Industry News

BILD’s 18th Annual Charity BBQ

 BILD’s 18th Annual Charity BBQ

We attended BILD’s Annual Charity BBQ last week and had an amazing time! We love this event.

A member of our team is part of the BBQ committee that helps organize the event. We were also a silent auction sponsor – Go ADhoc!. The two events (BILD Charity BBQ & Race for Humanity) were such a success that they raised over $25,000 for Habitat for Humanity Toronto.

Great cause, great fun, great food. Looking forward to doing the same thing next year!

Here is a link to some of the photos from the event: Click here

Monarch Wins Home Builder of the Year!

Capture4443 Monarch Wins Home Builder of the Year!

We had the pleasure of attending the Building Industry and Land Development (BILD) awards a few Fridays ago and we had a blast. It’s honestly the Oscars of this industry!

Congratulations to Monarch for winning 2010 Home Builder of the Year. We feel fortunate that we’ve had the opportunity to work with Monarch on their latest condo projects. Amazing clients and an amazing builder! Cheers!

Video Marketing Absolutely Works!

spaceball Video Marketing Absolutely Works!
Streaming Video Video Marketing Absolutely Works!

We came across this article and thought we would share :)

Just in case there was any doubt that online video is more popular than ever, a new study says that one third of all videos are shared online. Yahoo, market research firm Interpret LLC, Warner Bros. Media Research, Havas Digital, and Omnicom’s PHD collaborated for the survey results, to be released today.

We marketers should be especially excited about the results from the survey. Ads on television, it appears, were twice as likely to be ignored as online ads. 28% admitted they were more likely to pay attention to online advertising. Engagement was also high—leading to increased satisfaction for users, brand recall for advertisers and tendency to seek product information for consumers.

In fact, after viewing videos they deemed “high engagement,” more than one in four respondents searched for more information about a product (27%) or visited the brand website (28%). Low-engagement videos prompted only 13% to research more and only 10% to visit the brand website.

Plus, video viewers spend 32% of their total time online watching video. Seven in ten of the respondents watched videos online at home and at work. Video consumption verified this, peaking for men, women, students and full-time employees during the hours of noon and 3 PM and 9 PM and 1 AM. The low point came at 6 PM and 9 PM.

The survey was conducted with 2024 broadband Internet users, aged 13 to 54, who’d watched an online video in the last 24 hours.

via: marketingpilgrim.com

The Impact of Technology on the Building Industry

Barbara Lawlor - Baker Real Estate

Barbara Lawlor, president of Baker Real Estate, provided some insight in this month’s Condo Life Magazine. She spoke about how the building industry and home buyers have been impacted by technology. It’s a great read as she is bang on about everything!

Here is a snippet from the article:

Our Toronto condominiums hold so much international interest that some customers from abroad choose a suite via the Internet alone! Computer technology is so sophisticated now, that it’s the next best thing to being there. Builders are including fabulous graphics, renderings, floorplans and virtual tours. In fact, on the website for The Residences at The Ritz-Carlton, Toronto, you will find tours of two model suites that were created digitally, complete with Pat Baker leading the way.  As for the buildings themselves, web-users appreciate fly-bys, or virtual 3D renderings of the condominium within the context of its surroundings. The experience is like flying — swooping past the exterior and into the lobby, amenities areas and suites.

For the full article click here

In short, the web is now a method for people to pre-qualify themselves as
condominium buyers. Of course, nothing replaces the tactile experience of entering
a sales centre and touring a model suite — but remember because of technology,
the world is getting smaller by the minute. Our Toronto condominiums hold so
much international interest that some customers from abroad choose a suite via the
Internet alone! Our Baker site also lists buildings available in the United States and
other countries, so this international
convenience works both ways.
Computer technology is so sophisticated
now, that it’s the next best thing
to being there. Builders are including
fabulous graphics, renderings, floorplans
and virtual tours. In fact, on the website
for The Residences at The Ritz-Carlton,
Toronto, you will find tours of two
model suites that were created digitally,
complete with Pat Baker leading the
way. As for the buildings themselves,
web-users appreciate fly-bys, or virtual
3-D renderings of the condominium
within the context of its surroundings.
The experience is like flying — swooping
past the exterior and into the lobby,
amenities areasBarbara Lawlor - Baker Real Estate and suites.

Ontarians Willing to Spend More Money for Energy- Efficient Homes

green house edited for home Ontarians Willing to Spend More Money for Energy  Efficient Homes

Builders and sellers take heed: according to a new Leger Marketing poll, Ontario hombuyers are ready to open their wallets for homes that are energy efficient, will retain their value and are built with environmentally friendly materials. These three features were identified as the top three features that Ontario homebuyers are willing to pay for when purchasing a new or resale home. “These survey results provide valuable information for builders and sellers looking to increase their appeal with today’s savvy homebuyer,” says Judy Pryma, president of MasonryWorx.

Baby Boomers Most Likely to Invest in Energy Efficiency

The survey highlighted some interesting differences between generations of homebuyers. Ontario residents between the ages of 35-54 years are most likely to pay more for energy-efficient homes (42%), while those over the age of 55 are least likely (34%). Homebuyers between the ages of 18-34 years also rank energy efficiency high, with 41% willing to pay more for this feature in a new or resale home. Purchasing preferences also vary by region: Homebuyers in southwestern Ontario are most willing to pay more for an energy efficient home (50%), followed by people who live in Northern Ontario (48%).

via: newswire

BILD Sales & Marketing Presentation Summary

branches download BILD Sales & Marketing Presentation Summary For those who missed the BILD (Building Industry and Land Development Association) presentation a few weeks back, we just posted our PowerPoint presentation.

It will provide you with some great insights on new communication touchpoints and tools to aid homebuyers to understanding their selections.

If anyone has other cool and effective tools/ideas, we would love if you could share them with us. Feel free to post a comment or drop us a line.

Click on the icon below to download a PDF file of the PowerPoint presentation.

adobe pdf icon BILD Sales & Marketing Presentation Summary

BILD Presentation – May 2009