Editor’s note: This item is republished with permission from Global Edge Marketing Ltd. View original post.
Shall I compare thee (properties) to a summer’s day?
A real estate agency in Brighton, in the south of England, has sent his staff on a creative writing course that included poetry and haiku (Japanese-style 17-syllable verses) in an effort to boost sales.
Before and after
A two-bedroom seafront flat listed at about ($786,000 in U.S. dollars), was originally described as "spacious, high quality, and within short walking distance of local shops."
After taking on the poetry techniques, the description was transformed into:
"The first thing you see is the sea meeting the sky; like old comrades they share a warm embrace. Coats of armor; the cornice lines up. Without feeling lonely, the room has an echo. Ornate surroundings, the fire begs a match."
Manager David Beacon, 26, told the Daily Telegraph he believes poetic marketing will help his business stand out in a crowded market.
"The way (real) estate agents write about properties can be quite boring and structured and formal," he said. "But some of the properties are so beautiful and creative and the workshop taught us how we could convey that through our use of language. We are an agency who thinks outside the box and our clients like and respect that about us."
Paul Bonett, 57, the owner of the agency, said the company hoped to write poems and haiku for most of their listed properties.
"We are fed up of going down the old typical boring route which was just meaningless jargon that potential buyers could see through in an instant," he said.
"Boring old clichés like ‘immaculate condition’, ‘delightful’, ‘compact’ and ‘bijoux’ are hindering, not helping sales. As agents we need to expand our vocabulary and work that little bit harder for our clients."
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