PROJECT: AFI TECH PARK WOOD MONOPOLY – AFI EUROPE

OPPORTUNITY

RESEARCH AND PLANNING

AFI Europe Romania ran a development assessment qualitative research with Unlock Market Research regarding the companies’ decision to relocate and the factors involved in this decision. The core objective was to provide a deep understanding of the potential clients’ mindset and their needs from office buildings to uncover potential differentiating and relevant elements that AFI Tech Park could capitalize in order to drive sales. This qualitative study conducted in the last quarter of 2017 revealed that there is a new trend that companies return into the city. Most importantly, the report revealed that an office building is not just a place, it is a symbol of the strength and of the character of the business. It represents the image and the values of the company among employees and across external clients. When choosing a place to move their business, CEOs analyze the features of the building not only from a technical perspective, but also taking into consideration the needs and values of the company and its employees. On top of the list as top trends influencing the decision of moving to an office building were:

• New emerging areas closer to city center gain relevance, while remote platforms outside the heart of the city start to lose their appeal. The reason why is that employees spend less time in traffic
• Traffic friendly buildings located in areas as far as possible from jammed and crowded places and closer to where people live.

These were already features of AFI Tech Park and we had to find a way to put them into the spotlight for the target audience: CEOs, Facility managers and HR managers, from various industries. We started by identifying relevant media outlets for this audience. This is the most desired target in all corporate communication briefs. Therefore, the attention span of business journalists is very low. We needed something to create engagement and make them spend more time on our story. Top three key messages we wanted to communicate:

• Opportunity of leasing spaces in a newly constructed class A office close to the City Center
• Benefits of relocating back inside the City as opposed to the peripheral locations
• Importance of minimizing travel time to and back from work

We wanted journalists to have an actual representation of the location where AFI Tech Park is being developed. Therefore, together with a press release revealing the results of the qualitative research, we sent to a number of 50 selected journalists and bloggers a personalized wood monopoly board game, which replaced original companies with the ones located in Bucharest, in the surrounding areas of AFI Tech Park. In the rules, on the board and in the cards of the game, we included elements that emphasized the positive outcome of the location: routes of public transportation, facilities located nearby: banks, pharmacies, gyms, gas stations, medical units, stores and shopping centers, hypermarkets and tourist attractions or places to spend free time. Through this, we wanted to highlight that the building was easy to reach by everyone from every corner of the city and that the future employees who will work in the building will have a wide range of benefits at their disposal, just a stone’s throw away from the building, so they will save precious time when needed to handle personal or day to day activities.

IMPLEMENTATION

1. First of all, we obtained the approval of the company who is producing the Monopoly games worldwide in order to be able to use the name – Hasbro.
2. We searched and found the perfect supplier who could make our idea a reality and we found someone who could hand make a Monopoly out of wood. In less than two weeks since contacting them, we started the production of the games.
3. We researched through the map of Bucharest and spotted different places and facilities in the proximity of AFI Tech Park that could be introduced in the game.
4. In order to gain an even bigger impact, we used a smart and funny tone of voice in the messages we used for the game (on the board, cards, money, title deeds). Company’s branding elements were mentioned on the board and on the money.
5. We kept the original game instructions and rules but we adapted the messages and created some smart and funny ones.
6. Each game contains a document with instructions and how to play rules.
7. We aimed for 100% positive feedback and 50%+ media coverage and shares on social media.

EVALUATION