Guest post: 'Because paying rent sucks!'

Editor's note: Inman News will be discontinuing guest posts within the Inman News blog in 2008. This is the last guest post from the Sellsius bloggers. Thanks to all our guest contributors this year. Stay tuned for exciting changes to the Inman Blog next year!

53rd Street and Second Avenue - 12.17.07 10am

Do consumers pay attention to advertising anymore? Just use the word "suck" and they might. Trulia rolled out a second slogan for its New York City taxicab advertising campaign this week: "Because Paying Rent Sucks!" Most renters would likely agree with that statement. However, not everyone is ready to buy, and unfortunately, Trulia doesn't have rentals. So searching for a rental in New York City as a consumer still sucks! Unless of course you use Craigslist or Streeteasy.

Taxicab advertising is a moving billboard. The idea is to get as many people as possible to see the ad in different strategic locations throughout New York City. I found this taxi parked by Northern Boulevard in Queens and thought what a waste of an ad. Then I realized that there was some decent foot traffic in this location. So even when this taxi is off duty, Trulia is getting some additional bang for its buck as a stationary billboard in a local community. Genius!

Coincidentally, Trulia's timing could not have been better. The holiday season in New York City is traditionally a madhouse. Almost everyday is a gridlock alert day. This means that traffic virtually stands still. More people + standing traffic = a captive audience for their taxicab ad. I witnessed a young couple pointing to the ad and overheard them saying, "My landlord sucks!" Hey, at least they noticed the ad. I wish I had my digital camera out when that happened. Darnit!

Additionally, those pretty flowers you see on the roof and hood are not a part of the Trulia ad campaign. They are an urban art project called Garden in Transit that runs through the end of December. But they sure do grab people's attention and spark spontaneous sidewalk conversations. Being associated with this project, albeit indirectly, is an added bonus to their campaign.

I wonder if you can truly measure the ROI of this type of offline real estate advertising?

--Rudy Bachraty, Sellsius Blog

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