E-state Online Co. Ltd - Innovative Communications Team

Name of Organization / Company: E-State Online, Tokyo, Japan
Category: C01 - C12 Award for Innovation in Communications / PR > C11. Most Innovative Communications Team of the Year

Entry Title: Thinking Differently: Brainstorming for a New Approach for Luxury Real Estate in Japan

Essay:

With so many technologies at our disposal today, we often become confused; what is the right tool for the job?
How do these pieces fit together?
And most importantly, when you are part of a crowded market, how do we provide an experience that a person won't forget?

E-state online was faced with these questions and more when they were faced with a shortened timeframe in which to bring to market a line of luxury apartments in Tokyo.

Nestled in the heart of Shibuya, Tokyo, the high-rise is situated next to Yoyogi Park, and in a location that places people directly in the middle of one of Tokyo's most iconic neighborhoods.

Shibuya and Harajuku, are known for their vibrant, hip, neighborhood, as well as a wealth of traditional Japanese landmarks, and a quintessential place to experience each of Japan's distinct seasons.

However, approaching the upper tier of home-owners in Japan is never an easy task.

So E-state online decided to tackle the challenge from a holistic perspective - and approached prospective clients through a seamless union of Creatives, Experience Technology and Advanced marketing executed both online and offline. To accomplish this, a specialized communications team was brought together to brainstorm for new ideas, on how to better approach and provide a unique experience to potential clients.

To better engage initial prospects and create a vibrant image of how the space could be setup, the team commissioned the creation of a short mini-drama using a popular actor and actress, which was showcased on Youtube.

Next, the team directed the development of a membership website to funnel prospective buyers and give a better feel for the luxury real-estate brand.

They pulled in Pardot, a marketing automation tool by Salesforce, which was used to create clustering based filters, which guided E-state to take a tailored approach to each set of users.

Now that E-state had their prospects, it was time to give them an experience.

However, already having a multitude of tools, including VR, AR and interactive Web at their disposal, the team decided that in order to truly experience the space, they had to provide an environment free of wires, cables and headsets.

An interactive showroom, with four giant LCD walls was created together with an interactive floor, and members were invited to step into what it would be like to experience the living space, its surrounding environment together with the change in the seasons.

The team wanted to satisfy the daylight conscious prospects of Japan, so an interactive daylight map was created to showcase the change in how daylight would hit the apartment at noon across all four seasons.

The result was fantastic - the profiling and clustering by marketing automation resulted in significantly better reach online with 1.5 million visits, and 10,000 inquiries. Offline, there were 3000 visits to the showroom as well, all in a timeframe that was 30% less than the typical marketing period.

For E-state online, this is only just the beginning, as they look forward to breaking the mold of Japanese Real Estate in Japan.