Signature Homes launches ‘Fan mail’ campaign

Home construction company Signature Homes has launched a new integrated campaign, ‘Fan mail’.

Rather than relying on traditional testimonials, the campaign transforms genuine client feedback into entertaining creative that showcases the experience of building with Signature Homes, from the very first conversation through to move-in day.

Tell the story differently

Kim Harris, Signature Homes general manager – marketing, says the campaign is the latest evolution of the company’s long-term brand strategy following its brand refresh last year.

“Following our brand refresh, we spent time understanding how New Zealanders viewed Signature Homes and the wider home-building category.

“While Signature Homes has been part of New Zealand’s home-building landscape since 1983, our research showed younger audiences increasingly viewed the category as predictable and uninspiring. We knew we needed to tell our story differently.

“The challenge was simple. Every builder has testimonials. We didn’t think another client story was going to cut through, so we developed a clear vision for a platform that would showcase our Signature Service in a more entertaining and memorable way. Ian and the wider production team then helped bring that vision to life,” Harris adds.

Entertaining, memorable and true

The campaign also further develops ‘Signature Steve’, the character first introduced in the company’s hero brand campaign last year.

Creative director Ian Sweeney says the strength of the campaign came from the clarity of the vision developed by the Signature Homes team.

“The team had already done the hard work in defining what ‘Fan mail’ needed to achieve and the role it would play within the wider brand platform. Our job was to bring that vision to life in a way that felt entertaining, memorable and true to the Signature Homes brand.

“Client testimonials are one of the most overused formats in advertising. The opportunity was finding a more engaging way to tell those stories without losing the authenticity behind them,” says Sweeney.

“‘Fan mail’ isn’t a one-off campaign,” Harris adds.

“It’s a platform that allows us to keep bringing real Signature stories to life and showing future clients what it’s really like to build with Signature Homes. Every story reinforces what Signature Service means in practice and helps us build one of New Zealand’s most admired home-building brands.”

Featuring six short films, the campaign rolls out across social media, YouTube, TVNZ OnDemand and to Signature Homes’ database of more than 40,000 subscribers.

Credits

• Signature Homes: Kim Harris and the Signature Homes marketing team
• Scriptwriter & director: Ian Sweeney
• Producer: Kate Cox
• Production house: Cox + Co.
• Director of photography: Julian Vares
• Media agency: Sean Lewis, Calibrate
• Signature Steve: Bryon Coll