Name and city and state of marketer
Coldwell Banker, Pittsburgh, PA

Name and city and state of agency or marketing services firm
Songwhale, Pittsburgh, PA

Campaign/program name
Songwhale Home

Duration
October 2009 - present

Common short code and keywords used
Consumers could text the keyword WHALE  to short code 94253

Objective
To streamline the process of buying a home and give individuals selling their home more options

Target audience
Potential homebuyers and renters

Strategy
To use SMS as a way to buy and sell houses

Call to action
Sign riders on each house with a specific house code. Calls to action were also promoted on the Coldwell Banker Web site and in the newspaper.  

Tactics
Coldwell Banker used Songwhale for over half of their listings in Pittsburgh. Each sign rider had a unique house code that individuals can text in to get specific information about the house, a link to a mobile Web site, and a way to text in for an agent to contact them.

Results
As of January 26, 2010 there were 1,816 sign rider texts and 94,186 visits to Songwhale Home.

What next
Coldwell is expanding to more properties

Lessons learned
Individuals want to use their phone to buy their home

Surprise finding
Individuals want to use mobile to browse homes and be more in control of the home buying process, as expected, but they still text in AGENT to have an agent call them, so using mobile does not tremendously cut into the role of the real estate agent

Strategy quote
George Hackett, president of Coldwell Banker Real Estate Services in Pittsburgh, PA - ?Our company is focused on the highest level of customer service, we work hard to ensure that our sales associates have superior services and technology to meet the needs of our clients.  This technology gives buyers immediate and comprehensive information about our listings in a very convenient way, and gives our sellers a truly competitive edge in attracting potential buyers.?

Art
The following is a screen grab for a Web site property listing. Towards the bottom (boxed in red), the viewer is given the option to text in for more information on this listing.

This is the Coldwell Banker Web site. On the right hand side are ads. One of them asks peopl to use their phone to find a home.