Terra Housing

A new visual identity and an extensive website redevelopment were the cornerstones of this rebranding project. The initial marketing and consultation phase was handled by our colleagues at Junxion Strategy.


 

Project

A changing business environment was the main impetus for Terra Housing to redevelop its website and rebrand its identity. At the same time the company wanted to update its in house systems to incorporate new tools and technologies. And it wanted to engage clients in a collaborative online project management system through an intranet as part of its online retooling.

In addition to the new website, Terra wanted to introduce an internal system for online communication, project management and collaboration with clients.

The company’s original site was more than 10 years old and featured a traditional late 1990s’ brochure-style approach. It was small in scope and hard to read, problems which are addressed in the new site.

What Terra does

Terra Housing helps non-profit groups and government agencies realize their varied housing objectives. Since 1984 it has worked on more than 260 housing and building projects as well as affordable housing plans and housing portfolio reviews. Terra focuses on financial modeling, project management, capacity building, planning and research.

It coordinates the activities of builders, lenders, architects, engineers, code consultants, lawyers, realtors and other professionals.

Purpose

Terra’s third sector housing client base is experiencing a shift in funding priorities from the three levels of government. Anticipating the need for changed funding arrangements and partnerships, Terra wanted to:

  • update and deepen its web presence to underline its leadership role in its sector
  • facilitate online marketing outreach and communication
  • modernize its visual identity
  • clarify its key work through the development of a tagline

Terra needed a new visual identity and an expanded online presence as part of an integrated technology project including:

  • a public-facing website
  • an extranet to facilitate client project liaison and collaboration
  • an in house electronic systems overhaul for internal communication and accounting

Objectives

Terra’s outreach aims to expand its presence and awareness among its established audience and help position the organization at the top of its field.

The redesigned website and new logo are designed to:

  • present an updated professional image
  • showcases hundreds of Terra projects organized by type of client and development
  • foreground Terra’s key messages, skills and competencies
  • emphasize the human element of their work – housing people – as well as built environment
  • tell Terra’s story through extensive use of images from completed projects
  • promote Terra’s work by presenting news and featuring new projects
  • allow Terra staff and clients to collaborate on and share information through a password protected intranet

Audience

  • Housing societies including co-ops, churches, student unions
  • Government funders
  • Private lenders
  • Housing industry professionals

Measurable goals

  • enhance Terra’s digital profile and presence measured by increased online traffic
  • present the client with an easy-to-update website
  • build in house website maintenance capacity in office staff
  • reorganized and rewritten content resulting in more page views and longer duration of user visits
  • improved project management and client engagement augmented through intranet

Challenges

  • defining and developing the website while introducing concepts of online marketing to a team with varied levels of digital familiarity and expertise
  • finding agreement among a diverse group of principals, staff and contractors working with varied needs and expectations
  • bringing all project collaborators together in a timely fashion for consensus-based decision-making

Process

Needs assessment

The first phase of the project involved a marketing survey and consultation to:

  • Identify core strengths and determine value proposition
  • Identify customers: characteristics, demographics and psychographics
  • Identify competition: other companies and competitive factors
  • Understand visual and verbal communications needs
  • Develop positioning statements
  • Determine best marketing methods with a web focus
  • Align communications to support business priorities

The main conclusions arising from this discovery phase were presented in a comprehensive marketing document which included:

  • Situational Analysis
  • Terra’s business goals
  • the group’s strengths and competencies
  • overall industry trends
  • A SWOT analysis
  • key competitors

Terra Housing Positioning

  • Positioning statement
  • Tagline presentation
  • Key benefits

Marketing Strategy

  • Goals
  • Target markets and client segments
  • Strategies and Tactics

Measurements and Evaluation

Some of the primary conclusions arising from this discovery included that Terra:

  • is an opinion leader in the social purpose real estate space
  • has a unique combination of expertise, integrity, professionalism, project management and problem solving skills
  • is creative, innovative, and connected – the “de facto” hub in its sector
  • is involved in a great diversity of projects locally, provincially, nationally and internationally

Implementation

  • Reorganization of content outline and site structure based on marketing survey and consultation
  • Preparation of a detailed Functional Requirements Document by our partner Travis Junck at Trillion Industria analysing the technical environment and outlining all of the site’s technical requirements
  • Development of a Keyword Research and Strategy Report – also by Travis– in order to tailor the site’s new written content towards optimum search engine rankings
  • Identifying the Drupal CMS (Content Management System) as the one best suited to the project
  • Rewriting a large amount of site content to present key messages, calls to action and search engine optimization
  • Development of a new visual mark and colour palette
  • Development of a visual interface for the site
  • Designed a homepage featuring key images and marketing messages, provided excerpts of recent news stories, highlights a feature project.
  • Client training in the Drupal CMS leading to in house staff inputting the majority of text and image content