Challenge: Strategic Storage Trust, Inc. (SSTI) manages a portfolio of wholly owned facilities operating under the SmartStop™ Self Storage brand name at more than 90 properties in 17 states and Canada. Anton Communications has handled the company’s public relations work since its founding in 2008. Once it branded all of the properties, SSTI wanted to launch a social media campaign to engage potential customers, existing tenants and employees.

Action: To kick-start the creation of an online community, Anton Communications designed and implemented a video jingle contest through Facebook based on the concept of American idol, with judges that included fierce competitors such as a champion MMA fighter, a professional cyclist and a German Shepard rescued by a local shelter. The light-hearted contest drew dozens of entries, which the judges narrowed to 15 song finalists that received a total of 5,300 votes in two weeks.