Harnessing the power of custom AI, Colorsteel and Together’s machine learning model has dramatically changed the way the roofing business finds potential clients.
Colorsteel specialises in residential steel roofing and last year it tasked media agency Together with increasing the volume and efficiency of its digital lead generation in Auckland.
This partnership resulted in Roof ID, a machine learning model that uses satellite images to identify roofs in need of replacement and then targets media to those homes.
Most re-roofing happens when people are renovating, but Colorsteel found this market had stalled as a result of rising interest rates and the tough economic climate post-Covid.
But Auckland’s wild weather in early 2023 revealed an opportunity: homeowners who weren’t renovating but needed a new roof anyway as a result of degradation.
Colorsteel knew this group of people typically don’t enter the market until they experience a leak, but proactively identifying this audience would mean preventing damage before it was too late.
But spotting an ageing roof has long been a labour-intensive, manual process, where sales teams walk the streets looking at each roof individually, and then drop a flyer in the mailbox.
To do this at scale, on every street in Auckland, would be a nightmare. So this is where the satellite imagery – which has captured an aerial view of every roof in Aotearoa – comes in.
The team trained a machine learning model to analyse these satellite images and identify the roofs that need to be replaced.
The model checked hundreds of thousands of properties in hours, providing a list of latitude and longitude locations of the ones with a degrading roof. This information was then used to target media to those homes.
As far as Colorsteel and Together knew, nothing like this had been done before in Aotearoa – or overseas – and while it was a hugely complex project, the hard work paid off.
Roof ID targets Colorsteel’s media to the homes that matter most, resulting in higher advertising performance at a much lower cost.
The initiative taught both brand and agency the importance of harnessing technology and data, and the power of AI to transform traditional targeting methods.
It has also offered Colorsteel the edge over its competitors by identifying a unique audience, as well as a precise understanding of where to focus its marketing and on-the-ground efforts.
Colorsteel’s Senior Brand Manager describes Roof ID as a game-changer that has enhanced its marketing efforts in a challenging area. As a result, the machine learning model is being rolled out across Wellington and Christchurch.
Judges’ comments
“Game-changing strategy and genuinely clever use of new technology. Revolutionised the way that the business generates leads. A clever combination of media strategy and creative.”
This was first published in the 2024 September-October NZ Marketing Magazine issue. Subscribe here.
