I often thing of Toronto Realty Blog as a bit of a community.
I mean, the readers’ comments often add more value that the original blog post, for starters.
And when it comes to topics, or content, I’m always getting help.
I was writing my “MLS Musings” last week, and I told my colleague, “I don’t have enough this week, I’m not feeling this ‘vibe’ here.” My colleague said, “You just need to go through today’s listings, find some more.”
The irony is, as I explained to him – I don’t really “go through” listings anymore. My readers, many of which are agents, send me photos for MLS Musings every week!
So when a colleague of mine was cleaning out a drawer last week, and found a feature sheet from 2012, who do you think she came to?
A knock on my office door, an ear-to-ear smile, and a paper in her hand. She couldn’t wait to see my reaction.
She told me, “You have to see this,” and I said, “What is it?”
She just thrust the feature sheet at me, and said, “Look for yourself.”
I went through it, somewhat unimpressed at first, and then caught on. Really quickly.
I laughed. I loved it.
I mean, I would never use it in my marketing, but I loved that somebody did. I like outside-the-box thinking, and I wasn’t offended by “the video” that a PSR agent put out last year that caused a major stir. I wouldn’t have done it myself, but again, I had no issue with it.
Was that because I’m a man? Maybe. But I don’t think so. I think I just don’t offend easily.
As for this 2012 feature sheet, I do believe that if it came out in 2018, it would cause a major stir.
So you be the judge.
Here are the first three pages of the feature sheet, which you need to view in order.
And you might need to zoom…
PAGE ONE:
PAGE TWO:
PAGE THREE:
So for those of you who are on mobile, or can’t zoom, or don’t want to, let me crop each individual photo in the feature sheet, which reads like a story-board, and show you how this feature sheet “showcases” the property:
So what do you make of that folks?
Did you get the gist of it? Or am I naive for even asking?
What was going through your mind when you walked through the “story” in the feature sheet?
And more importantly, what narration did you have, for each photo?
Let me tell you where my mind took me….
Tonight is the second date.
The first date was just for a drink, with she and he each saying (pretending?) that they had other plans that evening.
You never want to seem “available,” right? Plus, you want to build in an exit-strategy, and saying, “I can meet for a drink at 7pm on Saturday night, but I’ve got a friend’s birthday at 9pm” is the perfect way to timeblock for a date.
If the date goes fantastically-well, then you leave yourself wanting more. If the date bombs, then you know exactly when you need to leave.
But the first date did go well, and thus, there is a second.
He has invited her over for dinner, to his place, and yes – he’s cooking!
She arrives at his place on what looks like a fall evening, and takes note of the cool building she’s entering:
She buzzes him, and he meets her down in the lobby.
He shows her the freight elevator, and explains that it was installed in a made-up year, for a made-up purpose, as this building was originally used as a made-up factory. He’s positive he’s impressed her with his made-up details.
She smiles, but she’s still a bit nervous. A couple of drinks on the first date certainly made things easier, and she’s stone cold sober now, seeing him again for the first time in two weeks.
She keeps her hands in her pockets, nervously playing with her keys:
She takes note of the unit number, and texts her best friends, just in case…
After the wine begins to flow, she loosens up.
He’s already had two shots of vodka, of course. Men are weaker than women, and less confident, even though women usually get the “emotional” tag.
He begins to chop up vegetables for the stir-fry he practiced making last night, alone, but tells her that he learned to do this when he was teaching English in South Korea in 2009:
She goes to the bathroom to text her friend, “It’s going well! He’s nice! I really like his blazer-and-jeans combination, it’s not over-done at all, and I expect this to catch on as we move through the decade.”
She touches up her makeup.
Then goes through his drawers to see what type of crazy-pills he might be on…
He still hasn’t taken off his blazer for some odd reason. Maybe it’s because he has massive pit-stains, or because he ripped his shirt-sleeve in the elbow, or because his gigantic gang-tattoo on his back might show through his thin, white dress-shirt.
She likes him though. She laughs at his jokes, and even avoids making eye-contact as she blushes, like a stereotype of every man’s fantasy:
He suggests they watch a movie on the couch, and secretly turns down the heat so he can say, “It’s a bit chilly, do you mind if I pull this blanket up?”
He finally look off his blazer, but her scarf is still wrapped very tightly around her neck.
They engage in something called “Netflx and Chill” before it’s even a thing. Come to think of it, they’re likely watching cable, or even a DVD, since life before Netflix had yet to begin. I shudder to think.
One glass of wine is half-full (or half empty if you’re a pessimist…..uh…), and the other is sans vino, and laying face down.
It looks as though maybe two people were rushed somewhere, somehow, for some reason, and haphazardly knocked the glass over. Maybe they had their eyes closed, and their hands were engaged? Maybe a hip thrust knocked that glass over?
The next morning, she wakes up, after having her way with him.
As a female colleague once lamented to me, why does it always have to be the man that’s responsible for the conquest, right? Why can’t it be “Wham, bam, thank you…….guy with loft“?
And that is called “marketing,” folks!
In 2012.
What about in 2018?
How would this fly today?
Man, woman, or ‘other,’ how would you feel if you went to an open house for a loft, and found this feature sheet on the counter?
Could we get away with this sort of thing in 2018?
Or take it one step further – would you have been offended if you saw this back in 2012?
Ed
at 8:34 am
Love the narrative David.
But who can tell me why the laptop is sitting beside the wine glasses open.
Is he checking his portfolio?
craijiji
at 9:48 am
If you look closely, iTunes is open. Zoom in even further and you can see the playlist is called “Let’s get freaky”.
Pete
at 8:49 am
Offended by what? People dating? I’m more offended by the blatant “lifestyle marketing” approach which is just so condescending to consumers. I don’t need pictures of other peoples lives to figure out how I want to live mine.
Tired of coders
at 11:34 am
Lifestyle marketing works and is important.
You will sell faster and for more money if you get your property professionally staged and decluttered rather than having all the kids lego out on the floor or an empty house. It helps people visualise and understand the space.
Same as a fresh coat of paint and going to neutral colours rather than something distinctive.
But go be offended by your own cognitive biases. The people most offended by advertising and marketing are excessively convinced of their reliance on logic and impersuadability.
Selling a loft is harder than a 4 bedroom in North Toronto. A rickety freight elevator can be seen as a negative (dangerous, slow, breakage prone), so make it seem cool.
David Fleming
at 4:05 pm
@ Pete
I’m certainly not offended, but I think many of us realize that society has literally bubble-wrapped itself, and anything/everything is offensive these days.
2018 is all about feelings.
I want absolutely zero part of this type of fearful, snowflake culture:
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/clapping-banned-university-to-avoid-13344363
Kyle
at 1:27 pm
I think the marketing is successful-ish, as it distracted me from the fact that the loft is actually really tiny and awkwar. It isn’t very lofty at all. Every room/scene feels like they are in very cramped, dark quarters. But at least with the story-line, it plays it off as coziness.
Just imagine taking the people out of the shots and seeing the pictures on an mls listing – this loft otherwise would not show very well.
M
at 5:14 pm
Ohhh. Yes the photo story totally distracted me from how tiny the place was. Not to mention that it seems really awkward to get up the stairs to the sleep loft. You have to maneuver around the kitchen wall with the ladder stuck on it. And it looks like there’s a half brick sticking out of that ladder-wall, right at shoulder height, so it would snag on a sweater or loose clothing. The loft is just big enough to fit the bed and nothing else. So the wardrobe for the clothes must be along the same wall as the TV they’re watching. A single, tidy, minimalist person could live there. And entertain a guest. But that’s about it.
I don’t think there’s a problem with this story, whether in 2012 or 2018. It’s a bit cheesy, but not offensive. It does the job it needed to.
Kyle
at 6:55 pm
Good points, i also noticed that there are no exterior windows or natural light in the place. If it was just pics of the condo, i think most people would have caught on to that, but the story distracts just enough that most people don’t immediately realize.
Condodweller
at 12:54 am
So David, when you say we may have to zoom were you referring to the last picture? I don’t find the storyline offensive, however, the last picture has something out of place, or rather “in place” depending on your point of view which I can certainly imagine people would find offensive.
Was it so risque that even you didn’t want to mention it or did you miss it as well?
Cindy
at 12:55 pm
Had a good laugh while reading this story. After reading the comments, definitely agree that the story distracted me from looking at the actual loft. Come to think of it, I might have rented out an Airbnb very similar to this loft. And the doors and halls looked more like an industrial building. And going with a stranger into a “loft” through a freight elevator?? Is she crazy? Kinda screams horror movie.
lui
at 1:05 pm
Its lot better than lots of the crappy photos you see these days.Tells a story how to get some with a hard loft.
FrankGG
at 4:32 pm
“Bubble-wrapped society”
“Fearful, snowflake culture”
“Could we get away with this sort of thing in 2018”
AD NAUSEUM
I love your blog, David, but fer C*****sakes, could you puh-leez let up a bit on the “everyone but you is a p***y” bitching? Sorry if my language offends anyone, except…I’d bet it doesn’t, despite David’s certainty that we’re all a bunch of easily offended babies. (P.S. No one pays attention to anything written in The Mirror, David. Particularly in the UK.)
Tommy
at 4:31 am
I love that marketing. It would work today with a few tweaks. Things would “move along” a lot faster and include a screenshot of Tinder.