SALFORD LIVING

30.06.09

Brand Development

A subsidiary of IOR Group Limited, this group of 8 retirement villages located in three states had a distinctly different branding for each village, but wanted to unite them with a master corporate brand which would unify them into a cohesive whole and make them instantly recognisable as part of the Salford Living brand, while also retaining a point of difference for each state and community.

The tri-layered multi-pointed logo we developed is representative of the different villages coming together into one unified community.  We then used unique colour harmonies to adapt the logo to each state.

For Queensland (Bellcarra and Saford Waters) we used gold and blue to represent the golden sands and blue waters of the beaches. For Victoria (Gillin Park, Salford Park and Tarneit Skies) the warm grey and green used is reminiscent of the leafy city streets and urban appeal of Melbourne, and South Australia's colours are the traditional burgundy and green heritage colours that are so common there (The Grange, Salford village and Unity village).

In our creative applications we wanted to achieve a friendly, fun and young-at-heart image, while complementing Salford's strong community focus.  We decided to visit some of the villages and capture some candid shots of the residents.  We then tagged these with the resident's name and a short quote or anecdote from them to personalise the images.

This approach allowed us to showcase both the wide range of activities the Salford villages offer, and the residents' keen zest for life, making the re-branding also a strong marketing strategy.

Studio Equator's unique branding, and logo design, and our production of applications including business cards, corporate and village stationery, sales brochures, newspaper and magazine advertisements, corporate guidelines an annual report and a marketing DVD have all combined to embody a fresh strong and unified branding.

Salford Living's new image also led to a merger with Aevum, an ASX listed company, who own & operate 17 other retirement villages nationwide.

Marketing Literature

The strong advertising campaign that Studio Equator developed for Salford Living comprised of two styles of marketing - lifestyle and real estate.  The Lifestyle component is designed to focus purely on the resident, with no use of real estate imagery, and is used in transient advertising such as newspaper and magazine ads, flyers, bus and tram ads, metrolites, billboards and newsletters.

Real estate marketing is primarily unit and village focused, with impact put on key features rather than residents. These photographs feature scenic village and interior shots, and display a tag line and relatively generic information as overlaying type, rather than the personal quotes and anecdotes used in Lifestyle marketing.

Photographs of the interiors of the villages are intended to illustrate the message of a great lifestyle by highlighting the available facilities and the modern inviting décor, and by portraying the ambience of peace and serenity that the villages embody.

These images are used in village brochures, sales kits and corporate and promotional literature, which deliberately exclude all lifestyle images showing residents, as they are not historical documents, but rather ongoing literature that should not date.

A master presentation folder was also developed which can be used by any of the villages, or Salford Living corporate to hold individual sales brochures, prospectus, or other advertising material as needed.

Corporate Literature (Annual Report)

The IOR Group Limited / Salford Living 2009 Annual Report challenged  Studio Equator to design a document which was interesting, engaging and which reflected the values and attitude apparent in the Salford Living marketing strategy and advertising campaigns.

While the financial statements in the main body  of the annual report were kept clean and consistent, two different typesets were used in the front section, with the use of different colours and scales to attract the eye to key highlights.

Large photographs accompanying a relatively minimal amount of text were used to make the document interesting and easy to read. Several "lifestyle" photographs were used to reinforce Salford Living's focus on community and its residents, and photographs of the board were taken with scenic village landscapes as backdrops.

The IOR / Salford Living Annual Report was printed on Raleigh ecoStar paper, an uncoated paper made from 100% recycled post consumer waste, and a carbon neutral certified product.

Website Design & Development

After creating a strong brand identity and marketing strategy for Salford Living, Studio Equator designed a website which embodied the values and image of Salford Living.

The website was designed to showcase the residents in editorial style through photographs of village living, videos and stories, and to emphasise the sense of community in the villages, and is fully self-maintainable by internal staff.

To cater to the demographic, the website is easily navigable, with large buttons and subject headers.  The home page offers quick access buttons to villages, news, Village living stories and contact information, and each village page is blended with it's respective state colours.

The news system we designed enables an easy search of general, investor, or localised village news, and an electronic newsletter was also developed to enable e-marketing easily targeted to different locales and demographics.

Flash animation is used for image galleries and banners, allowing maximum exposure of lifestyle photographs with minimal navigation.

The Salford Living website also showcases the marketing DVD in a cinematic way, with the home page housing a large video window showing snippets of the DVD, and an order form to obtain a free copy.

Signage
Studio Equator's work for Salford Living retirement villages included the design of signage requirements throughout each village, including the main signage, directional signs and village maps. 

Our signage design is fresh and clean, and consistent throughout all eight of the villages.  Forms are simple, bold and modern to ensure longevity and target a new, younger customer of early to mid sixties.

The colours developed for the logos for each village were carried through to the signage for each; gold and blue for Queensland (Bellcarra and Saford Waters), grey and green for Victoria (Gillin Park, Salford Park and Tarneit Skies) and burgundy and heritage green for South Australia (The Grange, Salford and Unity villages).

Salford Living signage is designed to slot into the natural scenic environment of the villages, being clear and easy to read, but also well integrated and non-intrusive.


Salford Living DVD
Studio Equator collaborated with Heydon Films to produce a DVD to document the Salford Living community and the quality of life through the eyes and stories of the residents, in order to display what makes Salford Living unique.

Hayden films specialise in often not for profit, cultural based documentaries, and their Director has a penchant for the elderly and all things retro, which made them the perfect choice to capture Salford Living's particular style.

At the villages, we interviewed several residents, then selected the most interesting stories which would make compelling viewing.  The footage was then edited for different applications including TV ads, cinema ads, website testimonials and three versions of a full flesh documentary - edited to 20 minutes, 30 minutes and 45 minutes in length.

Copies of the documentary on DVD are given to potential residents along with the sales brochures, or can be ordered online via the Salford Living website. 

As well as being a strong marketing tool to bring all the Salford communities together in a united whole, it is also an historical document for the current residents which records their personal lives and stories.