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Marketing de clase superior para vivienda de inters

social: estrategia de marketing de KSI gestin crdito


fiscal gener ms trfico y ocupacin ms alta, que tasa
de ocupacin de todo el portafolio de la compaa de 93
por ciento a 97 por ciento hace dos aos hoy.
"\"\\\"\\\\\\\" When residents walk into the leasing office at The Fields ofBethesda, they notice the
warm, comemporary look, embellished withyellow and orange accents. A leasing professional hands
them a brochurethat complements the decor. They begin to peruse the community'samenities and
the benefits the Washington, D.C., suburb has to offer,noting the photos, maps and floor plans that
help make this communitymemorable.\\\\\\\\nIts first-class marketing materials seem suited for
market-rate apartments, but The Fields of Bethesda is a tax-credit community--one of 28 managed
by KSI Management, the Washington, D.C., area's largest owner and manager of affordable rental
communities. And that's exactly the point, according to Karen Kossow, KSI's Assistant
Vice President of Sales and Marketing. \\\\\\\\n\\\\\\\\n\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"I'm a big believer that the quality
of the marketing materials you hand out have an impact on who applies,\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" Kossow
said. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Previously, there wits some thought in the industry. that the tax-credit customer
was a lesser customer. We believe thin all prospects at all communities should be treated equally in
terms of marketing.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" \\\\\\\\n\\\\\\\\nKSI's philosophy has generated more traffic and
higher occupancy, bringing KSI's portfolio-wide occupancy rate from 93 percent two years ago to
97 percent today. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"One Rockville, Md., community that had never topped 90 percent
occupancy reached 100 percent in only six months,\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" Kossow said. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"And more
communities are at maximum rent. Some of the success is market driven, but we are
also advertising better.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" \\\\\\\\n\\\\\\\\n\\\\\\\\nAdvertising better doesn't have to break the
bank. In fact,since KSI rolled out its new brand of marketing, costs are down 34percent from the end
of 2003 to the 2005 budget season, according toKossow.\\\\\\\\nSophistication and Standardization
\\\\\\\\n\\\\\\\\nJennifer Nevitt Casey, CEO of Bravo Strategic Marketing, has urged owners and
managers to shed their misconceptions of the tax-credit resident since she became a consultant in
1994. \\\\\\\\n\\\\\\\\n\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"The challenge in the industry is that many have false perceptions
about tax-credit renters--that they are lower quality reuters, that someone who rents in a tax-credit
community is just lucky to have a home,\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" Nevitt Casey said. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Not at all.
These residents deserve to be treated like they made a good housing choice. Hold the customer in
the utmost respect.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" \\\\\\\\n\\\\\\\\nSince the Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC)
program was created by the Tax Reform Act in 1986, the market has endured cycles of prosperity
and http://promociondigital.com.ar decline, at times pitting tax-credit communities against marketrate communities that were trying to attract the same residents. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"After experiencing that
cycle, more owners are willing to invest in marketing tax-credit communities, knowing the cycle
could repeat itself,\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" Nevitt Casey said. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"During the first decade of the program,
owners were pioneers. In the second decade, marketers are maturing and have a more
sophisticated approach.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" \\\\\\\\n\\\\\\\\nPart of that sophistication for KSI involved
implementing portfolio-wide branding standards. Since 2003, 14 of its 28 tax-credit communities
have been transitioned to The Fields brand, which includes a community rename, updated signage
and marketing collaterals and inclusion on The Fields' Web site,
www.thefieldsapts.com. \\\\\\\\n\\\\\\\\n\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Previous marketing pieces were not as
professional or appealing,\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" Kossow said. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Onsite staff did its own fliers
and there were no standards. Site teams were used to being able to do what they wanted, and some
still try to. But with 28 communities you must have consistency from a branding standpoint while

maintaining the individuality of the community.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" \\\\\\\\n\\\\\\\\nKSI has extended that


branding to the leasing office. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"The scheme ties into our marketing materials,\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"
Kossow said. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"The colors are very warm with a contemporary
look.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" \\\\\\\\n\\\\\\\\nNevitt Casey said, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"I never recommend cutting corners on
logo design, monument signage and the quality of the interior finish of the rental office. This is
because people form brand perception by their visual experience with you, and these have the
highest impact visually.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" Nevitt Casey also insists on professional attire or uniforms with
name badges for onsite staff. \\\\\\\\n\\\\\\\\n\\\\\\\\nSpending and Saving\\\\\\\\nRebranding a taxcredit community can carry a hefty price tag for an asset with fixed rental rates. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"From
signage to marketing, it took about $50,000 to transition a community to The Fields brand, and that
is money that someone has to be willing to spend,\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" Kossow said. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"But I truly
believe there are ways to do more with less. Whatever we do, we have to find a lower-cost way of
doing it.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" \\\\\\\\n\\\\\\\\nWhile many companies had traditionally relied on expensive
print advertising exclusively, KSI discovered that tax-credit renters have sophisticated Internet
habits as well, contrary to the beliefs of some apartment owners. \\\\\\\\n\\\\\\\\n\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"In 1997,
I worked with an owner who thought that the Internet was just a fad and could not be convinced to
spend his marketing dollars there,\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" Nevitt Casey said. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"And he thought that taxcredit customers would be too 'poor' to access the Internet.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" \\\\\\\\n\\\\\\\\nTo challenge
that belief, RSI hired an advertising agency to conduct a focus group and found that the data
supported widespread Internet usage among lower-income renters. \\\\\\\\n\\\\\\\\n\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"We
were very analytical,\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" Kossow said. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"KSI had been focusing exclusively on print
advertising because there was a belief that tax-credit customers did not use the Internet,\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"
Kossow said. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"But I've seen it work. We've made it work.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" \\\\\\\\n\\\\\\\\nKossow
said that KSI has found ways to incorporate less-expensive Internet advertising and to use smarter
print advertising strategies. \\\\\\\\n\\\\\\\\n\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"We shifted from print sources that weren't
working as well in our market to ones that worked better in this area,\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" Kossow said.
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"And we found that in the D.C. market, we have to have a strong Internet
presence.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" \\\\\\\\n\\\\\\\\nTo save additional money, Kossow said that some of
KSI's smaller communities have reduced or eliminated print advertising. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"We have one
96-unit community that is going from a full-page ad to a half-page ad,\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" she said.
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"We have 102-unit and 300-unit communities that are starting with an Internet-only
strategy. But this only works in specific markets.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" \\\\\\\\n\\\\\\\\nNevitt Casey said that
apartment owners should take market-rate techniques and put them on a diet for their tax-credit
communities. \\\\\\\\n\\\\\\\\n\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"For market-rate communities in moderate markets, I am a
firm believer in buying two-page, four-color print ads,\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" Nevitt Casey said. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"But
this is a luxury that tax-credit communities usually can't afford. You should still use print but not
buy so much real estate.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" \\\\\\\\n\\\\\\\\nWhen purchasing ads on Internet listing services,
Nevitt Casey said that instead of picking four or five Web sites, advertise with the top two.
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"And the top two vary from market to market,\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" she said. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Pick the two
that are proven in your micro-market and that show the most
promise.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" \\\\\\\\n\\\\\\\\nKossow said, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"When you are advertising right, you are
saving money as well.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" \\\\\\\\n\\\\\\\\nLow Budget and High-Tech \\\\\\\\n\\\\\\\\nOnce an
advertising strategy is in place, apartment owners can turn their attention to printed and online
marketing materials. \\\\\\\\n\\\\\\\\n\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Our brochures are fun, warm and colorful,\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"
Kossow said. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"We use actual community shots woven into our templates. Each brochure
costs between 57 cents and 87 cents, depending on the quantity of the print run. And the whole
marketing package, including the bag it comes in, is less than $1.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" \\\\\\\\n\\\\\\\\nOnce it
created the brochures, KSI designed its Fields Web site to match. KSI hired a company to make sure
The Fields topped the search engine listings on sites such as Yahoo! and Google. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"We
designed the site to organically optimize well and we paid a lot of attention to that,\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"
Kossow said. \\\\\\\\n\\\\\\\\nAnother high-tech aspect of the site involved adding a third-

party software program to allow residents to make apartment reservations online. According to
Kossow, one community received 30 reservations in 30 days, and in two weeks, KSI received 132
reservations at 18 communities. From the reservations, KSI saw a 20 percent closing rate, which
was in line with typical tax-credit closings. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"My expectations have been
exceeded,\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" Kossow said. \\\\\\\\n\\\\\\\\nOne of the challenges unique to tax-credit
marketing is deciding how to position the income requirements in the marketing
materials. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"There are two schools of thought,\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" Nevitt Casey
said. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Some owners decide never to show the income grid so as not
http://www.promociondigital.com.ar to throw it in the face of the world that this is a tax-credit
community. As a result, you get a lot more walk-ins who are over-qualified, and the extra traffic can
wear down the leasing team. Or you can tell it like it is and put the income grid in your
advertising.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" \\\\\\\\n\\\\\\\\nKSI opts to include the grid. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"We found it valuable to
include the income grid in all advertising,\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" Kossow said. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"This helps pre-qualify
customers. We also include an income calculator developed by a third-party software provider on
our Web site that lets customers know that they over-qualify, but it does not stop them from
making reservations.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" \\\\\\\\n\\\\\\\\nAccording to Nevitt Casey, the best strategy is to
study the competition's income grid placement. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Talk to apartment publications' account
representatives about what other companies have had success with in your
market.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" \\\\\\\\n\\\\\\\\nTransitioning Techniques \\\\\\\\n\\\\\\\\nWhile changing the way a
company views marketing for tax-credit communities can be daunting, Nevitt Casey recommends
some simple steps to get started. \\\\\\\\n\\\\\\\\n\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Look at your visual brand and see if it
needs some dusting off before totally investing in a new campaign,\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" she
said. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Before spending a dollar, take what is there and dust it off. Remove the clip art
from the logo and give the leasing center a paint job.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" \\\\\\\\n\\\\\\\\nInvesting in training
for onsite staff can go a long way toward getting buy-in for a new marketing approach. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"If
you have been doing things the old fashioned way for 10 to 15 years, you will need to educate your
team,\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" Nevitt Casey said. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"They have been order-takers for years and need to
learn how to be someone who listens well and creates empathy--and that does a lot for existing
customer relationships. If you have a dynamic tax-credit team, that is
an accomplishment.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" \\\\\\\\n\\\\\\\\nKossow said KSI is continuing to take its marketing
efforts to the next level. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"We want all our marketing materials and all our communities to
be the most appealing to residents,\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" she said. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"We did what we thought would
work and tried to add a lot more sophistication to tax-credit marketing.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" \\\\\\\\n\\\\\\\\nA
POWERFUL PRESS PROGRAM \\\\\\\\n\\\\\\\\nIn addition to advertising strategy and print and
online marketing, community outreach is a key component of a successful tax-credit marketing
initiative, according to Jennifer Nevitt Casey, CEO of Bravo Strategic
Marketing. \\\\\\\\n\\\\\\\\n\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"With market-rate communities, it is not imperative that
you have a press program in the community where they are located,\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" Nevitt Casey said.
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"You don't need to send out press releases and press kits. The community generally
understands the value of market-rate apartment living.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" \\\\\\\\n\\\\\\\\nHowever, for a taxcredit community, the apartment company must implement a robust outreach program.
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"You are really going to be doing a lot of street marketing,\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" Nevitt Casey said.
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"The education process is critical to success. Keep in mind that the community may look
down on tax-credit communities and think you are bringing in prostitutes and drug
rings.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" \\\\\\\\n\\\\\\\\nAlso important is promoting your community, by sharing its Web
site with human resources directors for local service industry companies. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"HR directors
look for tax-credit communities to point their employees to affordable housing,\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" Nevitt
Casey said. \\\\\\\\n\\\\\\\\nJeanine Gajewski is NAA's Manager of Communications. She can be
reached at 703\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\/518-6141 Ext. 141 or jeanine@naahq.org. \\\\\\\\n\\\\\\\\n\\\\\\\"\\\"\"
http://business.louisville.edu/marketing/

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