As the Director of Finance for Grow, I spend most of my time crunching numbers and reading contracts, but even so the fundamental importance of what our agency does  — engaging consumers and forging human connections — has managed to seep in and influence my life.

I was recently on a search for a new home and quickly became discouraged by how little inventory was available in the rental market that met my requirements. When I saw a posting that looked perfect I knew without a doubt that the competition for this place would be intense.

As I prepared for the open house, I decided to approach it from the angle that I was marketing my family as the ideal tenants – and I wanted to make sure we had an edge. Having learned the importance of forging an emotional connection from years of watching Grow create successful marketing programs, I decided to create an “about us” top sheet for our family, complete with photos and individual bios for all of us (the Grow PR team was impressed!).

My husband and I toured the house, chatted up the landlord as much as possible and left her with our “about us” materials.

We knew that she received multiple applications so we waited anxiously for 2 days. When she called to inform us that our application had been selected she specifically stated that the materials were a key part of her decision to choose our family; she felt like she got to know us a bit and felt a bond that she didn’t experience with other applicants.

This experience validated for me personally that the more engaging and memorable the experience  – with whatever you are trying to market – the better your chances of influencing perceptions and decisions.

Lisa