Project Overview
Create a premium brand for a land estate in a suburb no one's heard of, using the name of the client's grandfather?
Challenge accepted.
Project Commissioner
Project Creator
Team
Lars Weisenberger - Creative Director
Alysha Sandow - Design Director
Katie Fraser - Senior Graphic Designer
Lars Weisenberger - Copywriter
Kate Ballis - Photographer
Anthony Bray - Account Director
Michelle Davis - Senior Account Manager
Project Brief
The brief for Aldo was to create a brand that celebrated family, community and the lasting legacy involved with creating a home.
It was a very personal undertaking for the client, who wanted us to use the name Aldo as it was their grandfather's name. This wasn't a fact that they wanted to promote, but it was an idea that we felt conjured up notions that would really connect with our target markets.
The development was located in the new suburb of Fraser Rise in Melbourne's north west and the client was keen to create a premium, but affordable brand that would put the area on the map. As much as the whole process was about making sales, it was also about pioneering a new community that would be far bigger than this one estate.
Project Innovation/Need
Our approach to Aldo (the eventual one - more on that in the Challenge section), was far less traditional than those of our competitors in the local area. They all depicted their communities in a very similar, stereotypical fashion. There were lots of bright colours and images of kids running through vast fields with kites or picture perfect families posing unnaturally whilst staring down the barrel of the camera. They all just felt a touch inauthentic and cheesy. The project group thought we could aspire to be more.
Our Aldo brand would be a complete departure from the expected. Rather than bright colours, we went pastel. Our design aesthetic was simple and minimal. We hired an incredible photographer and great talent with the brief that we wanted images that felt real; like actual moments in time for people living in the area.
Everything was geared to create an aspirational, premium brand unlike anything else seen in the area. Our target market were people looking to get the very best value for their money while compromising as little as possible on their dream home vision. By providing them a superior looking product with a competitive price point, we felt Aldo would be a very compelling proposition.
Design Challenge
Without doubt, the biggest challenge we encountered while working on the Aldo project was communication. On both the client side and the agency side, there were many people constantly buzzing around attending to various tasks and overseeing aspects of the brand development process. Clearly at one point there was a communication breakdown, which culminated in the client telling us that the approved creative direction we had been rolling out across all forms of collateral was no longer their desired direction.
Hearing this news at the eleventh hour was a little surprising, however, we couldn't argue with the client's motivations. They were legitimate, just completely new to us.
We had pitched a very friendly, bright, upbeat brand that portrayed the vibrant lifestyle that was being created in the north west region. However, the direction that the client wanted us to pursue was to emphasise a more premium, refined approach to a land estate.
Therefore, we had to shelve 99% of the work that had been done and start fresh. Although this change of direction did put stress on our timeframes, we were able to deliver a solution that met the client's requirements, without losing sight of the attributes that would help the brand resonate with our target market.
Effectiveness
Ultimately, the Aldo campaign kicked off with a bang. Upon public launch, the first stage sold out within a week. This is likely due to the fact that there was a great deal of pent up demand for land in the area, the fact that the price points were very accessible and the implementation of a considered brand and marketing campaign.
Prior to making the stage 1 lots available for purchase, we ran a 4 week registration of interest campaign that allowed us to build a significant database of leads for the sales agent. This strategy ensured we had many willing purchasers lined up, so that upon launch we would sell out quickly and portray ourselves as a highly sought after new estate.
They say start off in the manner you wish to continue, and that is exactly what we did at Aldo.
Graphic Design - Identity and Branding - Lifestyle
This award celebrates creativity and innovation in the traditional or digital visual representation of ideas and messages. Consideration given to clarity of communication and the matching information style to audience.
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