The home building industry has not always been the fastest to embrace new technologies, but Empire Communities has done a first in Canada. The national home builder has launched a web application that allows consumers to create their own personalized video showing how they will enjoy their home ownership experience at Empire Avalon, a new master-planned low-rise community located in Caledonia, Ontario.
When looking at a new home potential buyers tend to have a natural curiosity and often wonder what it would be like to live in that home? The Empire Avalon app allows visitors to answer a quick set of lifestyle questions in order to generate a short, polished and personalized video featuring their name, their photos, their favourite recreational activities and interior design style preferences. Visitors can then share their video with their friends and family via Facebook, Twitter and email.
Sue MacKay, VP Marketing, explains: “At Empire, we have a young, smart and highly motivated digital marketing team that appreciates the power and influence of social media, especially on the new generation of first-time homebuyers. The new Empire Avalon app offers a fun, fresh and immersive way for prospective homebuyers to get a feel for what their life will be like for them in a new home at our community.”
To create the app Empire enlisted interactive agency PUREBLINK, the Empire Avalon app leverages Facebook’s Timeline Moviemaker and social-sign in functionality. Visitors who prefer not to use Facebook can provide their name and upload a photo manually as well. While still in beta-testing, the app has been enthusiastically received by visitors.