How BAM Is Joining The New Retail Revolution

07 Jun 2013 3 Comments

by John Amardeil in Strategies, Thoughts

Empire Communities' Lakeside site plan

Picture your average new homes sales office. A potential homebuyer strolls in, squints at static displays, chooses a design he likes, then walks over to the site plan table, where he again has to locate the homesite.

A cumbersome process if I ever saw one. Worse still, it hasn’t changed much in the last 30 years, despite the technology being there to improve it.

Other industries have woken up. Inspired by Apple, companies like Audi, Nike and Burberry lure store traffic with technology designed to make their experience easier and more pleasant — magical even.

I love this statement by Paul Roth, president of retail at AT&T, as quoted by Adweek: “It’s all about creating interactions rather than just transactions.”

It’s in this spirit that AT&T’s Chicago flagship store boasts an 18-foot video wall equipped with motion-sensory software on which kids can play games. And raindrops patter on a digital rooftop while wind chimes produce something called cyber inharmonic spectra.

I for one strongly believe the new home industry would be wise to join the revolution quietly taking place in the retail world.

That’s why BAM used touchscreens rather than static displays at Empire Communities’ Victory. And why we’re kicking things up a notch with Empire’s Lakeside community, which is opening soon.

In the Lakeside Showroom (doesn’t that sound better than “sales office”?) homebuyers will be able to browse home designs on touchscreens, much like they did at Victory.

More than that, they’ll be able to choose a specific homesite and watch it light up on the site plan (which is also digital).

It’s not just innovative and cool — it’s also helpful for the consumer. And it elevates the client to a status above and beyond every other low-rise builder in the province. Maybe even the country.

The digital revolution is evolving so fast it’s permeating offline territory. Those who ignore it do so at their peril.

Our New Community: A Great Example Of The Reasons Why I Love This Business

28 May 2013 Leave a comment

by John Amardeil in Thoughts

empire communities imagine

I may have been in this business for the better part of my life, but each new community we market at BAM still sends tingles up my spine.

Empire Communities’ Imagine is a particularly exciting project — and not just because we’re marketing it.

It starts with the location: Niagara, perhaps not the first place to spring to the mind of many a homebuyer. Yet Niagara offers gorgeous trails, luscious greenery, vineyards within easy reach, and some of Ontario’s best artistic and cultural attractions, all in a very walkable area. What’s not to like?

Second, Imagine will offer homes for everyone. Whoever you are, whatever you’re looking for — whether you just got divorced or your kids moved out or you’re a newlywed — chances are you’ll find your dream home at Imagine.

For these reasons, I look forward to the Imagine community opening soon, to another happy client, and to many more happy families moving into their dream home.

Curious about Imagine? Click this link to check it out.

Progressive Is In

10 May 2013 Leave a comment

by John Amardeil in Strategies

Two weeks ago at the BILD Awards, I loved seeing so many progressive projects win.

Here’s why.

As I’ve written before, many of today’s consumers have a pent-up craving for fresh new interiors and exterior living. They may not want to live in a condo, but they do appreciate the sleek condo approach — even if they’re moving to a low-rise community in the outskirts of the GTA.

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Take our client Highmark Homes, whose community Triumph is opening soon in Whitby. For the first time ever in the region, homebuyers will get a chance to buy a home that combines cutting-edge finishes and contemporary exteriors — all without having to move to expensive Toronto.

What’s more, Triumph features Vanier Park, a 3-acre park billed as the spot for “the young and the young at heart.” We could’ve offered the usual gazebos and trails and so on — and we did. But we also kicked it up a notch and offered a splash pad and a zip line.

And that’s what today’s homebuyer wants — better, newer, more modern, and different — all for as low a price as they can get.

Challenging? Yes. Exciting? Hell yes.

We’re Just Getting Started

26 Apr 2013 1 Comment

by John Amardeil in Awards

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It’s that time of the year again. And like every year, we’re proud to take part in the BILD Awards ceremony.

This year has been even better than previous ones, thanks not only to the CHBA Marketing Excellence Award, but also to our clients’ ten BILD Award nominations. What’s more, our client Empire Communities is nominated, for the first time ever, for BILD Builder of the Year. (Empire also won two HHHBA Awards last night.)

Dressed to the nines and ready to have a good time, in just a few hours, the BAM team will join almost everyone in the industry to celebrate the 33rd Annual BILD Awards.

Of course, whether we win Project of the Year for Empire Communities’ Victory and/or the Social Media Campaign Award, we must say it’s winning our clients’ confidence that ultimately drives us —far more than awards.

With that in mind, I want to express our thanks to our clients. It’s been a joyful, successful ride, one that will hopefully last for years to come.

Good luck to all who are nominated!

How Two of Our Upcoming Projects Benefit From The Rise Of The Single-Person Household

05 Apr 2013 Leave a comment

by John Amardeil in In The Media, Strategies

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Single women account for one-third of all new sales at popular condo builder Tridel.

When I began working in the industry, most homebuyers were married and with kids. Over the last few years, however, an increasing amount of singles have been snatching up homes across Canada.

Indeed, only one year ago Stats Canada reported more one-person households than couple households with children for the first time ever, according to a recent Ontario Home Builder magazine article.

The reasons for this are threefold: first, as baby boomers age, many find themselves living alone; second, young people are marrying later; and third, many divorcees are in no hurry to tie the knot again.

Obviously, these new homebuyers are attracted to a different type of home. For one thing, space isn’t as important to them. Instead, they focus on amenities and features and finishes. Practicality matters too — as the OHBA article states, single homebuyers can view a condo, townhouse or small detached home as a stepping stone to something larger, with or without a partner.

This phenomenon, of course, presents a marketing opportunity — one that we’re only too eager to benefit from. Take two communities we’re hard at work on, Ten88 and Villagio.

The former is a condo project in Scarborough featuring a payment program designed to enable renters to purchase their first home. The latter is a smaller, somewhat more traditional community in Maple, Vaughan. In both cases, homebuyers can get one-bedroom units. They also get attractive pricing and finishes that are as sleek as the ones they’d find in a condo. And since our client, Empire Communities, also builds high-rise, it will be that much easier to blur the lines between a typical low-rise community and a high-rise condo one.

Now I turn it over to you: how are you making the most of the rise in single-person households?

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