Tech companies are always coming up with creative ways to get people to download their apps. Opendoor’s latest stab at this is to hand out pumpkins.
The well-funded homebuying startup is hosting an extravagant Halloween bash tomorrow, Sunday, October 14, in one of its Phoenix-area homes-for-sale featuring the “world’s first-ever in-home pumpkin patch,” complete with 750 pumpkins representing the 750 homes Opendoor purchased in the area over the summer. Opendoor says it is the largest homebuyer and seller in the Phoenix area, by volume.
Those members of the public who show up at 2421 W Binner in Chandler, Arizona from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m and download the Opendoor app on their smartphones (it’s free on Apple iOS and the Google Android app stores) will receive their pick of the available pumpkins.
“Opendoor is hosting the spirited affair to bring some gourd old fashion fun to the neighborhood and squash misconceptions that home selling, buying and moving has to be frightening,” the company says in a press release.
The event will also feature a photo station, trick-or-treat bags of candy, a popcorn machine and a snow cone machine.
To further lure in visitors, Opendoor’s mobile app will represent the location of the home with a pumpkin icon in its listing search app, which currently displays more than 460 Opendoor listings in the Phoenix area.
This isn’t the first time Opendoor capitalized on Halloween to drum up brand awareness. Last year, the company said it hosted three “spooky house parties” that drew over 1,200 Phoenix residents.
Now that Opendoor has secured an additional $400 million and competition is heating up with other online homebuyers such as Zillow, Offerpad, and soon, Realogy, expect more creative marketing tactics across the board from these “iBuyer” companies.
The company will need to boost awareness of its brand in order to compensate for its distributional disadvantage against iBuyers operated by Redfin and Zillow Group, which, unlike Opendoor, both can reel in leads through their massively popular real estate sites.
