ApartMEANT Campaign Makes Pictures Worth a Thousand Words

Atlanta-based Gables Residential understands apartment communities and how to attract new tenants. It has built, owned, and managed more than 31,000 units in 106 communities, many in high-growth markets such as Atlanta, Austin, Boston, and South Florida. So it knew it needed to instantly capture prospects’ interest as they tour a property, and thereby translate that into signed leases.

Working with third-party vendor Infinitee, a design and graphics agency, Gables developed a campaign with catchy images and words. The company’s marketing graphics manager, Allison Corbett, came up with the idea of 10 large, 8-by-10-inch, colorful, hard-plastic signs that would be placed throughout a building on the route where a leasing agent would take prospects.

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Dubbed the “ApartMEANT Campaign,” the message is told in storyboards that showcase what’s important about living at each site through a bold image and succinct text. (Example: The ApartMEANT Campaign for the Environment contains an image of a chair with a seat of grass and the message, “Gables is recognized industrywide for our green building practices and sustainable apartment homes.” Another: The ApartMEANT Campaign for pets shares that its “Paws to Care” initiative embraces furry-pet relatives by celebrating and giving back to the pet community.) Other storyboards reflect the building’s amenities, such as reserved parking or different services to receive packages safely.

Besides having a powerful visual impact, the campaign is affordable: For 10 signs, the cost per community was $52; for digital ads on Gables’ apartmentratings.com and Facebook page sites, the total was $1,040. Results have already reached 72,000 impressions, considered good for an internal campaign, says Gigi Giannoni, the company’s vice president of marketing and public relations. The overall impact offers residents a “warm, fuzzy feeling,” she says.