Our test stores clearly found that customers were primarily concerned with affordability on a week to week basis.
Brent Atkinson, Marketing Manager for easyhome

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At one time, easyhome operated under 6 different brand names; Rentown, North American TV, Rent to Own, Louer, easyhome, and First Choice Rental Purchase

10 Questions For Brent Atkinson
Brent is Marketing Manager for easyhome, formerly RTO Enterprises; Canada's largest Rent to Own company. His responsibilities include managing 10 promotional campaigns per year, corporate and field internal communications, all media buying, as well as TV and other creative production.

easyhome operates 143 stores, when will you have 200 locations??
We'll be at 160 stores by the end of 2005, and 200 by the middle of 2006.

What's the key to easyhome's low employee turnover?
Finding the right people in the first place. RTO is a unique industry and it takes a unique person to succeed. Compared to the U.S, rent to own is a relatively new concept in Canada. The average jobseeker doesn't know about the rent to own transaction so screening applications becomes even more critical.

Is furniture a growing category for easyhome?
Definitely. In October of 2004, we restructured our pricing model for furniture. In several categories, we took our term to 156 weeks from 104, lowering weekly rates. Our test stores clearly found that customers were primarily concerned with affordability on a week to week basis. We expect the change to have a positive effect on stick rate.

Do people rent from a person or a company?
Customers rent from a person. It's priority number one to maintain a quality team. When we look at our successful stores it's because of the quality of the team and their longevity of service. Turnover has been one of our biggest priorities over the last 48 months. Our focus is on maximizing the relationship with the consumer. When turnover is low, customer count goes up.

At what retail price does a product become non viable for rent to own?
We won't consider any product that retails under $150. That number has increased in recent years.

What is easyhome's most exciting new product this year?
We have many, but the I think the ipod. For our demographic, the ipod is still pricey at retail. It's a good fit for us and our customers.

In January, 2003, easyhome announced a plan to consolidate all 6 banners under one name (see story). As a marketing manager, how much did the re-branding change your life?
HUGE...From not having to sign off on 6 different flyers to having the ability make advertising dollars go farther. It was only after the re-branding was complete that TV advertising became truly efficient.

Does easyhome utilize focus groups?
Yes, since 2001. Focus groups were critical in our re-branding campaign. We will begin utilizing focus groups for promotional campaigns this summer. (see interview with company CEO David Ingram from Dec, 2003 that includes focus group info)

Rent A Center and Aaron's Sales and Lease Ownership recently entered the Canadian market. Will the competition change the way you operate?
Rent a Center has a different marketing strategy than easyhome and Aarons is a completely different business model. I think that these two companies growing presence in Canada will help create customers. Our biggest battle is getting the word out that [the rent to own transaction] exists. The more marketing dollars that are spent, the more customers that will be created.

What's the most effective marketing campaign you've ever managed?
The Fall TV campaign of 2004. The campaign's focus was Re-branding and customer acquisition. It included our first 60 second spot with a strong call-to-action with product and price. We had 3 measures of success for the campaign; Customer growth, call volume, and website traffic. Customer growth increased significantly during the period, website traffic increased, and call center volume doubled.

(sneaky 11th question)
Why the emphasis on call-to-action as opposed to other forms of brand building?
If your going to put your name out there, why not throw as much at it as you can to get them in the door.