Question

Topic: Advertising/PR

10 Year Anniversary Ideas

Posted by Anonymous on 12/10/2009 at 11:02 AM ET 25 Points
We are a small home builder in the rocky mountain region. 2010 will mark our 10th year in the business and we are looking for some marketing ideas. Some are thinking to have a different promotion each month in 2010. Anyone have any off the charts ideas? Thanks for your input...
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  • Posted by Gail@PUBLISIDE on 12/10/2009 at 1:02 PM Accepted
    Market what you do differently than your competition. How will consumers find value in your product?

    For instance, the fact that you build homes is one-in-a-million. If you focus on a limited number of projects per year, highlight your focus in quality in a select number of projects each year instead of cookie-cutter designs and volume.

    Ask 10 past happy customers to provide testimonials for your website and link to them via social media channels. Ask them not to use advertising speak, but suggest real reasons why they're pleased with your product.
  • Posted on 12/10/2009 at 2:05 PM Author
    Nice idea about past customers. We do build 5 series of homes from 1200 sf up to 6000 sf in 8 communities. Our goal is to increase brand awareness locally to improve reputation. Not exactly cookie-cutter but definately production oriented...
  • Posted by Gary Bloomer on 12/10/2009 at 3:56 PM Accepted
    Dear coloradoron,

    Are you up for a challenge?

    Having something throughout the year is a good way to maintain momentum, a great way to keep your message in front of your audience.

    Back in 2006, the United Nations declared that 2010 would be the International Year of Biodiversity.

    As a house builder, you could generate a great deal of buzz and an astonishing amount of PR through a little experiment.

    The challenge? Make your tenth anniversary YOUR year of construction diversity.

    Build a different house, every month that is constructed of recycled materials, prefabricated materials, or energy efficient materials.

    Such as?

    Post and beam, timber framed houses. A straw bale house. A house made out of SIPS (structurally insulated panels), a house made out of insulated concrete forms. A house built entirely from ISO shipping containers as the main structural elements. A house built out of bales of recycled cardboard or bales of recycled paper (many of these bales weight a 1,000 lbs apiece and once coated with stucco, they're fire proof, weather proof and possibly able to hold a huge amount of structural weight). A house with turf roofing. A house powered by water, another powered by hydrogen, another powered by passive and active solar systems, another powered by geo thermal sources.

    All the emphasis being on ease, efficiency, durability, and your expertise. Keep these structures small (1,200 SF) and you'll make a dramatic point, prove your ability, generate state, regional and possibly national PR, and prove that stick built houses with their site waste and associated issues are not always the most logical
    or cost effective way to go.

    This site might prove helpful www.fabprefab.com

    Well, you DID ask for something off the chart! I hope this helps,
    or that at the least, that it fuels your imagination.

    Gary Bloomer
    Wilmington, DE, USA
  • Posted on 12/10/2009 at 4:42 PM Author
    OK Gary, I'm digging this....Not sure we have the capital to pull this off in the short term, but definately worth considering....
  • Posted by Gary Bloomer on 12/10/2009 at 6:49 PM Member
    Dear coloradoron,

    I realize cash could be a problem. But this could be your lucky day!

    You're in Colorado? Well, as luck would have it, the great state of Colorado loves energy efficient homes ... and the people that build them!

    This is from the website of the Governors Energy Office:

    "The Governor’s Energy Office (GEO) offers the Colorado ENERGY STAR New Homes Program. As a critical part of the state’s New Energy Economy, the GEO works closely with more than 50 local governments, community organizations, utilities, homebuilder associations, homebuilders and Home Energy Rating partners to support the statewide construction and testing of new energy efficient single family homes built to ENERGY STAR standards. The program aims to increase consumer awareness of energy efficiency options in residential new construction, and actively support all participating Colorado ENERGY STAR homebuilders. All certified new homes will receive the ENERGY STAR label to allow for simple identification by Colorado home buyers.

    What is an ENERGY STAR New Home?

    To earn the ENERGY STAR label, a home must meet guidelines for energy efficiency set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). These homes are at least 15% more energy efficient than homes built to the 2004 International Residential Code (IRC), and include additional energy saving features that typically make them 20–30% more efficient than standard homes. The home’s actual energy performance must be certified by an independent Home Energy Rater who is responsible for conducting onsite testing and inspections of installed measures such as insulation, high performance windows, building envelope, duct systems, and efficient heating and cooling equipment.

    The program is now accepting applications from partners interested in implementing the program in 2010. For more information visit the Partnership Opportunities section."

    END QUOTE

    Learn more and find the link to the application process here:
    www.colorado.gov/energy/index.php?/residential/

    Here's another source, this time from Colorado Energy News:

    https://coloradoenergynews.com/2009/01/geo-awards-new-energy-economic-devel...

    Here's another page from the state government about tax incentives for all construction and amendments for work that is completed on or before December 31, 2010:

    https://www.colorado.gov/energy/index.php?/resources/category/tax-incentive...

    Here's another site with an extensive list of prefab buildings:

    https://www.scrapbookscrapbook.com/DAC-ART/modular-kit-houses.html

    Here's a site on green buildings in Colorado:

    https://www.coloradogreenproperties.com/NowAvailable.html

    Here's an article on a green developer in Denver from Echo Magazine. This article features Energy Star and LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification information:

    https://www.ecohomemagazine.com/leed/case-study-high-style-meets-energy-eff...

    Here's some information on LEED status from the federal government:

    https://www.usgbc.org/DisplayPage.aspx?CategoryID=19

    And here's more information on LEED certification and other resources for Colorado from 2005:

    www.usgbccolorado.com/downloads/Resources_071405.pdf

    Here's a four page article called "Rebuild Colorado: A Systematic Approach to Improve Performance of Public Buildings"

    https://apps1.eere.energy.gov/state_energy_program/update/feature_detail.cf...

    Here's stuff about building green in Boulder:

    https://www.bouldercolorado.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2...

    And here's the Built Green website for Colorado:

    https://www.builtgreen.org/

    www.coloradoenergy.org

    If you track down and apply for as many state and federal grants as possible, this ought to help cuts your costs. Likewise if you cut the size of the homes you build from 1,200 SF to 1,000 SF you automatically trim your costs AND you give yourself even more Brownie points because you're doing more with less.

    The point here isn't the size of the house, it's the size of the IMPACT you make. This then takes marketing from the usual role of billboard or direct mail or leaflet and it turns it into an EVENT!

    Here's another challenge for you: build a two bedroom, one and half bathroom, energy efficient, off the power grid house house with a total footprint of no more than 625 SF (25 ft x 25 ft) but with two floors and a maximum square footage of 1,250 SF made totally out of reclaimed or recycled materials for less than $150,000 (excluding land).

    I've no idea what your normal build costs for this size house would be but the more you can cut that cost and STILL maintain quality, the higher your PR meter will go.

    I hope this helps.

    Gary Bloomer
    Wilmington, DE, USA

  • Posted by Jay Hamilton-Roth on 12/11/2009 at 8:53 AM Accepted
    Have you worked with Habitat for Humanity (https://www.habitatcolorado.org/) on local homes? That's a good win-win.

    Can you get your crew to work on an upcoming This Old House project (https://www.thisoldhouse.com)?

    How about building treehouses (1 per month) and donating each for charity to raffle off? Another good win-win.
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