The challenge
Research Solutions was approached by a client looking to launch a new brand in the second homebuilder market. This company had an innovative product offer designed to appeal to Gen Y and Millennials. It needed research to:
- “Flesh out” are the attributes of the new brand. How do you best position the brand in a crowded market?
- Investigate responses to the new product offering – an online tool allowing potential buyers to select one of over 300 home designs, personalise it and see the cost in real-time.
Research Solutions worked with the client and their Melbourne based marketing consultancy to launch the brand from scratch and track its progress.
Our approach
The project began with desktop research to look at global trends in the housing market. We held four focus groups with the target market to explore their attitudes to the process of building a home and to home-building companies. These highly interactive sessions resulted in developing a brand “manifesto”. This manifesto clearly outlined what Gen Y and Millennials wanted in a builder they could trust.
We held another series of focus groups to test the offer: how did the market respond to the online tool? What appeal did it hold, and how could it be improved?
The outcome
The brand was launched in November of that year with a soft launch into a very depressed market. Use of the software and enquiries were initially slow, leading to some online research to further fine-tune the product. Sales were slow to take off, but these increased significantly with the opening of display homes.
Today, sales are well above forecast and are making significant inroads into the customers of major players in the market.
Research Solutions has continued fine-tuning the product to meet customer needs.
