Sun 1 Jul 2007
Market Forces
As buyers get choosier, housebuilders are having to get more sophisticated with their marketing techniques. Natalia Gameson looks at some of the latest methods being used to drive sales.Although it’s difficult to lure some developers away from using good old-fashioned fingerboards and advertising in the local rag to market their latest schemes, a competitive market can make even the most antediluvian of housebuilders hungry for innovation. Take City Lofts’ Milliners Wharf project of 261 flats in Ancoats, East Manchester for instance. Taking the site’s history as a former millinery centre for inspiration, the company formed links with renowned hat designer Victoria Grant and Manchester Metropolitan University in putting on a catwalk show to launch City Lofts’ Graduate of the Year award scheme, given to one student each year from the university to help them start their own business in the fashion industry. Winning the firm lots of brownie points locally, the project aims to show the company’s ongoing commitment to the area, says sales and marketing director Andy Hurst: “We expect this development to have broad appeal to design-conscious home buyers wanting to live near the heart of this exciting city.”
Similarly, what methods should you employ if you want to reach a wider geographical spread of buyers outside of the local comfort zone?
The wand of the web
Few firms know the value of online tools better than Miller Homes, which has recently launched its mymillerstreet.com website, designed to act as a ‘virtual garden fence’ to allow buyers to get to know neighbours who have bought plots in the same development. “We have to be strategic about how we market our developments, and online is currently giving us fantastic results,” says Debbie Dunthorne, Miller Homes North East’s sales and marketing director. “Another useful tool we employ is mymillerhome.com, a site specifically developed to help buyers to track the build process from start to finish.”
Similarly, the majority of new buyers turn to the web when searching for a new pad – 91 per cent in fact, according to a Surfing for Homes report from AN Digital. Advertising on line tends to be extremely cost effective and competitively priced, as the web has failed to take away any substantial advertising revenue from print. “Online advertising will drip feed enquiries and can also generate leads for the official launch of a new development,” says Liz Heron, sales manager at online property portal findanewhome.com. A spin-off of findaproperty.com, where I myself unearthed the flat which my partner and I subsequently bought several months ago, the new website deals specifically with new homes listings, and proffers guides on the likes of buying off-plan or going for a part exchange deal for new homes buyers. “Our property listings can be updated at any time to keep each listing fresh, as well as ensuring buyers are kept in the loop about a development’s progress,” Heron adds. “Listings will also include maps, photos, floor plans, a virtual tour and show home information.”
Property portal whathouse.co.uk also aims to promote new homes above resale properties to give developers more exposure, in addition to providing in depth local information and sound advice for buyers, who can check out common sense, jargon-busting guides to on subjects ranging from affordable housing guides to how-to-do buy-to-let finance. Home to the industry-renowned What House? Awards, now in their 26th year, the site offers advertising at competitive rates, while providing its users with a detailed guide to the housing market.
Affordable housing is the site’s pet project, as it’s an issue that needs to be addressed more clearly, says Sarah Speight, the portal’s editor. “The affordable housing concept was introduced 40 years ago, but it has not been successful in raising mass awareness.”
Tailor-made
Getting a professional in to give proper marketing advice is always likely to be a winner. Marketing consultant Genevieve Usher has been in the industry for the past 25 years, during which period she has amassed considerable experience in the nuances of sales and marketing, bolstered by stints as an assessor judge at the Evening Standard Awards and the wide range of services performed for a variety of blue chip companies, investors and developers.
“I tailor each project to meet a client’s needs through discussion, scoping and agreement of costs,” Usher explains. “I do land and site appraisals to give my recommendations on how marketing opportunities can be maximised, I can set up sales and marketing functions for the private sector and housing associations, in addition to providing mystery buyers, doing consumer research to help the housebuilder to monitor their market performance as well as research into new areas for business expansion.”
Green issues are also becoming more central to Usher’s business. “I’m becoming more and more involved in sustainability, with enquiries coming regularly from housing associations requesting information on new technologies.”
Similarly, Leatherhead-based marketing agency Phoenix offers its clients what it calls an ‘integrated’ approach to combine PR and marketing methods of communication. “Currently, we’re working closely with Banner Homes to develop and enhance their brand,” says Peter Knight, the firm’s chairman. “In addition to creating a new strapline, producing their advertising, marketing and PR material, we’ve developed a strong internal communications strategy including an ‘ideas recognition’ programme, internal awards, an intranet and internal newsletter.”
Home suite home
Acting as a development’s mouthpiece and show home, it’s important to create a good impression at the offset with the right marketing suite. Useful Structures aims to offer developers suites that will attract attention from passers by. “Many clients told us they needed more than just a ‘cabin’,” says Tim Chambers, the firm’s project manager. “They wanted higher ceilings, lots of glazing and a fast plug-and-play solution, Our new Landmark system, which is an offsite construction solution and fitted with a working loo, kitchenette, air conditioning, security and electrics all ready for construction to services, can be designed internally by our clients if required. It’s already proving a big success with its first clients.”
Similarly, SLS Group’s marketing suites aim to reflect the image of the properties they are selling in addition to the ethos and brand image of the developer. In providing high standard, flexible and durable suite designs, the firm also takes
care to use the most energy efficient materials possible, while the reusability of the models reflects the firm’s strong ecological policy, says company spokeswoman Cathel Maclean: “We do anything and everything from functional marketing suites to sports halls with full-sized running tracks, and aim to make sure everything is sustainable, in being efficient to heat, cool down and light up, to ensure your business needs are met. Our suites can also be constructed on any surface, adapted to other purposes while in use and quickly installed and fitted.”
Spitting Image
Three-dimensional representations are likely to be the future of visual property marketing, and new marketing company 3D To Build has been quick to get in on the act. Initially established to assist companies throughout the planning process to help individual committees to visualise individual projects, the firm can produce a range of models viewable to anyone with an internet connection via its animated graphic camera. “Most housebuilders buy a plot of land and only put one show house on it throughout the build process,” says Andrew Milton, a director with the firm. “We can show your buyers a number of different property types that are peopled with actual three-dimensional models, in addition to animating water features and opening unit doors in kitchens and bathrooms.”
Having the potential to alter the course of a public consultation programme – aspects of the build that need changing can be done so immediately on screen – this simple concept offers an efficient and eco-friendly solution via a firm whose recent project is a £6million house for Millennium Estates in Manchester. “This scheme alone shows that the future of selling houses is in our technique,” Milton continues. “We turned around the initial data on this project in around three weeks – using data, plans, elevation details and a material schedule, we can come up with a slick 3D, landscape-based model that is very impressive, and can be quickly altered and adjusted whenever necessary.”
Similarly, model makers Red and Gray have been producing 3D visualisations, animation and graphics since launching in 2001. The firm’s most recent project is a 14-department scheme in Usk, Newport for George Wimpey South Wales, where the company provided a set of still images for a three-minute animation programme at a planning committee meeting. Allowing for much design tweaking, George Wimpey has now gained planning permission for the scheme thanks to the programme, say Red and Gray, who are hoping to build on their relationship with the housebuilder by offering their services to the sales department to develop what has been created so far in the project into marketing visuals.
First published in Show House Magazine July 2007.
The greatest care has been taken to ensure accuracy but some information contained within this article may have changed since it was first published.
Posted by Natalia Gameson
in 3D To Build, Features, Find a New Home, Genevieve Usher, Phoenix, Red and Gray, SLS Group, Useful Structures, What House? on Sun 1 Jul 2007
Joelle(certified French teacher)
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