URL: www.extrememakeoveroregon.com
Client:Legend
Homes is a leading Oregon homebuilder that has received numerous awards
from the Home Builders Association of Metropolitan Portland (2004-2006)
and the Oregon Home Builders Association and National Association of
Home Builders. With their sister companies, Legend provides a
comprehensive homebuying experience—from land acquisition and building
to real estate, mortgage, and design services.
Challenge:As
a top builder of green-certified residences, Legend Homes was selected
by ABC Television to construct a green house for a needy family on its
wildly popular series
Extreme Makeover: Home Edition—within a
week. Legend Homes embraced the mission, asking the Overland Agency to
create a microsite to encourage construction volunteers and donations
for the family. The site needed to permit quick, frequent
updates—administered by Legend Homes staff—to chart the project’s daily
progress. Overland’s biggest challenge was building a complete website
within days to coincide with ABC’s announcement of the Oregon project.
Solution:Because
this home build would appear on a national, Emmy-winning program, the
interactive experience had to exceed every potential visitor’s
expectations. Considering the show’s family audience, we focused on
bright, engaging graphics and persuasive storytelling: the family’s
inspiring struggle and optimism, the vital need for volunteers and
donations, and why Legend Homes was chosen to help this family.
Overland used the newly released 3.0 version of our website framework
and integrated Content Management System (CMS) built with .NET 2.0 and
C#, allowing the speedy deployment of a robust website. The intuitive
CMS enables full-featured web editing and version control; it easily
let assigned Legend Homes team members—regardless of technical
ability—be part of the experience by posting photos and press releases
live. HTML, CSS, Javascript, and Flash were also used to achieve our
goals.
Result:The rewards were twofold: high
microsite click-through rates and a fine showing of community support.
In the site’s first 72 hours live, it was flooded with traffic from
Oregonians and fans of the show alike—who stepped up to the challenge
of helping the selected family. More than 1,500 people registered to
volunteer in those first three days, and in the end, 2,170 people
volunteered through the microsite. In the first week, the site received
more than 140,000 page views. Thanks to the outpouring of community
support, the hectic seven-day home build went smoothly.