New Zealand’s longest standing property portal, realestate.co.nz, has appointed The Monkeys Aotearoa, part of Accenture Song, as its new strategic, design and creative agency.
Sarah Wood, realestate.co.nz CEO, says the team are “thrilled to collaborate with the agency to develop a new brand identity and campaign that cuts through the noise of the market, builds brand love, and focuses on the buyer and their life”.
“Over the last few years, we have re-platformed our web product, launched our app, improved search accuracy, speed and many of our product features, so we were looking for someone to help drive our next stage of growth.
“The Monkeys had the strategic depth, creative firepower, and design we were looking for. They’ve proven to be true partners, great collaborators, leading to finished work that we’re all proud of.”
Justin Mowday, CEO of The Monkeys Aotearoa, part of Accenture Song, says realestate.co.nz is the Samsung of the property listings sector.
“They have a better product, better experience, better speed, better accuracy, but they’re up against a goliath brand that enjoys the default status, so many people just don’t know how good realestate.co.nz is.
“We’ve loved the opportunity to get involved from strategy to brand design and communications. Sarah, Vanessa, and the team have been brilliant partners and we look forward to the results coming.”
The Monkeys has led a refresh of the design system alongside the development of the new brand platform ‘It all starts here’. The new design system incorporates an evolution of the logo, with the new identity being applied to the product itself, including the website, app and advertising campaign.
At the heart of the ad campaign is a piece of storytelling – the tale of a young girl and her father as they navigate the highs and lows of moving house. It documents the girl’s initial frustration of moving away from her friends, to her awe and wonderment as she realises their new house gives her unspoilt access to her favourite thing – the night sky.
“We like the thought that finding a new house isn’t just about the bricks, mortar, number of rooms or off-street parking, it’s actually about the type of life you want to live,” says Damon Stapleton, Chief Creative Officer at The Monkeys Aotearoa.
“So rather than follow the category convention of leading with ads about functional product features, we want to encourage people to think about the life they want and finding the home that will help them achieve that.
“This story is reminiscent of many of us who have sought out change, in order to achieve the life, we want to live. The film heroes the idea that wherever you are, whatever you’re looking for, change all starts at realestate.co.nz.”
Alongside the broadcast film, the campaign also includes OOH, online video and digital that champions the night sky and the search portal that led to it.
Credits
Client: realestate.co.nz
Chief Executive Officer: Sarah Wood
General Manager Marketing and Media: Vanessa Williams
Head of Brand and Communications: Ashley Harder
Agency: The Monkeys Aotearoa, part of Accenture Song
Chief Creative Officer: Damon Stapleton
Chief Business Officer: Storm Day
Head of Planning: Tom Sykes
Group Business Director: Ruth Coulson
Head of Integrated Production: Rosie Grayson
Creative Directors: James Connor & Christie Cooper
Planning Director: Craig McLeod
Designer: Lucinda Fortescue-Hansen
Business Manager: Georgie Burns
Art Director: Susannah O’hUadhaigh
Copywriter: Arron Sharma
Finch Productions
Director – Zia Mandviwalla
Executive Producer – Bex Kelly
Producer – Duncan Bernard
DP – Ziga Zupancic
Production Designer – Sarah Cooper
Editor – Julian Currin
Colourist – Alana Cotton
Online – Creature Post
Sound and music – Liquid Studios
Media Partner: OMD
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