A majority of homebuyers don’t just want – they now expect – their homes to play a significant role in improving and maintaining good health. According to research commissioned by trade publisher Hanley Wood, 75% believe housing is essential or extremely important in contributing to their good health.
This represents a fundamental shift in viewpoint: the evolution of a home not just as a basic commodity, but progressing to be a valuable asset in terms of the resident’s physical and emotional well-being.
Using at top tech influencer, Actual Agency launched the smart home of the future for Hanley Wood and KB Homes at CES 2019.
This was the goal with Hanley Wood’s BUILDER KB Home Projekt, a concept home which combines architecture, technology and science in a way that helps occupants improve and maintain their physical, emotional and financial health. The promise: “Where Tomorrow Lives.”
Hanley Wood, publisher of titles including BUILDER, serves the residential, design, and commercial construction industry offering a comprehensive and market-leading array of business intelligence and data-driven services
Hanley Wood enlisted Actual to bring the story to life across multiple channels – and, given the showcase home’s proximity to Las Vegas, use the annual January CES show to make some big noise with consumer media. Using our narrative focused on “Home is where our physical, emotional, financial, and sustainable health starts,” we sought out and partnered with one of the premier consumer technology influencers working today: Jennifer Jolly.
With Jennifer as our vivacious and intrepid tour guide, we staged a satellite media tour from the home on the morning before CES: twenty eight national and major market TV outlets, multiple syndicated broadcasts, and quite a few million on-line viewer engagements later, Hanley Wood, builder-partner KB Home and partners including Google, Delos, Tesla, Whirlpool, Belkin, and numerous others were the stars of Hanley Wood’s most successful home project ever.
Adding to the extensive CES-based media coverage: a front page USA Today story with accompanying video, authored by Ms Jolly. a frequent editorial contributor to the outlet who totally “got” our project and brought a special and personal touch to her reporting. Widening the aperture on our omni-channel coverage: tech influencer Stacey Higginbotham’s “Stacey on IoT” podcast; feature coverage in Forbes.com and The Washington Post; multiple plays on USA Today Radio (thanks, again Jennifer!); and online coverage across outlets including Yahoo!, MSN, and numerous other top sites.
We also extended our “Home is where our health starts” story across the web using the power of syndication to bring readers to Hanley Wood’s project microsite – our first byline, “Don’t Forget to Add Health & Wellness to the MLS Listing,” drove over 2,500 engaged readers to the feature from 2 million impressions.
Going to Vegas to promote a spectacular home like this is, no question, fun. But there is an important story here: the nation’s healthcare costs continue to rise. Last year the U.S. spent about $3.5 trillion – 18 percent of its GDP- on healthcare, more than twice the average among developed countries. The average annual medical expenses for a family of four is $25,826.
Yet, all of that money is not making people healthier. In fact, our collective health is on the decline. Hanley Wood and KB Homes and the committed partners involved in this project are looking to make home building like this a reality in the near future — it’s imperative.
As an agency that focuses on B2B Technology, the team at Actual Agency is ready to help you deliver media coverage, thought leadership and market-leading commentary about the impact of technology on business transformation. If you are looking for a B2B Tech PR agency that delivers results, please Contact the Actual Agency team today!
