Contributed By: Naomi Gordon

Category: Marketing/advertising

Theme: Grow your own tomatoes advertising plan.  We used this as a tag line on all our ads. Then showed prospects the two community gardens we had prepared for our residents to grow their own tomatoes. It was a big hit!  People called to have a look at the complex and several said: any landlord that would care enough to have a garden for their residents would care enough about me as a resident.

Visuals: did not use graphics. Too expensive at our newspapers, but you could use a big tomato to head up the ad.

Media: Newspaper ads ran daily in the newspapers that served the pop. in the community

Implementation: Gardens beds were prepared and little plots marked off for people to choose.  The current residents were offered plots in the spring.  Ads went in June and July…tomato growing season in the Northeast.

Cost: $1500/month for the ads

Results: Great response.  Rented 4 apartments as a direct result of the tomato campaign. People were curious to read the ad because it started off in an unconventional way. Rented 4 units as a direct result of the ad – People came in holding the ad or mentioned the ad on the telephone.