June 24, 2021
Willowsford was the first agri-hood in the Capital Region and the best-selling, single-family community in the area for many years. We’d like to think their marketing had something to do with their success but, truly, they made it easy with the beauty of Willowsford Farm and Conservancy, the quality of their amenities and the joy and connection their lifestyle programming facilitated.
SparkFire became Willowsford’s agency in 2016, about five years into their project. Our challenge was to build on the foundation of the brand and keep what people loved about it, but refresh it in a significant enough way that it attracted new prospects and reengaged existing prospects.
We start by listening. Our process has been refined over 20 years of working with builders, developers, planners and architects. We’re skilled at getting the very best thinking from your team members to uncover the key elements of your community’s identity. It works as well for small companies and communities as it does for small towns.
With the understanding we take from our initial input sessions and research as our foundation, we articulate the market positioning for your community and define a platform and personality that will resonate most deeply with your intended target audiences, whether they are residents, retailers or office tenants.
Now it’s time to turn ideas into designs. In our experience, most people can’t describe the design they’re looking for, but they know it when they see it. By presenting up to 10 concepts (unlike the typical 2 to 3), we invite team critique and true collaboration that results in everyone’s confidence in the final campaign.
With a strategic position and a memorable campaign, you’re ready to go to market. We’ll tailor a marketing strategy and a media plan to your lead-generation goals and budget, then continually optimize your messaging and media to maximize performance.
Our 4-step creative process gives our clients confidence in their creative direction and marketing strategy from pre-sales through close-out. For Willowsford, it helped increase on-site traffic to their Information Centers, accelerate sales, and gain regional market share.
We’re so honored to have been a part of Willowsford and we are grateful to the team behind this community for trusting us with their brand. Although we hate to say goodbye, we love that every home holds a family. Our job is done.
When we think back on our years working with Willowsford, so many fun projects come to mind. Take a peek at some of the branding, marketing and collateral pieces we created for them over the years.