Reinforcing the Value of Nature to Position Crystal Valley, a Master-Planned Community in Colorado

Every master-planned community is more than just land, homes and amenities – it’s a destination with a compelling differentiation that simply has to be discovered. Branding is all about expanding on those differentiators with an appealing tagline and enthralling brand promise that speaks to what life could be when buyers choose to find their new home in the community.

When we created a community vision and branding concept for Crystal Valley, we considered how its outdoor appeal could set it apart and significantly benefit homeowner lifestyles. What we learned is that nature is more than just a lovely selling point, it’s also the key to unlocking happiness.

Below, we’ll share insight into the background of Crystal Valley and how our team transformed this amazing nature-based community into the perfect setting to achieve unlimited joy.

Background

Crystal Valley is a charming nature-filled master-planned community located in the heart of Castle Rock, Colorado. Named a Top 5 Colorado Master-Planned Community, Crystal Valley delivers affordable high-quality homes by outstanding builders, as well as direct access to hiking trails, 600 acres of open space, wildlife areas and other amenities.

Here, homeowners enjoy abundant green space, miles of trails, wide-open vistas and a wide variety of parks close to home. At Crystal Valley, parks are truly the heart of the community, perfect for families to connect and children to explore nature. From mountain biking at Rhyolite Regional Park to ziplining at Phillip S. Miller Park or taking in panoramic views, homeowners can explore endless outdoor activities at the local community parks.

Crystal Valley also boasts the new-and-improved Pinnacle Park and Rec Center. This high-end center is home to workout facilities and a pool, as well as year-round community activities including group fitness classes, seasonal activities, costume contests, holiday parties and more! Pinnacle Park also provides outdoor sports courts, toddler play areas, an outdoor amphitheater, a Xeriscape garden and a dog park.

This beautifully situated community also delivers close proximity to the lovely town of Castle Rock, a picturesque environment filled with friendly faces and small-town charm. Home to more than 20 parks with world-class amenities, Castle Rock offers homeowners so many ways to play and soak up the joys of being in nature!

Target Audience

We knew that the key benefits of Crystal Valley would appeal to a broad target audience. We aimed to market this nature-first master-planned community to first-time buyers, move-up families and active adult buyers. We particularly intended to reach outdoor enthusiasts who are dedicated to an active lifestyle and enjoy pursuing nature-based activities.

Brand Challenge

Our overarching goal for the community branding and marketing was to refresh and re-energize the Crystal Valley brand. For this community, we wanted to dig further into the compelling appeal of a nature-focused lifestyle, and what could reinforce the value of a life spent outdoors in this remarkable community. Crystal Valley offers an extensive array of outdoor activities and opportunities that sets it apart from other master-planned communities – but what makes that extra dose of nature so special?

Key Insight

Living in Crystal Valley means you are literally surrounded by nature. The community offers a beautiful pastoral setting and a respite from the bustle of city living. Designed to be different than anywhere else in Castle Rock, Crystal Valley delivers a neighborhood that feels like its own nature enclave, without being too removed from local conveniences. When buyers choose to call Crystal Valley home, they earn easy access to regional parks that are in a league all their own.

Everyone talks about the beauty of nature, but many of us fail to truly take the time to immerse ourselves in outdoor experiences. Well, at Crystal Valley, homeowners can answer the calls of the wild by enjoying an abundance of space for fun and imaginative play. With ample opportunities to engage with the great outdoors, homeowners can experience a certain sense of being one with nature. Just outside the front door, acres and acres of open space for exploring and plenty of other reasons that provide a push toward the outdoors and into the Colorado sunshine await homeowners.

Brand Strategy

Spending time outdoors seems like a beneficial practice but are there actually any proven long-term effects on our wellbeing? As it turns out, we discovered quantifiable evidence that living in and with nature helps people in numerous ways. Those ways included fighting depression, improving physical and mental health, helping to make us happier and even making us kinder.

Nature is more than just beautiful, it’s a powerful force that impacts the way we feel both physically and mentally. Thus, our brand positioning for the community became, “The Nature of Happiness.”

It's simply a fact that the more time you spend in nature, the happier and healthier you become. We sprinkled these nature-based factoids throughout all advertising tactics in order to help reinforce and pay off the tagline. Some of the evidence we uncovered and used to market Crystal Valley included:

• 5 minutes/day in nature improves your sense of well-being.
• 20 minutes/day in nature makes you feel more alive and increases fitness levels.
• 5-10 hours/week in nature improves your focus and attention span.
• Exercising in nature is almost twice as likely to create a sense of well-being than exercising indoors.
• People who live closer to nature are generally happier than those who don’t.
• Memory and attention span improve 20 percent after an hour spent in nature.
• Simply walking in nature is three times more likely to brighten your mood.

Crystal Valley connects you to nature unlike anywhere else in Castle Rock. If nature offers us incredible joy, then finding happiness is as easy as stepping out your front door when you live at Crystal Valley!

Tactics

Our primary responsibilities for Crystal Valley included creating a community vision and executing compelling branding. We conceived the brand promise: “The Nature of Happiness,” and used this concept to guide all of the community’s visual elements. This consisted of community signage, wayfinding signage, collateral and sales office sales and marketing displays. We also designed the community website and produced copy that fit the overarching brand theme of discovering happiness in nature and enjoying the ultimate outdoor experience at Crystal Valley.

We implemented a marketing strategy to promote the community that entailed both online and offline marketing strategies. Our digital marketing efforts included, creating and maintaining the website, providing performance reports and conducting search engine marketing through display ads, email marketing, mobile ads and real estate information portals. We also developed an effective social media strategy and helped design creative brand content. Our offline marketing tactics included print ads, radio ads and outdoor ads, as well as original lifestyle photography that illustrated the beauty of a life enjoyed at Crystal Valley.

Results

As a result of this marketing and branding strategy, Crystal Valley saw phenomenal responses to the community. The graphic continuity reignited consumer awareness and helped produce 201 closings in the first year! The overall campaign led to a total of 500 new leads for the community. Our work also earned three Gold Nationals awards and three Denver MAME awards for our team’s awe-inspiring creative design and excellent digital marketing strategies.

The Crystal Valley website also achieved fantastic traffic throughout the course of the marketing campaign. It received 90% more traffic from new visitors, as well as 75% more traffic as a result of online advertising initiatives.

Social content produced for Crystal Valley also made a significant contribution to the community’s incredible results. The community’s social content successfully earned a combined reach of 200k and received a total of 6.5k social engagements.

Take Your Master-Planned Community From Land to Brand with Milesbrand

Creating a successful master-planned community brand is all about uncovering its underlying unique real estate value propositions. Brand positioning enables home builders and developers to introduce the community to the right target audience with the right message through powerful marketing strategies and captivating creative design.

Let us help you identify and communicate your community’s compelling differentiators and set an effective foundation for your brand. We’ll take your master-planned community From Land to Brand – it’s what we do best! Contact us today to learn more about creating an engaging brand for your master-planned community.