Nationwide Video Contest Gets People and Their Furniture Talking

NORFOLK, Va.—(July 22, 2008) — ForRent.com®, a leading apartment resource for searchingapartments nationwide, and a division of Dominion Enterprises, today announced the grand prize winner and the top 10 finalists of its “If Only Your Apartment Furniture Could Talk” video contest. The winning videos on WinApartmentFuriture.com were selected from more than 50  submissions created by ForRent.com enthusiasts from around the country. Each responded to the challenge to create a short video creatively telling ForRent.com, through the eyes and voice of their apartment furniture, why they should win $10,000.

The grand prize winner, Brendan Walsh, a 20 year-old student from Steubenville, Ohio, majoring in digital media production at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh, contributed the winning video, “Furniture Talk.” This short video gives apartment renters a “fly on the wall” point of view of the interesting conversations their apartment furniture has when they’re not around. One couch tells the story of his lazy owners and why they should win $10,000 to add more furniture to their apartment. Watch this video at http://www.winapartmentfurniture.com/video/view/26

“Social media is my life,” says Walsh. “In fact, I even created a Facebook group for my video submission to gain more views and votes. It’s like a chain reaction. I tell 10 people, they tell 10 people and it spirals.” According to Walsh, he learned about the contest through the PittsburghFor Rent Magazine® as well as ForRent.com when searching for an apartment.

In addition to Walsh’s $10,000 grand prize, the top 10 finalists will receive iPod Shuffles. These videos can be viewed at http://www.winapartmentfurniture.com/pages/finalists.

The consumer video contest was intended to leverage the power of social media, extend the reach of the ForRent.com brand and to establish a long-term relationship with brand advocates. Social media is leading the shift in the way consumers experience brands. According to a 2008 Nielsen study, 78 percent of consumers trust the opinion of peers over all other information sources and advertising. 

“The response to our user-generated video contest has been fantastic with entries from all over the country,” said Terry Slattery, vice president and general manager of For Rent Media Solutions. “This contest provided a unique way for us to reach out to our brand community, allowing them to express their creativity and appreciation for ForRent.com and For Rent Magazine. We want to thank everyone who participated in the contest, helping us to make it such a success.”

Vitrue, a social media technology provider, powered the contest platform which utilized a variety of social media features, most notably in its ability to quickly become a viral marketing campaign. Consumers had the opportunity to create a personalized profile with pictures and interact with others via commenting, rating, voting and adding to favorites. A syndication tool made it easy for consumers to distribute their favorite videos to more than 20 popular social networking Web sites, including Myspace, Facebook and Friendster.

About Vitrue, Inc.

Vitrue, with offices in New York and Atlanta, helps global brands engage with its customers through the power of social media.  The company delivers compelling marketing solutions that maintain brand integrity and deliver measurable results to agencies and the Fortune 500 companies they serve.  Founded in 2006, with funding from General Catalyst Partners, Dace Ventures, Comcast Interactive Capital and Turner Broadcasting, the company recently acquired UGENmedia in June.  Vitrue was named by Business 2.0 as one of the “Top 25 Startups to Watch” and by TechJournal South as one of the “Top 50 Innovative Companies in the Southeast”.   For more company information, please visit www.vitrue.com.

About For Rent Media Solutions™

Headquartered in Norfolk, Va., For Rent Media Solutions is a division of Dominion Enterprises. As the multi-family housing solution for apartment seekers, property/apartment managers and owners, For Rent Media Solutions provides superior products, outstanding customer service, and tangible results.  For Rent Media Solutions is a leading resource for choosing your nextapartment for rent, townhouse, condo, duplex, efficiency, studio or loft and provides a free customizableapartment searchfrom more than 50,000 apartment listings nationwide.  For Rent Media Solutions operates For Rent Magazine®, as well as ForRent.com™-The Magazine, and publishes 94 magazines covering more than 190 markets nationwide, including After 55™ Housing & Resource Guide and Apartamentos Para Rentar® magazine. For Rent Media Solutions operates five additional Web sites:ForRent.com®,SeniorOutlook.com™,CorporateHousing.com®,ParaRentar.com™ andFLCondoGuide.com.  For Rent Media Solutions is a company dedicated to the needs of the apartment industry, bringing prospective residents and apartment communities together. 

About Dominion Enterprises

Dominion Enterprises, a division of Landmark Communications, is a leading marketing services company serving the automotive, real estate, apartment, recruitment and marine markets. The company operates a variety of businesses that offer Internet marketing, Web site design and hosting, lead generation, CRM, and data capture and distribution services. The company has more than 40 market-leading Web sites reaching more than 12.5 million unique monthly visitors, and more than 500 magazines with a weekly circulation of over 5 million. Headquartered in Norfolk, Va., the company has nearly 6,000 employees nationwide and annualized revenue of more than $946 million. For more information, visit http://www.DominionEnterprises.com.

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