Case study: The Wool House
Introduction
The Wool House, a 45-bed luxury apartment development in Hexham, Northumberland, is set to open in 2024. With comprehensive expertise in Land and New Homes marketing, we were asked to provide marketing support for the development from inception to completion, having worked for this client before on a previous site, which demonstrated our skill at new homes marketing.
The project
We were tasked with providing comprehensive 360-degree marketing support for the development from the outset. This included developing a name and branding which aimed to convey the unique history and luxuriousness of the development.
Services provided
Marketing strategy; communications strategy; branding; design of all marketing collateral; site signage; CGIs; event planning; PR; social media management; email marketing; video; digital advertising; print advertising; website design; website analysis and importantly, project management to provide a seamless delivery of the marketing plan and all its elements.
Our approach
As the site was formerly home to an old wool warehouse, we came up with a name that reflects the historical aspects of Hexham. The Wool House, as we called it, employs a sophisticated, elegant, and classy font as a nod to the past, using capital letters to evoke a sense of pride. Additionally, we crafted brand elements and assets, including a simplified logo, sheep illustrations, artwork and specific brand fonts and colours.
Working with award-winning consultancy, Dakota, House of Design, which we were instrumental in selecting in partnership with our client – we ensured the interior design wholly reflected the brand identity and colour palette. We worked closely with the Dakota team throughout the project.
The interior CGIs for the development showcase woollen textiles and furnishings in the visuals of the show home and boutique entrance lobbies, which effortlessly tie the whole look together. Dakota utilised a harmonious colour palette of creams and beiges and carefully selected key pieces of woollen furniture. Pairing this with a display of magazines and books on wool, as well as pictures of sheep and the wool making process – the overall look was complete.
We also incorporated a pencil outline of the historic façade of the building as one of the branding elements, which is retained in the new development.
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The Results
The resulting marketing collateral is both memorable and amusing, featuring a sheep, known as Woolliam, as its brand ambassador. Woolliam appears in the sales brochure, on-site hoardings and offers a link via a QR code to the FAQs on the website.
The text within our marketing collateral incorporates sheep themes, such as ‘Ewe’ll love it here,’ and ‘Raising the baa in apartment living’, which aimed to bring a smile to the reader’s face and add a personalised touch to our messaging.
With an apartment development comprising 45 homes, the marketing campaign must be sufficiently flexible to accommodate long-term messaging. Unlike normal housing schemes that can be built in phases, in an apartment development all apartments must be completed at once.
Consequently, the campaign was expected to span around a three to five year timescale necessitating a website design capable of accommodating a campaign of this duration.
We are utilising a combination of monthly digital media, regular social media posting, magazine advertising, email marketing, events and PR to ensure that we reached the ideal customer profile.
A video has also been produced which will be updated as the development progresses. The video will draw in buyers from beyond the region once the initial database of interested local parties has been exhausted, in a bid to bring the region and the development to the outside world.
