For Rent Media Uses Video Contest to Promote Brand

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorNorfolk, Va.–For Rent Media Solutions, a division of Dominion Enterprises, has opened its “If Only Your Apartment Furniture Could Talk” video contest, in which participants are asked to creatively express through the eyes and voice of their current apartment furniture why they should win $10,000 towards new furniture. Videos must be original and two minutes in length or shorter. “Social media is a proven promotional tool which enables us to build our brand effectively,” says Brock MacLean, vice president of national sales and development for For Rent Media Solutions. “With this contest, we are reaching out to our consumers and giving them the opportunity to create their own Web 2.0 user generated content. This helps strengthen our consumer relationships, build brand loyalty and solidify our position as an innovative leader in the industry.”The furniture promotion is supported by online and offline advertising including billboard advertising in select markets, national print advertising targeting college students and a public relations campaign that incorporates social media placement. According to For Rent Media, participating property managers will see an increase in leads from the boost in site traffic on ForRent.com. “The contest also provides an opportunity for property managers to interact more with their residents—increasing the residents’ brand loyalty in the community and the property management company—and can be used as an extension to their existing Resident Retention Program,” says MacLean.After the contest closes on June 15, visitors to WinApartmentFurniture.com will vote for their favorite video. Voters have the opportunity to comment on each video and e-mail videos to friends to encourage them to vote. Consumers can also use a syndication widget to easily distribute their favorite video to more than 20 popular social networking Web sites, including Myspace, Facebook and Friendster. The winning video and the top 10 finalists will be announced on or around July 22, 2008.