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JUL
1

ForRent.com’s “Ready2Move?” video contest awards $10,000 to Dallas apartment renter

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                            Contact:                                                                                                                             Meredith Mobley                                                                                 
Marketing Communications Coordinator
meredith.mobley@forrent.com
Phone: 757-351-7366
Fax: 757-961-4827

 

ForRent.com’s “Ready2Move?” video contest awards $10,000 to Dallas apartment renter

NORFOLK, Va.-(July 1, 2009)-Justin Spence got the call of a lifetime on Friday from ForRent.com®. He entered his video in the apartment listing service’s nationwide online video contest and after months of anticipation, found out he was the $10,000 grand prize winner.

Spence, who works for his family’s radiator manufacturing business, is also a part time videographer. Under the weather and in the process of moving, Friday’s call could not have come at a better time. When asked how he felt about winning the $10,000 grand prize, he yelled, “Holy Moly! I think I just got a better kick than any kind of medicine could give me!”

ForRent.com launched the “Ready2Move?” nationwide video contest on April 1. The contest asked apartment seekers to create a short video and tell ForRent.com why they were ready to move for a chance to win $10,000.

Spence did just that. He and his wife created and starred in the one-minute video “$1,200 a month and No Pool?” The video depicts a conversation between Spence and a buddy, who is living lavishly in a Dallas apartment community, while Spence is desperately searching the classified listings for an apartment. The friend recommends ForRent.com as an apartment searching resource. When speaking about the benefit of the site’s functionality he boasts, “…you’re not gonna find that from some dude’s Web site in San Francisco.”

“This year’s contest was even more popular than last year. With the number of submissions more than doubling, the judges had a challenging time selecting the winners,” said Terry Slattery, president of For Rent Media Solutions.

In addition to the grand prize winner, three finalists were selected to receive an iPod Touch®:

ForRent.com even rewarded viewers just for voting. Patrick Freise, a rising senior at Binghamton University in Binghamton, New York, is $1,500 richer after being selected in a random drawing from 4,798 voters as the voting sweepstakes winner. With his earnings, Freise says he plans to buy his girlfriend a nice birthday gift.

Spence credits the popularity of his video to promoting it on social media Web sites like Facebook and Myspace, “I personally use Facebook and MySpace a lot. I’m a strong believer that social networking is the new media to advertise your products.”

ForRent.com worked with Vitrue, a social media company, to launch its second annual nationwide video contest. A panel of judges watched all 123 videos and selected the grand prize winner and the three finalists based on five criteria: creativity/originality, overall quality/appearance, relevance to the contest theme, promotion of the ForRent.com and or For Rent Magazine® brand, as well as the total number of user generated Internet votes received. In total, more than 24,000 votes were received.

To see all videos submitted for the “Ready2Move?” video contest, visit http://contest.forrent.com/.

About For Rent Media SolutionsTM

Headquartered in Norfolk, Va., For Rent Media Solutions is a division of Dominion Enterprises. As the multi-family housing solution for apartment seekers, property/apartment managers and owners, For Rent Media Solutions provides superior products, outstanding customer service, and tangible results.  For Rent Media Solutions is a leading resource for choosing your next apartment for rent, townhouse, condo, duplex, efficiency, studio or loft and provides a free customizable apartment search from more than 50,000 apartment listings nationwide.  For Rent Media Solutions operates For Rent Magazine®, as well as ForRent.comTM-The Magazine, and publishes 98 magazines covering more than 190 markets nationwide, including After 55TM Housing & Resource Guide, and Apartamentos Para Rentar®. For Rent Media Solutions operates four additional Web sites: ForRent.com®, SeniorOutlook.comTM, CorporateHousing.com®, and ParaRentar.comTM.  For Rent Media Solutions is a company dedicated to the needs of the apartment industry, bringing prospective residents and apartment communities together.

About Dominion Enterprises

Dominion Enterprises is a leading marketing services company serving the automotive, enthusiast and commercial vehicle, real estate, apartment rental, and employment industries. The company’s businesses provide a comprehensive suite of technology-based marketing solutions including Internet advertising, lead generation, CRM, Web site design and hosting, and data management services. The company has more than 45 market-leading Web sites reaching more than 16.7 million unique visitors, and more than 450 magazines with a weekly circulation of 4.3 million. Headquartered in Norfolk, Va., the company has 5,400 employees in more than 200 offices nationwide. For more information, visit http://www.dominionenterprises.com/.

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Posted: July 1st, 2009

NOV
19

ForRent.com® Dominates Social Media in the Multi-Housing Industry

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                           

Contact: 
Wendy Froehlich                                                                                 
Marketing Director
wendy.froehlich@forrent.com
Phone: 757-351-7363
Fax: 757-282-6015

 

ForRent.com® Dominates Social Media in the Multi-Housing Industry

Leading Internet Listing Service is responsible for 66 percent of apartment industry’s social share of voice according to Vitrue, Inc.

 

NORFOLK, Va.-(November 19, 2008)-No other Internet listing service in the multi-housing industry has engaged its audience through social media quite like ForRent.com. According to Vitrue, Inc., a social media marketing company, ForRent.com is dominating the multi-housing sector’s social share of voice. As a product of For Rent Media SolutionsTM, a division of Dominion Enterprises, ForRent.com, utilizes tools such as Twitter, MySpace®, Facebook and YouTubeTM, to achieve this accomplishment.

ForRent.com’s ranking was determined by Vitrue’s Social Media IndexTM (SMI), the recently launched free tool that measures a brand’s online conversations. Based on patent-pending technology, scores are comprised of various online conversations ranging from text-dense micro-blogs to multi-dimensional video sites.

“We are thrilled with the results found by Vitrue’s Social Media Index,” said Brock MacLean, vice president of national sales and development, For Rent Media Solutions. “Social media is a very effective way to communicate with our core demographic of 18-34 year old adults. For Rent Media Solutions’ involvement in social networking sites like MySpace, Facebook, Twitter and video sharing sites like YouTube allows us to participate in a true dialogue with consumers, giving us more insight into our audience and their needs. We plan on expanding our social media efforts in the future. The Social Media Index will help us gauge the success of our efforts and how we are resonating with our consumers.”

Generating more than 83 percent of social media activity, video sharing makes up the largest portion of ForRent.com’s SMI score. Apartment property video commercials seen on ForRent.com, called Community TheaterTM, are distributed to an extensive network of channels including major search engines like GoogleTM and Yahoo!®, social networking sites such as MySpace, and video sharing sites including YouTube. During October alone these videos were viewed more than 17,000 times a day.

Generating more than 12 percent of the SMI score, communication through social networking makes up the second largest method of social activity for ForRent.com. MySpace has played a significant role in the success of For Rent Media Solution’s social networking efforts. More than 40 profile pages have been set up, representing more than 40 markets where the company’s anchor publication, For Rent Magazine, can be found. Through these efforts, For Rent Media Solutions communicates with more than 5,300 consumers. 

The remainder of the score is comprised of blogging and micro-blogging. This number includes activity from blogs, such as the ForRent.com blog, and key influencers who chat and push content through micro-blogs, such as Twitter. Twitter is a service that allows its users to send updates to their “followers” while trailing other individuals as well. For more details, please view the full Social Media Index report.

“The Vitrue Social Media Index provides invaluable insight for marketers to understand how they are stacking up in the social media space,” said Reggie Bradford, chief executive officer of Vitrue, Inc. “Brands are being talked about in social settings and we are providing the ability to proactively track these conversations. We firmly believe understanding and measuring your performance in these environments is key.”

About For Rent Media SolutionsTM

Headquartered in Norfolk, Va., For Rent Media Solutions is a division of Dominion Enterprises. As the multi-family housing solution for apartment seekers, property/apartment managers and owners, For Rent Media Solutions provides superior products, outstanding customer service, and tangible results.  For Rent Media Solutions is a leading resource for choosing your next apartment for rent, townhouse, condo, duplex, efficiency, studio or loft and provides a free customizable apartment search from more than 50,000 apartment listings nationwide.  For Rent Media Solutions operates For Rent Magazine®, as well as ForRent.comTM-The Magazine, and publishes 98 magazines covering more than 190 markets nationwide, including After 55TM Housing & Resource Guide and Apartamentos Para Rentar®. For Rent Media Solutions operates five additional Web sites: ForRent.com®, SeniorOutlook.comTM, CorporateHousing.com®, and ParaRentar.comTM.  For Rent Media Solutions is a company dedicated to the needs of the apartment industry, bringing prospective residents and apartment communities together.

About Dominion Enterprises

Dominion Enterprises, a division of Landmark Media Enterprises, LLC, is a leading marketing services company serving the automotive, real estate, apartment, recruitment and marine markets. The company operates a variety of businesses that offer Internet marketing, Web site design and hosting, lead generation, CRM, and data capture and distribution services. The company has more than 40 market-leading Web sites reaching more than 16.7 million unique monthly visitors, and more than 450 magazines with a weekly circulation of 4.3 million. Headquartered in Norfolk, Va., the company has 5,400 employees nationwide and annualized revenue of more than $946 million. For more information, visit http://www.dominionenterprises.com/.

About Vitrue, Inc.

Vitrue, Inc. delivers world-class advertising solutions for marketers to connect with consumers in social ways. Vitrue turns traditional advertising into direct, personal relationships by harnessing the authenticity, depth and viral nature of social media, which enables consumers to help build brands through their online actions. Through their industry expertise, technology platform and integrated marketing approach, Vitrue offers the most comprehensive social media marketing solutions built exclusively for Fortune 1000 brands and agencies including P&G, Unilever, Pepsi and Grey Advertising. Vitrue is based in New York City and Atlanta. For more company information, please visit http://vitrue.com/.

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Posted: November 19th, 2008

MAY
6

For Rent Media Solutions an Industry Pioneer in Social Media

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE    

Contact: 
Meredith Mobley
Marketing Communications Coordinator
meredith.mobley@forrent.com
Phone: 757-351-7366
Fax: 757-961-4827

 


For Rent Media Solutions and Industry Pioneer in Social Media

“If Only Your Apartment Furniture Could Talk” video contest now open

NORFOLK, Va.-(May 6, 2008)-For Rent Media Solutions, a leading apartment resource for searching apartments nationwide, and a division of Dominion Enterprises, announced today that its “If Only Your Apartment Furniture Could Talk” video contest (http://www.winapartmentfurniture.com/) is now open for entries.

“Social media is a proven promotional tool which enables us to build our brand effectively,” said 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 consumer video contest-in which the grand prize winner will receive $10,000 to re-furnish their apartment home-is intended to leverage the power of social media to the benefit of ForRent.com’s apartment community clients. The video contest is the latest addition to For Rent Media Solutions’ commitment to social networking as a complement to print and online advertising. In November 2006 For Rent launched Community TheaterTM, a streaming video product, and in July 2007 it launched Text Messaging, a mobile media product.

Directly Benefits Property Managers

Participating property managers should see an increase in LEADSTM 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. Collateral pieces announcing the contest may be requested by e-mailing contest@forrent.com.

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.

The consumer promotion utilizes a variety of social media features, most notably in its ability to quickly become a viral marketing campaign. 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 contest will help entrants build a sense of community through the exchange of personal stories and ultimately better match the right apartment seeker with the right apartment.

Utilizing Branded WatermarkingTM a unique technology provided by Vitrue, the leader in branded social media communities and promotions, each video will be tied back to ForRent.com. The ForRent.com branded videos can move from one social network to another, live on third-party video sharing sites, be e-mailed through anyone’s list of contacts and still retain the stamp of approval and an active link back to the ForRent.com community.

How It Works

Participants are asked to creatively tell ForRent.com through the eyes and voice of their current apartment furniture why they should win $10,000 towards new furniture. Videos must be original and 2 minutes in length or shorter. Acceptable formats include MPEG, QuickTime and Real Media, among many others. Maximum file size is 100 MB.

The winning video and the top ten finalists will be announced on or around July 22, 2008.

The grand prize winner will receive $10,000 to be used towards the purchase of new apartment furniture. The top 10 finalists will take home an iPod Shuffle. The grand prize video and the runners-up will be posted to WinApartmentFurniture.com and other social networking sites.

To learn more about ForRent.com’s “If Only Your Apartment Furniture Could Talk” video contest, log on to http://www.winapartmentfurniture.com/

About For Rent Media SolutionsTM

Headquartered in Norfolk, Va., For Rent Media Solutions is a division of Dominion Enterprises. As the multi-family housing solution for apartment seekers, property/apartment managers and owners, For Rent Media Solutions provides superior products, outstanding customer service, and tangible results.  For Rent Media Solutions is a leading resource for choosing your next apartment for rent, townhouse, condo, duplex, efficiency, studio or loft and provides a free customizable apartment search from more than 50,000 apartment listings nationwide.  For Rent Media Solutions operates For Rent Magazine®, as well as ForRent.comTM-The Magazine, and publishes 94 magazines covering more than 190 markets nationwide, including After 55TM Housing & Resource Guide, Apartamentos Para Rentar® and Florida Condominium and Townhome. For Rent Media Solutions operates five additional Web sites: ForRent.com®, SeniorOutlook.comTM, CorporateHousing.com®, ParaRentar.comTM and FLCondoGuide.com.  For Rent Media Solutions is a company dedicated to the needs of the apartment industry, bringing prospective residents and apartment communities together.

About Dominion Enterprises

Dominion Enterprises, a division of Landmark Communications, is a leading marketing services company serving the automotive, real estate, apartment, recruitment and marine markets. The company operates a variety of businesses that offer Internet marketing, Web site design and hosting, lead generation, CRM, and data capture and distribution services. The company has more than 40 market-leading Web sites reaching more than 12.5 million unique monthly visitors, and more than 500 magazines with a weekly circulation of over 5 million. Headquartered in Norfolk, Va., the company has nearly 6,000 employees nationwide and annualized revenue of more than $946 million. For more information, visit http://www.dominionenterprises.com/.

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Posted: May 6th, 2008