At the Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI) annual meeting, the Suppliers Division voted in favor of doing a creative MH industry image building project that would use Product Placement in videos.
Video is hot online. The number two search engine right behind Google is YouTube! You can find YouTube videos on seemingly countless subjects. The MHI Suppliers Division vote was a strong endorsement for using a spin-off of an idea Eddie Hicks suggested here on MHProNews some years ago.
Here are the basics of the concept:
A volunteer committee – including newly elected Suppliers Division board member L. A. 'Tony' Kovach as a point man, with support from MHI's Lois Starkey and Cheryl Beard – will reach out to state associations with the idea of identifying the following:
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A school of performing arts (likely a college or trade school, but might be a specialized high school) for volunteers who would like experience
at doing video projects that would involve acting, filming and editing. -
Short stories would be scripted ("story boarded") that would favorably use manufactured homes as an important element in each video.
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Drama, humor, "reality," "news," "documentary" or other forms of story telling could all be used. The common element would be to showcase the appeal of manufactured home living in a favorable light.
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For example, it might include a story or report set in a development or at a manufactured home land lease community, inside a real home in an appealing neighborhood.
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Even one star communities could be showcased favorably compared to other older, low cost housing options (example, older apartments) by taking a positive spin on story telling and product placement.
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Sponsors would be identified who would support the modest costs of the project.
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Besides placing the videos on YouTube or a site like Vimeo, the videos would be embedded and showcased on the ManufacturedHomeLivingNews.com website for distribution and promotion.
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A YouTube Channel would be created for this project.
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Additional industry volunteers who would like to serve on the Product Placement Video Project committee to advance this effort would be welcome.
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As the project advances, other MHI divisions or factory built housing industry corporate involvement would be welcome.
It should be noted that this is the start of a work in progress, and the ideas above can easily be adapted at this early stage. So NOW is the time to get involved!
By creating mutual victories for all involved, quality engaging videos could be created that would showcase our industry favorably while providing practical, real world experience for the performing artists who would volunteer. Once produced, those videos can be used for many years to come.
Should we identify more than one school, contests might be held that would award some recognition to those who did the best in some category, a manufactured housing video version of the Emmy Awards.
Who knows? Perhaps we could through a project like this fuel the career of video producers, actors or actresses!
The videos may be useful with public officials, as well as marketing and educational efforts that can sell more homes and thus the products and services that would go along with more manufactured home sales.
As noted, the concepts are in their infancy, so your input and that of others in the factory built home industry input is encouraged and welcome.
By showing people how you cook, clean, eat, live and love the same in a manufactured home as in other housing options and how you can do so with –
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lower costs,
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lower energy use and
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less maintenance costs than standard housing
– we can break down some of the barriers that are currently holding our industry back.
Please feel free to contact us with your interest and support! Working together, we can make this and other good efforts happen. Thank you. ##
PS: Check our many Exclusive and Red Hot Featured Articles for October and see the other new stories at MHLivingNews.com too.
L. A. 'Tony' Kovach
ManufacturedHomeLivingNews.com | MHProNews.com |
Business and Public Marketing & Ads: B2B | B2C
Websites, Contract Marketing & Sales Training, Consulting, Speaking:
MHC-MD.com | LATonyKovach.com | Office 863-213-4090
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