E-mail Rocks

Is e-mail marketing dead? Simply put, nope.

Here at Braun/Allison Inc. we truly believe that even in this fast-paced-always-bleeping-digital-age, traditional forms of media can still be very powerful. Combined with mobile campaigns, Facebook ads, blogs and the next newfangled marketing gizmo, traditional advertising, signage, brochures, etc., etc. are an important marketing tool.

The funny thing is, the realm of what constitutes traditional media keeps expanding as new stuff rolls in, so we’re constantly questioning what works. Today, marketing professionals largely agree that talking about e-mail as a traditional media makes sense.

That said, we’re big e-mail believers. It’s a direct message to a prospective buyer on a personal level. We’re seeing great results from this old-fashioned traditional tool on behalf of several clients. Here’s someone else who agrees: great post.

Did you hear? Video is the new text.

In this day and age the way we tell stories is just as important as the stories we’re telling. How are you telling your story?

A good story is essential to creating a compelling marketing campaign. Stories are the currencies of relationships, and it’s vital to exchange this currency if you want people to trust you and your brand. But in this fast-paced, multi-tech world that we live in people aren’t always willing to spend the time to listen to a story, let alone read one.

You need to be engaging with your story and be able to tell it in a swift and simple way, which seems like a bit of a conjuring trick. A meaty story jam-packed with loads of information tends to lose, well, the meat when it’s transferred into something quick and compact.

But there is good news. The magic behind all of those high-tech fancy gadgets, user-friendly apps, and peer-sharing models that have changed the way we live our lives and made everyone’s attention span shrink to the length of a Tweet is that they can help us tell these stories not only quickly, but effectively.

Video, especially, takes a complicated story and gets it across fairly simply. By way of example, here’s something Braun/Allison did that we think is pretty cool.

As the web moves towards video and mobile technology continues to improve video capabilities, video is only going to get bigger, so why not hop on and ride the reel, so to speak? We had fun with it.

Social is Changing the Media Mix

This video blog is a clip from an upcoming documentary about social media. The documentary is being produced by BBN3, and we’ll be sure to let you know when it is finished and available for viewing. Meanwhile, watch this video of Braun/Allison’s David Allison talking about the philosophy behind a good social media program, while simultaneously balancing an empty coffee cup in one hand. Enjoy.

Talking About the Future

This is a duplicate post from David Allison’s column on RENX.ca, a Canadian Real Estate news website.

I was at a lunch last week hosted by the Urban Land Institute in Vancouver. It was just one of a series of lunches being hosted under the umbrella theme of The City in 2050: Creating Blueprints for Change. This is a proactive and thoughtful initiative that aims to help the real estate development community better understand what responsible development means in a world where environmental policies, exploding populations, capital market concerns and energy costs are changing the landscape forever.

What will our industry look like in 2050? Three industry leaders and thinkers weighed in with their opinions.

Gordon Harris is the President and CEO of SFU Community Trust, developers of UniverCity, the award-winning sustainable urban community adjacent to Simon Fraser University’s Burnaby Mountain campus. He pointed to the imperative for moving from Green to Greener, and that how our definition of sustainability has to include not just environmental issues, but social issues as well. I found it startling to hear that the average lifespan of a building is 17.4 years, and agreed with Harris that finding ways to re-purpose and build smarter — to avoid tearing buildings down — should be something we design into the development process.

Mark Holland is a Principal at HB Lanarc, where he focuses on integrating sustainability principles into the mainstream development industry. He talked about our responsibility as a development community to not only think long and hard about new structures, but also existing ones; in Vancouver alone there are over 200,000 homes that will need to be retro-fitted in the next 40 years. Mark and I have worked together on projects before. He’s the best at helping developers understand issues around sustainability in practical terms. He speaks our language.

Sadhu Johnston is the Deputy City Manager for Vancouver, after a term in Chicago as Chief Environmental Officer to Mayor Richard Daley. His points were succinct: we are doing a good job here, but we must do better. We must find solutions that solve multiple problems. We must address the rising cost of housing, as it directly impacts issues of homelessness. We must look across disciplines to solve problems, and collaboratively map out our approach to urbanization issues.

Applause is due to the ULI for staging this series of events. Sometimes I’m convinced the real estate development industry is only willing to innovate a millimeter past whatever the last successful project was. But if we’re largely responsible for the built environment, especially in terms of housing, we need to think bigger thoughts, collaborate, question and challenge the status quo. Events like this one get the conversations started. Bravo.