In 2007, Killam Properties Inc. faced the challenge of reaching those students. One of Canada’s largest residential landlords, Halifax-based Killam owns 9,000 apartment rental units across Atlantic Canada, with more than 900 largely geared toward the university-student market. “Students are transient,” says Jeremy Jackson, Killam’svice-president of marketing. “They go off in April and they’re all over the place for the next four months. We have to talk to them, but they don’t necessarily like talking to big corporate entities. So we had to ask ourselves, how are we going to reach them?”

 

To get the answer, Killam turned to the team at Colour, who used a suite of conversational and observational tools called Closer to the Customer. “We talked to students in their natural habitat—bars,” says Keevill. “We asked them how they go about finding apartments and their frustrations with the process. One thing came up clearly; yes, they’re thinking about location, price,and size, but their main fear is related to their future relationship with the superintendent or landlord. In the back of their minds,  students are thinking about having to deal with a bad landlord, one who won’t fix a plugged toilet or broken light.”

 

Since Killam’s position statement is “Killam Cares,” the Colour team felt it had a marketable point of difference that would score with students. But that still left the challenge of how to connect with young people. “We said, let’s meet them where they already are—online, with social media and the rawness of YouTube—so we created the character Landlord Lou,”says Keevill. “He exemplifies landlord characteristics but embodies the Killam Cares motif to the under-25 consuming tenant. And it’s all delivered in a way that’s engaging, with humour that’s irreverent without being offensive, so the storyline cuts through.”

 

If you visit Landlordlou.ca, you’ll view a series of short video skits by Halifax comedy troupe Picnicface— all riffs on the theme “book now or live in a dump.” You can also join Landlord Lou’s Facebook page and follow him on Twitter. When the character was first introduced in 2007, the focus was Lou as a hero—the landlord who can solve  students’ housing issues—but again withskewed Picnicface humour pegged to the target audience’s tastes. Killam Cares was the message, but the sell was soft.“

 

“All of the traditional marketing tools we use to move from interest to purchase are still used, but they’re secondary to the story itself,” says Keevill. “The storyline stands alone, without any call to action. We’re giving the audience some entertainment; all we want them to do is make that extra click.”

 

It worked. “We had some excellent numbers: over 7,000 hits with 1,600 going on to the ‘rent an apartment’ button,” says Killam’s Jackson. And according to Keevill, each year since has been record setting; all of the properties but one was filled 100%, and that location is improving.

 

Meanwhile, Landlord Lou has continued to evolve in his edgy yet empathetic way as the online and direct mail character promoting “Heroic Gatherings.” Killam partnered with Boston Pizza and Swiss Chalet to give tenants up to $50 on party packs for get-togethers with friends in an effort to retain tenants. Landlord Lou also promoted a contest to Attend California’s 2008 Coachella Festival, a popular indie-rock event. There were three ways to enter: by posting a photograph of yourself playing air guitar on a plunger on Landlord Lou’s Facebook page (with an additional entry for every friend in your picture); by booking an appointment to discuss your 2008-09 housing requirements with a Killam resident manager; or by taking a tour at an open house.

 

“Our ubiquitous Landlord Lou will, no doubt, be making numerous appearances in 2010,” says Jackson, “and spreading the Killam Cares message to students, seniors, and every tenant group in between.”