For many, the emotional investment of purchasing a property far outweighs the financial investment.

‍

Buyers will weigh up not only the location and price of a property, but also how the property will make them feel and how they envision their life now, and in the future.With increased demand for owner-occupiers and a changing property market, developers are finding ways to create an evocative connection with potential buyers.

‍

Domain marketing manager Kimberly Anderson sat down with Nick Sammut and Malcolm Gray from Toast Creative to gather some insight on the importance of strategic branding and placemaking for new developments.

‍

When working with developers, Nick and Malcolm explain that the key reason for creating a memorable brand is to create an emotional connection with the audience and differentiate your development from other offerings in the market.

‍

A brand should cover the following three items, all of which should be an extension of the place-making strategy:

‍

The brand should encapsulate the vision for that project by giving future residents an image of what their lifestyle will look like in their new home;

‍

The brand should give a vision of how the development will benefit the local area;

‍

The brand should reflect how the project fits within the local community.

‍

A brand should be the essence of a development; and a strong brand should inform the narrative and design of the development.

‍

One of Toast Creative's most effective brand campaigns was for The Orchards, a development by Sekisui House in Norwest.

‍

The success of the brand campaign for The Orchards can be attributed to the brand story and how this brand was communicated to the market.

‍

Toast Creative developed a brand for the The Orchards that encapsulated the rich heritage of the area, with nostalgic values that speak to the Norwest community and the target market.

‍

So how can a developer effectively communicate a brand story to the market?

‍

“An online presence is vital, and a project listing on a website such as Domain is the bedrock of any marketing campaign” explains Sammut.

‍

“We worked with Domain to develop a campaign that would help The Orchards shine in the property market… the campaign enabled us to reach a wide audience, without losing the essential brand essence."

‍

“For us, content is king; we paired a content series with print ads in the Domain magazine. This was a really special campaign and a first in Australia.

‍

"Our ad in the Domain Magazine was a scented ad that had an orange scent. This allowed readers to have an immersive brand experience that connected them with the heritage of the site,” Sammut said.

‍

Toast creative paired more traditional marketing methods with some digital products such as a social and display campaign.

‍

To create a rounded, immersive campaign Toast created a 270 degree video experience. The video captured a day in the life living at The Orchards using a combination of film and CGI.

‍

The video was then shared as part of a social media campaign directed to a targeted audience.

‍

“This added to the journey for the buyer – they read the article, saw the listing online and then were likely delivered the video online.

"We found that this really uplifted their interest in the development,” Sammut said.

‍

“We believe that a memorable brand, paired with a strong communication strategy helped The Orchards cut through in a difficult market” explains Gray.

‍

Working with a credible brand such as Domain helped to build trust in the brand and built a long-term future for the master planned community.

‍

‍This article originally appeared on The Urban Developer.