I know this makes me sound like an ass but I have done so many things worthy of blog posts that I can’t remember them all. In fact the story I am going to share is something I totally forgot about until I found a picture of it on my computer.
Back when I worked at Rogers Communications we had the challenge of launching a new real estate search tool that was going to take on the leader in the category MLS.ca. Our app was Zoocasa (still operating so check them out and tell em I sent ya) and our goal was to not only get some attention/users but we had to do it on a startup budget. Yes Zoocasa was part of the Rogers Family and as such its hard to classify us as the “David” in the David and Goliath story but since we didn’t have access to the bag of gold that they kept in the basement of the building we really were very David like.
Yes the bag exists, I’ve seen it.
So how do you take down a giant when you cant out spend them?
Well we looked around at what we had to fight with. We emptied our pockets and checked in the cushions of the couches and actually found something pretty cool.
A Baseball Stadium!
…and not just any Baseball Stadium but the Rogers Centre, home of the 1992 and 1993 World Champion Toronto Blue Jays. A building that many people in our target would be passionate about and actually pay attention to any news that came up regarding the stadium.
I know all of my readers are very bright and beautiful so I know you all see where this is going but for those who maybe multitasking I’ll explain it.
As a way to promote our new Real Estate Search App we listed the Rogers Centre for sale exclusively on Zoocasa.
The story got a lot of attention and really helped us get the word out about our app…oh and it didn’t hurt that we also made a pretty (intentionally bad) real estate tour video to accompany the listing.
My nasally voice aside the reason this worked was:
1- People were passionate about the property and loved that we made a video and printable “sale sheets” that allowed a peek behind the curtain and different view into the stadium full of personal memories.
2- Being with Rogers allowed us full access to the building. But it also allowed us something very exclusive that no other search site could copy quickly.
3- When you try to slay a giant you need something big. This was big…and newsworthy. We got a lot of coverage and over 33k views on our original posting of the video.
A lot of times people think you need to create something new to impress people but most of the time the best ideas come from just looking around and seeing what assets you already have and turning them into a bad video.
