How do you make an estate agent relevant and appealing to the notoriously fickle student market? That was the brief Parklane Properties set Prohibition, and we relished the challenge.
We responded with a programme of creative executions spanning traditional PR and social media channels, aimed at engaging with the student audience in a meaningful way, while ensuring we directly drive signups and footfall. One key campaign tackled the age-old challenge of finding compatible housemates, with the launch of “housemate speed dating” – a series of events that put a new twist on the tried-and-tested matchmaking activity.
Housemate speed dating was aimed not only at those students who were new to Leeds and seeking accommodation for the first time, but also at those moving from halls or looking to establish new friendship groups.
The mechanism was simple; students were able to scope out potential ‘roomies’, or several housemates for a house share, by taking place in a series of timed ‘dates’, as well as games and activities aimed at assessing compatibility, for example, attitudes towards tidying. Along with the ‘speed dating’, students also had the opportunity to find out more about Parklane’s portfolio of student properties – crucially, helping drive new signups.
