Veidekke Eiendom is the property division of one of Scandinavia's major construction companies, Veidekke. In the summer of 2007, they acquired real estate previously occupied by Norway's largest chocolate producer Freia (later merged with Kraft) at Rodeløkka, Oslo. The old factory buildings will make way for new apartments.

Spring 2010 saw the first apartments in the first building phase put on the market. It was decided that the project would not go ahead before 50 percent of the apartments were sold. This presented a challenge as the area was largely unknown both outside of and within Oslo, and Veidekke Eiendom had nothing but planning drawings to present.

Veidekke knew that the absence of physical properties to showcase meant using the existing neighbourhood for what it was worth, despite the lack of knowledge about the area. Veidekke decided to think outside of the box and not spend a lot of money on traditional channels, but rather go with a unique blogging project, and with that give birth to Norway's smallest local newspaper. The results have been formidable. By the end of August the property sales hit 30 percent above targets, and construction began in January 2011.

Veidekke established the online micro-paper Rodenytt (www.rodenytt.no) - a communication channel which is both more immediate to the target group and which would exist far longer than traditional media stories. Rodenytt also became the main link between the commercial project (www.konfektfabrikken.no) and activities on social media like Facebook and traditional media stories. It covers daily life in Rodelokka and provides historical information about the area.

Our PR agency runs its editorial output with the help of local talent. Rodenytt on Facebook has channelled more traffic to both Rodenytt and the Chocolate Factory project. Both Rodenytt and the Facebook page have not only increased the profile of Rodelokka but also generated traffic to the prospect. In its turn, the prospect has held up Rodenytt as the most important source of information about the local area. The estate agents working with the prospect actively referred interested buyers to Rodenytt.

The project has generated great interest and sales have been rapid.

40 apartments were sold by October 2010 (48 percent of all apartments in the first building-stage) and the construction was given the go-ahead.

By mid-September more than 800 people had signed a list of interested buyers. By March, 72 of 84 apartments in the first stage were sold. Rodenytt continues as a small local paper providing important information during the building process, which affects the neighbourhood from 2011-2014. Then, the residents of the Chocolate Factory will take over the publication. Rodenytt is not only an interesting business case; it also represents a development where commercial players to a larger extent will develop and use their own editorial channels. Traditional media coverage becomes less important for certain building projects, while more efforts are put into reaching an audience directly by providing them with interesting reading, not only intrusive sales communication.