MY ROLE
I was one of two property marketing managers at JLL who worked with a commercial real estate broker to ideate and create a unique direct mail package to promote the leasing of five commercial office buildings as a part of The Wharf, a multi-billion dollar development by PN Hoffman and Madison Marquette.
From January - February 2020, I created the concept, wrote all copy, managed a graphic designer, worked with four outside vendors on printing/ordering, and assembled and sent the final product. The mailer was sent to about 300 tenant brokers in the market.
THE CHALLENGE
In the commercial real estate world, direct mail campaigns are a unique marketing tactic used to keep large real estate projects top of mind for tenant brokers and their clients.
For this direct mailer, I was tasked with creating a custom, unique gift to send to ~300 tenant brokers in the market to promote remaining office space at each of the five properties, while staying within budget. The clients also gave a strict deadline of one month, from concept to mailing.
At the time, The Wharf included five distinct office buildings, each with their own amenities and remaining space available. In addition, three of the buildings had already been delivered, and two were still under construction. This gift had to give details about each distinct property while connecting to The Wharf, its community, and all of its incredible retail amenities.
THE SOLUTION
CONNECT TO COMMUNITY
To reflect the mix of amenities and offerings at The Wharf, I decided to play on the idea of mixed drinks, using rum from a popular distillery located at The Wharf. Alcohol is always a hit with these target brokers, and it was a way to support a local business from the development we were promoting. I also worked with an in-house graphic designer to create a map of The Wharf on the trifold brochure with a list of updated retail, bars, and public spaces, in order to promote the community aspect.
PROMOTE DISTINCT PROPERTIES IN A FUN WAY
To promote each of the five separate office buildings and their distinct offerings and availability, I worked with an in-house designer to create a trifold with photos and key information about each property. A map of The Wharf along with contact information was on the other side. And to connect with the theme of the rum bottle, we created five custom coasters with a photo of one of the five buildings on one side and a rum-based mixed drink recipe on the other. I created all copy for these coasters, including the custom names of each cocktail that played on the address of each property.
Our in-house designer created the design files and we had a third-party printer print on super thick material so that the coasters were actually usable.
RESULTS
Because of the qualitative nature of the gift, immediate metrics were
