St Edward: The launch of Hartland Village
When we were appointed to provide PR services for the launch of Hartland Village, St Edward’s exciting flagship scheme of 1,500 homes in Fleet, we knew we needed to create narratives that would not only gain traction with journalists and work across all media platforms but also set the tone for this long-term project.
Objective: Secure press coverage in National and London press titles to ultimately raise awareness, drive footfall and generate sales leads.
After thorough research and creative brainstorming, we carefully crafted the ‘Leapfrog London’ campaign to target the national and London press titles.
Using new market research from Knight Frank, we outlined the significant difference in price between the average home in Hart, Hampshire – Hartland Village’s location – and a number of London hotspots to highlight the prime opportunity this new scheme presented for buyers looking to avoid the cost of city living, without compromising on location, connectivity or aspiration. Supported by added comment from a local estate agent and St Edward’s spokesperson, our campaign was original and newsworthy. Coverage was secured in prime target titles including The Independent, Evening Standard, Metro and The Sunday Express, reaching 3,424,342 people in the launch period alone.
Objective: Build positive, long-term relationships with local press and the wider community, as well as generate awareness of the scheme locally and generate sales leads from Hart-based buyers.
We knew the local community would have a very important role to play in the development of Hartland Village. The scheme is being created to serve and benefit them as well as residents, and many buyers come from the local area, so establishing positive relationships with local people and influencers was crucial.
- Step 1: Our first action was to invite local journalists to the site for a full media briefing to provide an update on St Edward’s plans for the scheme.
- Step 2: This was followed by the distribution of a local press release which outlined St Edward’s objectives and plans for the development. This resulted in positive coverage in local publications over the launch period, including the Aldershot News and Mail, Farnham Herald and the Basingstoke Observer.
- Step 3: Maintain consistent communication with these targets, providing updates on site progress and community activity as regularly as possible.
Getting off on the right foot, with transparency and clear channels of communication, has contributed to a constructive and ongoing rapport between St Edward and the local community; the local titles continue to generate positive coverage of events and other key milestones at Hartland Village.
St Edward: A digital take for Green Park Village
In 2020 St Edward also appointed PHM to work on its landmark scheme Green Park Village in Reading, during the heart of the first lockdown. With the entire population adjusting to a new way of working, living and importantly communicating, we strategized an impactful digital campaign for our first project…
Going digital: First-time buyer happy hour webinar.
Objective: Open channels of communication with potential buyers during the height of lockdown to generate awareness of Green Park Village and potential sales leads.
At the height of Zoom pub quizzes, we made the most of the tools available and organised a webinar; it targeted first-time buyers with educational and informative market content, but ensured the social, informal and chatty aspects weren’t lost to maximise engagement and interest. To widen our pool of attendees, PHM identified high-profile, expert speakers to accompany a St Edward spokesperson on the panel; Jade Vanriel (a social media personality and first-time buyer) and educational platform Move IQ.
Through targeted promotion, including the speakers’ own social media channels, the event was incredibly well received; over 400 people RSVP’d and 285 attended the event, which PHM chaired.
Using a new platform and a collaborative approach the St Edward team was able to share information and engage with a wider audience digitally and geographically, in turn increasing awareness of the scheme.