The following blog post was written by Danielle Simbliaris, Marketing Manager at Campanelli.

Strap a GoPro to your dog to show perspective apartment tenants what a “day-in-the-life” of your pet is like, test out a virtual space via Oculus Rift, turn flat floor plans into a 3D interactive experience, drive tech-tenants to Fenway by bringing the sausage man to Kendall Square. These ideas and more were discussed during Wednesday’s Trends & Technology Marketing Conference as we dove below the surface level to discuss how marketing is driving transactions nationally and in the Boston market.

Andi Simpson, Director of Marketing & Corporate Communications for Federal Realty Investment Trust as well as Stephanie Williams, Senior Vice President of Planning & Advisory Services of Bozzuto Management Company presented a resonating quote, “It’s not the what, it’s the why”. Whether you are talking about retail, multi-family or office space, tenants are driven to make decisions based on why it will benefit them, not by what is being sold. As commercial real estate sales people, marketing professionals and owners, we are not selling a building of concrete and glass – we are selling a way it makes a tenant feel when they are there, a commute that may be convenient or not, an amenity package that can retain employees and keep apartment renters happy, a dog park that will make pet owners content. Michelle Mastrobattista, Director of Digital Communications at Solomon McCown demonstrated a recent social media campaign launched by her team for 101 Tremont (Paradigm Properties) where the account is written from the perspective of “Boston’s smartest entrepreneur”. She explained, “People use social media to communicate with other people, not buildings.”

So then the question becomes: what new, great, amazing tools do we have to sell that “why” to tenants? Rob MacLeod, Founder & President of Neoscape showed us ways we can bring a building to life via video using a combination of photography, 3D visualization, music and incredible editing that creates a visceral reaction from viewers. Moderator, Krista Bourque, Senior Associate for ADD Inc Branding Iron as well as Deniz Ferendeci, Senior Manager of Building Services at Dyer Brown Architects showed us many ways we can bring our buildings, fit plans, stacking plans and neighborhood to life with 3D, interactive imagery. Barbara Hicks, Senior Associate and Director of Marketing & Media at Margulies Perruzzi Architects as well as Tina Snyder, Director of Marketing at The Bulfinch Companies, Inc. both use video in e-blasts and marketing materials to retain the attention of clients and tenants. A recent video e-blast sent by Hicks helped Margulies Perruzzi land a meeting with a new perspective client that ultimately led to a $40M+ project partner.

Now we have some great new tools, and we are implementing fresh new ideas, but what does the future of real estate marketing hold? Moderator Linda Swain, SVP of Marketing for JLL showed a video of the professional in 2020 filled with Google Glass providing constant data, computers reminiscent of those in Avatar and iPad tours for constant connectivity. During the RE:Tech Demo Day, founder Ash Zandieh discussed the recently huge influx of real estate start-ups and introduced us to companies that will advance the way we access buildings, organize leasing and deal data for analysis, communicate with the community before developments begin and help us to go green.

View event photos