From time to time, certain master-planned communities are built with an established history that provides a strong community vision. These master-planned communities are designed with the intent of allowing future residents to enjoy homes with intrinsic meaning and significance, while offering an extraordinary lifestyle.
In these instances, the master-planned community branding strategy centers around shaping that concept into a compelling brand promise that offers appeal to the right target audience. This was the case for master-planned community The Farm, for which we developed an enticing tagline, captivating brand promise and intuitive brand positioning based on the client’s vision.
When we worked with The Farm, the driving force behind the vision for this master-planned community was clear, and the Milesbrand team was tasked with the role of putting together the pieces to create a meaningful brand. Below, we offer an overarching view of this master-planned community branding project including its background, challenges and how our team utilized a unique key insight to form an unforgettable brand strategy that produced remarkable results.
The Farm’s land has a deep history that goes back to 1947 when John Allison purchased the land to create the Allison Valley Ranch for his family. Originally the site of three dairy farms, Allison converted one of the barns to raise thoroughbred racing horses, and built dams connected to Black Squirrel Creek to create ponds named after his daughters Frances, Mildred, Ann and Mary.
The Allison family cherished this home and went on to raise three generations of their family on the land. Here, the Allison family taught their children how to swim and fish in the beloved ponds, raised trout, grew a vegetable garden and enjoyed family time among the great outdoors. For 70 years, the Allison family lived on the property, and in 2003, John Allison’s children and grandchildren decided to begin a new legacy for the land. They found a development partner to create The Farm, which could be a home for many new families.
Although the land had its own history, it became clear that there were also several other communities nearby that each had its own special story to share. This meant The Farm’s unique story might not be enough to set it apart from similar communities with heartwarming backgrounds meant to touch the hearts of families.
Faced with a cluttered market of multiple master-planned communities offering similar stories to prospective homebuyers, The Farm recognized the need for a branding refresh to remain competitive. The Farm opened in 2015 with a new website and creative developed by the Milesbrand team, but in 2020, the community desired a fresh look that would offer the compelling brand differentiation it needed to surpass its similarities with competing communities. The overall objectives of this campaign were to boost sales, strengthen online and in-person traffic, and remain a top-performing community.
What made The Farm special was a wholesome family legacy that offers a sense of comfort and warmth to new families making their home on the land. The Milesbrand team took hold of that insight and used that to push The Farm’s branding a step further with prospective homebuyers. A compelling brand was created by tying the family history of the land to the growing lifestyles of new families. Built on land cared for by several generations of the Allison family, The Farm would be to new homeowners what it was for its first family – the perfect place to form precious memories and enduring traditions for years to come.
To tie together the three generations of family members raised on the beloved property while also creating great new homes for 500 future families, Milesbrand positioned the community around the theme of Live Abundantly. This tagline makes a compelling brand promise and sets promising expectations for what it’s like to enjoy life at The Farm. It also positions this master-planned community as a place that’s as meaningful and charming today as it was for the first owners over 70 years ago.
The ideal target audience for The Farm is move-up or move-down buyers aged 30 to 65 years. Buyers who fit this profile are expected to be younger parents seeking a special place for their new family home or individuals closer to retirement who desire an inviting place to settle down that they can invite their grandchildren to visit.
To reflect the casual nature and down-home lifestyle this community offers, Milesbrand utilized original photography, as well as fresh creative focused on “growing reasons” to live at The Farm to convey a unique personality and brand tone from any competitor. This idea of abundance speaks to many of the master-planned community’s appealing offerings indicating that in this community homeowners and their families can truly live life to its fullest at every moment, with everything they could wish for and more. The appealing elements that make The Farm a great place to call home include its wide array of outdoor lifestyle amenities, neighborly environment and an extensive share of well-designed homes from prominent home builders.
To establish The Farm as a truly special neighborhood with family values in the minds of prospective buyers, Milesbrand employed several marketing tactics throughout the master-planned community branding campaign. As The Farm approached its groundbreaking, the Milesbrand team redesigned the community’s website with new creative design to draw in and retain online visitors. The Milesbrand team enhanced The Farm’s online reach by creating a variety of digital advertisement formats including:
To maintain strong interest among prospective buyers, Milesbrand designed appealing eblasts to send out to leads in the sales funnel to share relevant updates and information about the master-planned community. The Milesbrand team also implemented attention-grabbing advertising methods to reach buyers outside of their homes with traditional and Pandora radio advertising, print advertising and outdoor advertising
Branding collateral for The Farm also included a digital interactive community brochure that encapsulates the lifestyle and atmosphere provided by the master-planned community. To create deeper interest in The Farm, the digital brochure offers insight into The Farm’s background and developer story, lifestyle benefits and overall architectural vision for its homes.
As a result of this campaign, The Farm has remained a prominent master-planned community in the market since 2015. Through May of 2021, The Farm has closed 143 sales – 64 sales above the year’s projections. There have also been 56 closings – 16 closings above what was projected for the year. Website traffic has doubled and traffic to the models has increased significantly.
The master-planned community branding has also led to several Nationals awards from the National Association of Home Builders. These accolades include The Nationals Silver Award for Best Brochure for a Master-Planned Community in 2016 and Best Radio Commercial in 2018.
Every master-planned community has an origin story, but what matters most is how you share that narrative to uniquely position your brand to prospective buyers. At Milesbrand, we specialize in forming compelling master-planned community branding and exceptional creative design that clearly communicates your community’s key distinctions that set it apart from competitors – its Brand DNA as we like to say.
Browse more of our work here and explore our extensive portfolio of successful master-planned community branding projects with outstanding home builders and developers. Contact Milesbrand today to take your master-planned community from land to brand as we identify your Brand DNA and strategically position your brand for success.