Creating a destination brand to cut-through the tough times

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When the property market is booming, any brand can sell a block of land. But when times get tough, it’s brands with a clear positioning that succeed. Introducing Mambourin, a new kind of community.

Mambourin is a new masterplanned community located within a highly competitive area; Melbourne’s Western Growth Corridor. To add to the challenge of launching in this area, the market had started to show signs of softening.

Mambourin straddles two suburbs; Wyndham Vale and the lesser known Mambourin. As the first development in Mambourin, Town Square’s first strategic recommendation was to name the development after the suburb. Wyndham Vale has many negative connotations within the target audience and Mambourin is a blank canvas, so we could ‘own’ the suburb and develop a marketing program in the clear space, setting our own agenda. It also meant that future competitors, which have since launched, are beginning to refer to Mambourin in their communications.

Unlike many developers in the area, Frasers Property Australia has an ambition to make a real difference. Where some developments might deliver a school and others a train station, Frasers’ Mambourin plans to deliver it all; a residents only leisure centre, town centre, wetlands, parks, schools, the list goes on. To help buyers recognise this, we positioned Mambourin as a community-first development, ‘a new kind of community’.

To help the brand cut-through competitive communications, Town Square developed a vibrant visual identity appealing to young homebuyers and the large Indian community buying in this area – creating a positive energy around the brand and making the development feel established.

As part of the launch, instead of creating just another sales centre, Town Square worked with Frasers to develop the Mambourin Discovery Centre, a place where potential buyers and future new members of the community can spend time and learn about Mambourin. This space was designed to be a fun and inviting environment, allowing the visitor time to explore at their leisure. The Mambourin Discovery Centre is also designed as the hub of the community in its early years, providing entertainment and events for residents and the wider community.

As well as press, cinema, and online advertising, a bold outdoor campaign covering the major highways and freeways that lead to Mambourin focused on building brand awareness and driving early enquiry.

With a target of 180 sales in its first 6 months, Mambourin delivered over half of this within its first month with more than 100 lots sold. Sales have remained strong and levels of enquiry high. But most importantly, Mambourin has carved out a unique position in a competitive market, ensuring brand differentiation and preference during its critical launch phase and long into the future.

If you’d like help creating a brand to cut-through in a difficult environment, contact Harry now.