SmartStop Self Storage, the self-storage brand of Strategic Storage Trust Inc., named a winner in its "Sing It Smart" video-jingle contest.
Brent Morgan spent two weeks knocking on doors, handing out flyers and imploring his friends, family and fans on Facebook to vote for his video jingle. The 23-year-old Athens, Ala., resident received the grand prize of $5,000 for obtaining the highest number of votes on Facebook with his catchy guitar solo Goodbye Clutter, Hello Floors.
You have no idea how happy this makes me, said Morgan, who is the youth music leader/teacher at Good Shepard United Methodist Church in Madison, Ala. Im getting married in April and just put an offer on a house, so the best time ever to win a contest is right now.
A local radio station was so impressed by Morgans enthusiasm that the DJ invited him to play his jingle on air and ask for votes from listeners. On the last day of voting, Morgans boss ordered him to take the day off to keep promoting his jingle.
The two runners up are Jeff Brasher, 26, of Denton, Texas, and Shirley Franklin, 44, of Lexington, Okla., who will each receive either an Apple iPad 2 or $500 cash. Brasher performed with his fiancé as they despaired about the hopeless state of clutter in their home. Franklin played piano and sang about being new in town, tight on money and needing a place to store her things where its safe and dry.
All of the entries to our Sing It Smart! contest were so impressive and extremely diverse. We had gospel choirs, electric guitar and kitchen pots and pans, said CEO H. Michael Schwartz. Not a day went by that I didnt check our Facebook page, and my wife and I watched every video multiple times. Thanks to everyone who participated in the contest, both entrants and voters. We really appreciate the time and effort you put in to make this contest a success.
Entrants were asked to create an original 30- to 60-second video jingle and upload it to the companys Facebook page at Facebook.com/SmartStopSS. The finalists were selected by a panel of judges that included professional cyclist Adam Myerson, professional mixed-martial arts fighter Joe The Hybrid Duarte, and Gustav the German Shepherd (a rescued dog and overnight Facebook sensation).
Entries were judged based on brand reflection, originality, creativity of presentation, song quality, suitability of video for future advertising and promotion purposes, and entertainment value. The jingle also needed to reflect the SmartStop brandpersonal, innovative, responsibleand incorporate the tagline, "The smarter way to store!" The original videos of all 15 finalists can be viewed on the wall of the SmartStop Facebook page.
Strategic Storage Trust Inc. is a publicly registered, non-traded real estate investment trust that is not publicly traded on the stock exchange. Since the companys launch in 2008, its portfolio has expanded to include 78 facilities in 17 states and Canada, comprising approximately 52,000 self-storage units and 6.4 million rentable square feet of storage space.