This feels like a good week for recycling stories from other pubs that feature words of wisdom from yours truly. This particular story ran recently in the New York Times and covered a new service that helps real estate agents turn slide shows into instant movies. (The reporter FYI, Anne Eisenberg, has a great bi-monthly column called Novelties that runs every other Sunday.) I’m writing about it here because I think this service can *enhance* the experience of looking for a new home, making it easier for buyers to let their eyeballs do the walking. The service is called VizzVox and you can find the entire NY Times article here.
Or to save you the trip, here are the “critical” passages:
Drew Neisser, chief executive of Renegade Marketing in Manhattan,
who is in the business of inventive online marketing and Web site
development himself, was intrigued with the service. “It’s extremely
cost effective,” he said. He looked at two VizzVox commercials and
liked them: “They told a lovely story about each home — I was ready
at the end to call my wife and tell her we were moving to San Mateo.”
Mr. Neisser says the VizzVox commercials “are a convenient way to
get a quick and reasonably accurate tour.” But however attractive
some of the commercials may be, he said, he doesn’t think
do-it-yourself programs like VizzVox are a threat to more
traditional marketing services.
“The problem with a technology like this is that you are putting
semiprofessional tools in the hands of an amateur,” he said. “One of
the reasons folks like us are still in business is that we are
professional storytellers. I can’t imagine that your average real
estate agent has the quality of voice and ability to draft a
narrative that is compelling and interesting.”
Marketing for Good is all about helping the customer get on with their lives. VizzVox makes it easier for real estate agents to show homes virtually and in the process makes it easier for home buyers to sort through the plethora of potential palaces. It’s all good even if not every video is great.
Happy T-day!