Stanley Martin Homes, a leading independent home builder in the DC-metropolitan area has always been known for quality residential construction. With the devastated real estate market, it was vital for Stanley Martin to differentiate itself in order to maintain their foothold against national competitors with national budgets.

RP3′s qualitative research among current and prospective customers demonstrated that Stanley Martin was perceived to be a cut above their competitors because they do things the “right” way.  Not just in the way they build your home, but in the way they treat you throughout the process.

So, in a category that breeds distrust, and where people often feel like they’re getting about as much respect as they’d expect to get from a used car dealer, we saw an opportunity to position Stanley Martin as the only home builder people would actually enjoy doing business with.

Based on this insight, and a thorough evaluation of consumers search habits and decision-making process, we developed an integrated campaign including print, radio, online, directional signs, sales brochures and model home tour materials that reached consumers at every possible touch point.

Radio was used to bring more emotion to the brand, along with promotional messaging to drive traffic to specific communities.

Click To Play Radio Spot: “Flipped”

Traffic from all touch points was directed to a microsite where consumers could further engage with the brand story. Click image to launch microsite.

Finally, branded calculator widgets were employed on the Stanley Martin website to allow buyers to compare and contrast the many pros of cons of owning vs. renting, and of buying someone’s existing home versus your own brand new one. Click image to launch.

The results? As many home builders struggle to survive, Stanley Martin continues to see strong numbers. Market share has grown from #8 to #4  in the area. Traffic has increased 15% market-wide following the campaign launch. And despite the soft market, in spring 2009 Stanley Martin experienced the best sales period in recent company history.

At RP3, those are the kind of details we really like to see.