• by Steve Ellwanger , May 5, 2022

Actor Jeff Goldblum reprises his comedic role as Brad Bellflower—inventor of the “Apartminternet”—in a new campaign for Apartments.com based on renters’ sentiments at this stage of the pandemic.

Creative elements from Rubin Postaer and Associates were inspired by a survey of some 30,000 renters in January who had used the Apartments.com website.

Bellflower continues in his role of the “quixotic futurist for whom no idea is too big.”

Before COVID, life-stage events tended to drive people to move, according to Apartments.com vice president of marketing Patrick Dodson.

“You might have had a new job, graduated from college, got married or lost a job,” Dodson tells Marketing Daily.”

Survey result show that other spurs to moving now include lifestyle, the need for more space or security, access to green spaces and the need to find a pet-friendly space.

To demonstrate the latter need, a woman with a cramped apartment and a mechanical dog falls into a larger flat with an-honest-to-goodness real pooch in “Take a Walk.”

In “Test,” a spot geared to the need for more space, a stunned couple view the results of an ultrasound bearing three tiny images and the notations “Baby 1, Baby 2, Baby 3.”

Suddenly, the walls and ceiling of their apartment begin to shrink dramatically and Bellflower enters the room.

“Congratulations,” he says. “You’re having an out-of-apartment experience because these cramped confines aren’t going to fit your rapidly expanding family.”

The campaign will run on major audio and television platforms including major platforms, including HBOMax, Paramount+, Hulu, Peacock, Twitch, iHeart Radio, Spotify and Pandora.

Apartments.com is bulking up its content on TikTok, where it has more than two billion views, according to Dodson.

“It’s a very strong platform where people are searching and looking for not only new apartments but living ideas.”

In the second half of the year, the company will partner with TikTok influencers “to reach their audiences as well.”