Awards:
Top Motion Graphics :)
codegent is a full service web development new media agency, based in clapham, london, uk, that delivers well-designed content managed sites, microsites and flash games supported by robust technology and integrated marketing solutions including search engine optimisation, pay-per-click and html email.
We were approached by TV's Property Ladder presenter, Sarah Beeny, who had an idea for a site that would allow people to buy and sell homes without the need for an estate agent. She wanted to create a joint venture with us as the creative and technical partners and her as the property expert.
We had an asset in a TV celebrity, but the site was starting from scratch, there was a need for a critical mass of homes to make the site worthwhile for the user and the client did not have an enormous marketing budget.
We produced a very easy to use, yet elegant site, with lots of tools and tips for the home-owners. Sarah Beeny had a new series on Channel 4 starting in July, so we decided to tie the launch in with that to make the most of the media attention.
We recommended a phased approach to launching the site: firstly a 'load your property only' phase. This meant that we could get people to upload their property but people couldn't search for other properties on the site to begin with. This allowed us to avoid the situation where we had only a handful of properties visible making the experience for the buyer underwhelming.
The second phase was a full launch, with the ability to search for properties available, and use the online tools for arranging a viewing and negotiating a price.
We began by starting a Twitter account for Sarah Beeny and seeding the fact that she was online. We got her to tweet about her new series and day-to-day trivia. We persuaded her to announce her pregnancy to the world through Twitter - this generated a lot of interest. After we built up a following of about 4,000, we then got her to start Tweeting about Tepilo and asking people to register to be emailed when the first phase went live. We also created a Tepilo account on Twitter and got Sarah to Tweet about that.
At the time of launch, we were able to ride on the tails of Sarah's media attention and journalists were happy (in most cases) to cover it.
Phase 1 allowed us to get around 200 properties before we went to Phase 2. Sarah Beeny had over 8,000 followers on Twitter by this stage.
Phase 2 went live and within about 3-4 weeks we have had over 1,000 property uploads. By the end of the first month we had over 3,000 properties uploaded to the site and Sarah's Twitter followers had risen to 11,700. We've also had a lot of very encouraging feedback from journalists, in forums and on Twitter. Sarah has appeared on TV and in the national press talking about the project and was named in Revolution's top 10 Tweeters in October.
