Real estate For Sale signs are never entertaining – unless you are in Australia. In Australia, they are usually accompanied by florid prose about the home that is highly amusing and often bears only the barest relationship to reality. In the US, For Sale signs tend to be bland – unless, that is, the creatives at Venables Bell + Partners got to them.
The agency is using For Sale signs to send a positive message for Opendoor, an e-commerce platform for residential real estate, and its agency partner Venables Bell + Partners. Opendoor, whose Be Open brand campaign launched this summer, is aiming to change the way people think about real estate by reinventing life’s most important transaction with a radically simple way to buy, sell and finance a home.
So during the holiday season, the brand is getting into the festive spirit with the next instalment in its series of spectacular For Sale signs by Venables Bell + Partners. This time, the company is returning to Sacramento to transform another one of its listing’s yards into a branded winter wonderland (which would otherwise be vacant home, waiting for its next homeowners without any holiday charm). Instead of a traditional For Sale signpost, this For Sale sign is an elaborate light display made entirely out of gingerbread with meticulously crafted icing. Making it both functional but also entirely edible and delicious.
The tongue-in-cheek effort aims to highlight the challenges many sellers and buyers face this holiday season, adding to what already is one of the most stressful and chaotic times of the year, with a sign that promises the joys of Selling in a hassle-free wonderland. Passers-by are invited to request their own offer in minutes by scanning the fresh-baked sign with their phone. Of course, the sign wouldn’t be complete if it didn’t hand out miniature gingerbread signs, hot cocoa and holiday cheer to all its visitors. The display will be staying up through the holidays making it a must-see stop on the local holiday light tour.
This holiday effort follows up on Opendoor’s Halloween initiative where families were greeted by ghoulish fun interactive For Sale signs that in addition to handing out the best candy in the neighbourhood, delivered haunting audio messages playing on people’s fears of selling the traditional way due to the stress of staging, hosting open houses, waiting for an offer, and everything else that comes with it. Passers-by were invited to request their own offer in minutes by scanning the sign with their phone.
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