed down your core. And the theme, to catch the eye of a prospect, needs to stand out.

As others have already said above: Forget the gimmicks. People don't enter into a long-term apartment lease for the sake of a few hundred dollars worth of gifts. And they aren't attracted into an apartment on the basis of a seasonal theme.

That might be OK for sorority parties, but not for real estate.

Think about what the key attractions and differentiators for the property are.
+ What sort of view does it have?
+ What is it close to?
+ What sort of person would want to live there?
+ What would be their main reason for wanting to live there?

Now market that reason to the target market.

ChrisB

I agree...forget the incentives. Decision is too important to make on the basis of some give away. Plus it makes you look cheap...and you're trying to sell luxury.
Here's an alternative idea: Tell a story about someone who lives in your complex. Maybe it's a day in their life.
Make it real...not acted out or contrived. Show their apartment. Show them using the facitily. Show them talking with neighbors inside the health club (if you have one) or talking to someone on the phone about why they like where they live.. Don't have an announcer tell the story...have the tenant tell the story.
js