The acronym “MVP” has a different connotation at the Westchester Putnam Association of Realtors.
Here, it could stand for “most valuable penguin.”
Beyond making pit stops at the Westchester County executive”™s press office and an indoor pool at The Ritz-Carlton, Pierre the penguin, like any good employee, has produced results.
The plastic mascot was reinvigorated just months ago by the association”™s marketing maven Mary Prenon to steer the group”™s social media strategy.
“When we first started, there were a couple hundred (Facebook fans) and now it”™s about 1,000,” Prenon said. “It didn”™t happen overnight. It”™s been a gradual growing. We still advertise it and put it in all of my emails and our brochures. I think it”™s definitely been a strong addition to create more traffic.”
Pierre”™s role at the board of Realtors, which recently merged with the Putnam County Association of Realtors, is more than a friendly face ”“ he”™s a resource and buzz creator for the association”™s 7,000 member Realtors in Westchester, Putnam and Dutchess counties and the Bronx.
Each Friday, Prenon takes Pierre on the road; she then records a video of his undisclosed whereabouts and uploads it to Facebook or YouTube platforms.
To engage the respective audience, site visitors are encouraged to guess “Where”™s Pierre?” Then, it”™s about providing incentive for participation ”“ the first person to correctly identify Pierre”™s location gets a Golden Apple pin.
“We”™re really targeting anyone who”™s a Realtor or in the real estate business,” Prenon said. “In this market, it was sort of a lighthearted way to keep everybody interested.”
What”™s in a name?
In a similar instance, BestWeb Corp., an Internet, telecommunications and IT-consulting provider in Croton-on-Hudson, is gaining business and name recognition by getting the audience involved.
BestWeb recently launched a “new name” sweepstakes ”“bestweb.net/newname ”“ asking people to help select a new company name.
The reward?
An Android-powered tablet.
The company has some 44,000 clients and as it develops cloud computing capabilities, President Mark Dickey called it the opportune time to rebrand with “a name that best fits our evolving company and communicates the services we provide.”
Engaging the core audience is a low-cost means of staying visible in a precarious economic environment.
In this case, the audience was given high-powered responsibility.
In the Realtors”™ case, engagement was about the softer impact.
“There are still some people who call us the Westchester County Board of Realtors and this sort of made people more aware of who we are,” Prenon added.
That”™s what keeps Prenon fueled as she carries her plastic coworker through PepsiCo”™s sculpture garden or along Peekskill”™s waterfront.
“Usually I get very strange looks, but it”™s just a part of the job.”
