Kevin Thompson

Bell Partners

By Leah Etling on Jan 6, 2014 in People

Kevin Thompson, Senior Vice President of Marketing for Greensboro, N.C.-based Bell Partners,  a Yardi client, has been known to say that when it comes to multifamily, residents literally “live in our box of Tide.”

It’s an intriguing analogy from the experienced consumer product marketing executive, whose diversified experience includes stints at AvalonBay Communities, Iams, Fruit of the Loom and Promus Hotel Cos. At Bell, Thompson has pushed for creative marketing approaches that get realistic about how to connect with residents, and takes the time to listen to their feedback and concerns.

While an apartment residence might not typically be thought of as a tactile product, the Tide analogy melds the residents’ living experience with the marketing of a successful multifamily brand.

“Our consumers actually live in our product (the apartment home), as thus live in our brand, too,” Thompson explained.    “And because our customers do live in our box of Tide, any flaws or inconsistencies in delivering the brand and service promise are magnified.  Conversely, any positive experiences are also memorialized.  We need to be constantly aware of the intimate connection between our products and our consumers.  Only with this realization do we get the right sense of the importance of our brands.”

MHN:  Bell recently introduced a new marketing campaign centered around the concept of “Hassle Free Living.” Tell us what you did differently and how it worked?

Thompson:  Well, we wanted to get beyond the usual providing superior customer service mantra, so we started thinking about a residential living environment that would be characterized by the elimination of problems and issues before they happen.  Ergo, Hassle-Free Living®.  We began with a series of resident focus groups, to hear what our existing customers had to say about the concept.  The most interesting aspect of this novel approach was the fact that residents responded to the Hassle-Free Living idea by recognizing that they, too, have a responsibility in making a community a great place to live.  For example, residents felt that things such as picking up after their pet and respecting the late hours quiet time was the minimum they should do to contribute to their larger community.  Out of this came our Good Neighbor program and the birth of our messages “Bell Makes Good Neighbors” and Bell is “Where Good Neighbors Live.”

MHN:  Taking the time to meet with residents in focus groups is a significant investment. Did it generate the results and feedback you’d expected? What did you learn?

Thompson:  I think you’d be surprised that it wasn’t really a major investment in terms of resources.  It was more about the time we spent working at it.  But we did get results that we didn’t expect.  When the focus group participants overwhelmingly said that they have a role in making the living experience outstanding, that they also have responsibilities and it’s not just a one way street from management company to resident, we were pleasantly surprised.  We basically received permission to partner with residents to create a hassle free living environment.  This may sound like an obvious conclusion, but it’s a pretty novel idea for our industry.  And, in addition to our residents liking this idea, this campaign was recognized by MHN this year as a (silver) winner in the Best Marketing Program category.

This interview was conducted for Multi-Housing News. Read the full transcript of our conversation with Kevin Thompson here.