Marketing In The News- Affordable Housing Competition Shelter WF

 

I chose to read an article detailing a promotional marketing campaign from Shelter Whitefish which strives to provide affordable housing to residents of Whitefish, Montana. This promotional campaign opens a competition on who can design the most efficient, and practical affordable housing plot. I am interested in this article since the rising home costs in this country greatly affect the new generation of potential homeowners, and organizations such as this one strive to address this issue and hopefully come up with cheaper designs and house plans that are easier to construct so, houses nationwide become more affordable. The main points of this specific article include promoting awareness of the lack of affordable housing options, promoting professionals in the design industry to create such models that are practical, cheap to construct, eco-friendly, and sustainable long term, and finally embracing the strategies of urban planning in the designs to prepare for a better tomorrow through inclusive, and creative neighborhood settings. The Design Competition adds prizes to the mix to motivate those professionals, along with allowing opportunities for the professionals in the competition to network, and share their creative thoughts. The value proposition of the company Shelter WF is to provide plans for affordable housing to the local area and fight the processes that make it difficult to build more neighborhoods and housing. The company also operates as a nonprofit business, with funding coming from state grants so the intentions of the company are blatantly pure, and they use monetary gain as motivation to fight for their beliefs, thus creating more trust between them and customers. The marketing relevance of this promotional campaign is to spread awareness of their cause and get professionals in the industry to work together to solve this problem through prizes, and a competition. The more eyes and attention this campaign gains help spread their goals and create more pressure on the local, and federal governments to work towards making housing more affordable. The campaign also serves as a way to announce a recent grant they received for 2024 from the AARP showing that their cause is gaining more momentum, and they’re completely serious about designing, and implementing affordable housing plans. The challenge this company faces is the numerous hoops, and government processes that make building houses so expensive, and difficult. The company also faces challenges in not only creating very affordable houses, but eco-friendly houses that encompass the surrounding nature-enriched area and are sustainable. The marketing approach is unique as they’re providing cash incentives, and prizes to solve a problem that has to do with affordability, and it’s run by a nonprofit company. With these conditions in place, it shows the company is completely in the business to help people and appeals to the local citizens who may struggle to find affordable housing, campaigns like this build great trust with the local community. The approach also gets more national eyes on the company as the competition isn’t restricted to local Montana residents, so having a campaign marketed like this may grow their cause nationwide. The marketing solution is very effective, as they would already attract many designers off of just pure morals, and wanting to make a difference, but adding in prizes as well gives every designer a reason to participate and find solutions to this issue. I would run this same campaign in the situation but also include in the article what will happen with the designs that win, as they don’t explicitly mention the next steps in the process. Laying out the next steps of the plan might make designers more inclined to participate. This article I learned about how to motivate professionals for a good cause, and make it a positive experience for everyone involved. Companies like  Shelter WF are incredible, and inspiring to see during this time, and it makes me feel assured people are working towards solving some of the most pressing issues we face currently.