Most creative marketing award

Private Housing

Winner

Miller’s emotional rollercoaster research, which charted how homebuyers feel at every stage of the buying process, made Miller a winner. Where emotional lows have been identified by the research, Miller has implemented a range of measures to aid customers, including a website, welcome meetings and nine new communication initiatives. The company is now working on a second phase of follow-up research looking at the impact of these measures. The judges said: “They do spend a lot of time on research, and their creative marketing was very comprehensive. The link with results was very strong and impressed us enormously.”

Finalists

A Valentine’s day marketing campaign and other seasonal promotions made small North East of England Bowey Homes stand out for the judges. The company has also introduced a Personal Options service allowing buyers to choose from 3750 options. “It is good to see a small company understanding the importance of good marketing. They are putting a lot of time, money and effort into it, and it looks to be a good investment,” the judges said.

Churchill Retirement Living

The rebranding of Emlor Homes as Churchill Retirement Living is one of the big housebuilding success stories. The new name followed a major research project gauging people’s opinion of the Emlor name and potential alternatives. The rebranding has been extremely popular with buyers and reservations have increased by more than 50%.

Affordable Housing

Winner

Family Housing Association

“Wanted: practical, problem solver with hands-on approach,” runs the headline in a Family HA recruitment advert alongside a picture of a Rubik’s Cube. “They are just great ads, refreshing and different,” said the judges on looking through this and other examples of Family’s promotional material. The housing association rebranded following a survey that found that Family was perceived as staid and old-fashioned. As a result of its comprehensive rebranding – implemented across the board from website to recruitment advertising – the HA gets more media coverage, more website traffic, more applicants for jobs and has won partner status on prestige developments. As well as loving the adverts, the judges noted: “They have gone to a lot of trouble to create a cohesive brand. We liked the fact that they emphasised the value of their brand in attracting high-calibre staff.”

Finalists

Circle 33 is following in the footsteps of Damian Hirst; like the Brit Art star, they have discovered the appeal of brightly coloured dots. The affordable housing provider has rebranded its marketing material for shared ownership housing to give it a fresh, contemporary and stylish look, using the circle designs. Another feature of the design is colour coding to mark out different local authority areas. The rebranding has increased enquiries for shared ownership homes and has had positive feedback in a recent customer satisfaction survey.

Sunderland Housing Group

With its Pathway Homes brand, Sunderland Housing Group was aiming to present a registered social landlord as a viable supplier of quality housing, and change public perception about renting, as well as generate enquiries. Marketing messages include an emphasis on community and promotion of the overall environment, as much as the homes themselves. The first Pathways scheme sold out in 15 minutes, with people queuing for a week to secure a home. More than 5000 people applied to rent one of the first 15 homes available.