JOHN MANLOVE | CASE STUDIES | CREEKSIDE PARK
Clarify
Creekside Park, the newest village in The Woodlands, embodies the “natural” spirit of the entire community. Bordering the 1,700-acre George Mitchell Nature Preserve, Creekside Park has unprecedented access to nature and outdoor activities like camping, canoeing, fishing, kayaking and hiking.
In early 2007, The Woodlands Development Company (TWDC) was planning for Creekside's Grand Opening, which would take place on Oct. 20 of that year. John Manlove Marketing & Communications, as TWDC's agency of record, would establish a brand identity for Creekside Park, generate homebuyer awareness for the 3,500-acre village and draw people to the Grand Opening event.
Brand
- Brand Analysis: Nature is central to the master plan of The Woodlands and, accordingly, central to our branding of the entire development. But the nature integrated into Creekside Park is not only more prevalent, it's also more raw. The neighborhood enjoys all modern amenities, of course, but most villages have integrated hike trails and parks. Creekside has integrated camping and kayaking. Any creative had to embody this, as well as highlight the family time intended for these amenities.
- Brand Position/Promise: For middle- to upper-middle-class families, Creekside Park offers the convenience and security of the state's No. 1 master-planned community enhanced with unrivaled access to natural amenities.
- Brand Identity: Our creative theme ended up as "Life's Next Great Adventure." Stretching across all media, the campaign focused on original photography of families enjoying outdoor activities in Creekside Park. These were enhanced with layered graphics evoking the shapes of nature, from wild flowers to butterflies. All the advertising also featured icons evoking nature and family; these became navigational tools on a microsite developed specifically for the village.
As a subset of the campaign, the Grand Opening event invitation, signage and collateral featured similar colors and images as the advertising campaign, but it also included a unique graphic component: a colorful hot air balloon. One of the main attractions of the event was a free hot-air balloon ride for you and your friends or family.
Reach
The primary mediums in the integrated plan for "Life's Next Great Adventure" were television, radio and print. A large television buy incorporated both broadcast and cable television in morning and evening time slots — we rotated two 30-second spots, which were shot on film and edited in HD. (These spots were combined to form an extended video used in The Woodlands' Homefinder Center.) A 60-second radio spot was used on select stations in morning and afternoon drive times. And a print buy covered the Greater Houston area in both lifestyle and new home publications.
In support of the village, a collateral package and a microsite reflecting the creative were developed. Besides some updates in content, the site and the collateral are still used today.
As mentioned above, for the village's Grand Opening event, JMMC developed two invitations (one VIP, one regular) and a variety of signage and collateral materials.
Results
Essentially, the result of this campaign was traffic — in all forms. While the advertising campaign was running, The Woodlands website and the Creekside Park microsite experienced record visits. Then, the Creekside Grand Opening experienced the largest traffic of any village opening, with more than 20,000 attending throughout the weekend.
This led to sales. After only three months, more than 100 homes had been sold — during a time of year that tends to be slow for the real estate market.
Awards
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