Are You Doing Kenough? A Guide to Be Joyful at Your Community By Taking Inspiration from Ryan Gosling
Channel Ryan Gosling's Ken, and bring some smiles (and lease renewals) to your community.
The highlight of this year’s Oscar ceremony? (Besides for gorgeous fashions, Da’Vine Joy Randolph’s powerful acceptance speech and a naked John Cena?) It was obviously Ryan Gosling’s live version of “I’m Just Ken.”
There was a sparkly pink suit and cowboy hats!
Slash!
A singalong with Margot Robbie, Greta Gerwig, America Ferrera and Emma Stone!
Slash!
A tribute to Marilyn Monroe!
Did I mention that Slash was there?
In short, it was sublime!
There was more joy in that one performance than the entire three-hour-plus ceremony. (Emma Stone had so much fun she ripped her dress and had to accept her Oscar with a busted seam.) The Oscars ceremony tends to take itself very seriously (um, the biggest prize went to a movie about the Atomic bomb), but I bet Gosling’s silly-in-the-best-way performance is going to be all that anyone remembers from the night.
It’s a good lesson for multifamily!
Sure, apartments provide a place to live. But doing the bare minimum won’t necessarily get people to renew their leases. You got to give them the old razzle dazzle. That doesn’t mean you need a dozen chorus boys tap dancing down the halls (though, it couldn’t hurt). But you should be memorable. And you should be fun.
For example, the 2023 MHN Excellence Award gold winner for Best Marketing Campaign, Arium, hosted a singing competition across all their properties for their residents. (And, shameless plug, we’re currently accepting submissions for the 2024 MHN Excellence Awards.)
I’ve been covering the multifamily industry for a long time, but I still remember that years ago I wrote about a Halloween dog parade at a community. The year escapes me, as does the community name or company. What I do remember? There was a dog dressed up as a hot dog! I wasn’t even there. Imagine what the residents remember about that event.
Need some ideas to get started at your community? Here’s a few:
- Make your own sundae bar
- Karaoke!
- Costume karaoke! (ABBA, Bon Jovi and Cher costumes preferred)
- Murder mystery games (costumes and accents required)
- Make your own margarita bar (in my dreams)
- Who can wrap up a leasing agent with toilet paper and turn into a mummy the fastest
It might seem silly. Or even be out of your comfort zone. But having fun and doing events that are a little wacky, or having social media campaigns that are a little flashy are going to be what your residents remember, what they’ll share on social media and what they’ll tell their friends, who might be convinced to take a look at your apartments themselves, all of which can encourage lease renewals and new renters.
And that’s certainly Kenough.
What fun events or programs do you have at your community? Is there anything new you’d like to try? I’d love to hear about them! Send a tweet to @MHNOnline or @jfiur, send a Threads message to @jfiur, or send me a message on LinkedIn.
