StreetSide Developments is a reputable builder of quality condominiums in Winnipeg. Over the past 30 years, the company has set itself apart from other developers by ensuring quality, style and value are at the heart of every project. We’ve worked with StreetSide on brand identity and other branding projects for a few years, so when they needed help reaching a particular segment of buyers, they turned to us.
Understanding the Challenge
As rental rates rise in Winnipeg, condo ownership has become an increasingly appealing option. StreetSide was looking to tap into renters who might consider buying a condo, so they reached out to us to develop a campaign to showcase the benefits of owning.
Finding the Concept
We wanted to come up with a concept that would walk people through the basics of condo ownership while also highlighting StreetSide as a reputable developer — a venerable quality in the Winnipeg condo development market, where many projects never get off the ground.
Before we could approach conceptualizing this campaign, we held discovery discussions with StreetSide and with condo owners to get a sense of what motivates renters to buy. We also looked inward: As homeowners ourselves, the UpHouse team had a lot of great insights into the value of buying over renting.
What we discovered in these discussions is there are dozens upon dozens of very personal reasons people can benefit from owning over renting — everything from the big stuff, like building equity, to the little things that make life more enjoyable, like being able to paint walls. So we proposed the campaign concept “100 Reasons To Own” — a catchy and organic-feeling idea that would centre on highlighting the many big and small reasons to buy a condo.
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With a strong, engaging concept to guide us, we got to work developing the campaign story and visual identity, as well as concepts for an educational video series rooted in storytelling. We created a simple, clean hashtag-style logo to reinforce social media promotion, and developed a concept design featuring a bolded number paired with smart and playful benefits of condo living.
This visual and conceptual branding was carried through the videos, and to bring a fresh, playful element to the series, we layered animated line illustrations over live video footage. The videos focused on educating first-time home buyers, with a focus on incentives and savings on sunk costs compared to renting. We also profiled a couple who bought a StreetSide condo to bring a human element to the campaign.
What Happened Next?
Supported by a social media campaign, StreetSide rolled out #OneHundredReasonsToOwn throughout 2020, gearing their efforts toward rental-intensive areas where it often costs more to rent than to buy. With many people spending a lot more time at home, the interest in buying has been growing greatly.
Marketing Tips for In-House and Agency Teams
How can you build a smart, engaging campaign to reach a specific market segment?
- It’s not always one unique selling proposition. We sometimes get hung up on identifying one differentiator, but there will often be a lot of reasons along a buyer’s journey. Sometimes it’s better to lean into a lot of little reasons to attract a wider group of buyers.
- Educate, educate, educate. A lack of information can steer decision-making — but not in a good way. Supporting your audience through education gives them the tools they need to make informed buying decisions — and they’ll remember your brand is the one that helped them when it comes time to buy.
- Transparency is directly related to integrity. When a business operates with integrity, they have more opportunity to be transparent. Whether it’s a video about the relative sunk costs of condo ownership versus renting, or sharing stories of actual condo owners, transparency helps build brand affinity with consumers.
