Why Should Developers Develop Their Own Brand?

The Overlooked Value of an Overarching Identity

Developers excel at selling properties and projects. They’ll photograph the interiors in high-definition, design exquisitely crafted logos, describe the amenities in beautiful prose, and create cinematic films complete with drone footage and sun-kissed shots of residents smiling and laughing.

But rarely do they turn that marketing brilliance in on their own brand. Developer brands, in comparison, can feel less considered, with identities that don’t have quite the same distinctiveness, consistency or clarity as the projects they stand behind.

This is a real missed opportunity, especially when the developer’s brand holds crucial sway in buyers’ purchasing decisions, including that much-coveted audience: first-timer buyers.

Here’s why developers should start marketing themselves, and not just their properties.

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‍Developer Branding: A Real Seal of Quality‍

We don’t need to tell you that buying a property is a big decision, especially when median house prices in Sydney now stand at a hefty $1.7m. 

Because of the sheer scale of money involved, buyers will scan and scrutinise every detail to feel confident that it’s a worthwhile investment, including the amenities, architecture, layout, materials, finishes, neighbourhood and, of course, the developer that pulls all the strings together.

As The Urban Developer notes, if the developer brand they stumble upon is unclear, unfinished or unknown to the buyer, it rubs off on the whole project, undermining their confidence that the properties will be delivered on-time, or that they can trust all the claims made on the project website.

When viewed like this, your brand isn’t a minor detail to be tucked away on your project website, but the ultimate antidote to property anxiety, reassuring buyers that their hard-earned money is in safe hands.

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The Foundations to Sell Faster‍

Another unexpected benefit of developer branding is efficiency. When you have a clear brand strategy, values and positioning in place, you’ve got a clear framework within which to market all your future properties. 

Every project you promote can build on the big idea behind your brand, and be tied back to what you stand for as a business. This means you don’t need to reinvent the wheel every time, or start completely from scratch, accelerating the pace at which you can go to market.

Better still, if your developer brand has grown its profile and has built its own following online, you’ve got a ready-made pool of customers to push out new projects too. All of a sudden, your own social channels become another way to spread the word about your projects, helping you reach people who are actively interested in your work. Think of them as fans who can’t wait to see what you do or make next.

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Anchor Group & Calira:
Elevating the Brand to Elevate Every Project

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Anchor Group, a leading development, construction and asset management firm, had outgrown and outpaced their brand. They specialise in designing luxury homes and commercial spaces, and wanted the quality of their brand to reflect the unmistakable quality of their projects. So we refocused their offering around their true value: designing properties that don’t just look good, but enhance the way people live, work and play each day. We made this approach the core of their new brand, giving rise to a value proposition that’s all about high-level lifestyle curation, “The Art of Elevated Living”.

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View the Anchor Brand

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This elevated brand helped elevate their latest development project, Calira, Mortlake, a collection of luxury residences nestled near the banks of the Parramatta River. Drawing inspiration from “The Art of Elevated Living”, we homed in on the serene riverside lifestyle that these residences give you access to. We crafted the tagline, “Where Life Flows Naturally”, and shone a light on all the benefits and features of life by the water, from natural walking paths and easy ferry access to sweeping views of Sydney Harbour.

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View the Calira Brand

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Build Your Brand on Strong Foundations

We specialise in helping developers make brands that meet buyers’ high expectations. Reach out to Nick and Emile for a complimentary discovery session – we look forward to collaborating.

Email us at: hello@toast.au

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In Case You Missed It:
TOAST Paints the Town Green

TOAST recently turned 20, and we’ve done plenty to celebrate, including a *very green* birthday event (after all, we’d be hypocrites if our own event wasn’t in our brand colours…). See who attended, what we got up to, and why it was an event for the ages.

Read our Summary‍