HUSH Success no Secret

ABOUT BILD
With more than 1,300 members, BILD, formed through the merger of the Greater Toronto Home Builders’ Association and Urban Development Institute/Ontario, is the voice of the land development, home building and professional renovation industry in the Greater Toronto Area. BILD is proudly affiliated with the Ontario and Canadian Home Builders’ Associations.

Thanks to Studio Pinpoint, new Toronto-based luxury homebuilder HUSH scored two Advertising & Marketing Awards out of a stellar seven nominations at the 30th Annual BILD Awards held recently in Toronto. They took home the 2010 BILD Award for:
•    BEST BROCHURE
(HUSH: The Gardens at Coronation—Vander Brand, Studio Pinpoint)
and
•    BEST NEW HOME DESIGN—SEMI‐DETACHED OR TOWNHOME OVER 1,500 SQ. FT.
(HUSH: Brownstones on Birch—Avtech Design)

“For a company as young as HUSH to be recognized in its first year of eligibility over and above long-standing, well-respected organizations that have built thousands upon thousands of homes, it is a real testament to the HUSH team,” says Studio Pinpoint President, Romana Mirza whose carefully crafted formula in articulating brand strategy is what pushed HUSH into the limelight.

“It’s unheard of for a young company to get so many nominations. Newcomers rarely win—and we won two awards. Competition was stiff!” she added.

What gave HUSH “the new company that could” such an edge in advertising & marketing over industry heavyweights?  HUSH president, Naheel Suleman, zeros in on Studio Pinpoint, citing their influence as massive. He feels Studio Pinpoint helped clarify what HUSH represents. The recognition from BILD is the icing on the cake. He says, it confirms HUSH is doing things right.

“The time we took to self-reflect, concentrate and build a foundation with the guidance of Studio Pinpoint is paying off, explains Suleman. “HUSH promises to provide best in class experience. The number of nominations tells us we are delivering on that promise.”

Brand Power
Having a well-defined brand strategy ensures that HUSH product and services—the HUSH Experience—is consistent and true to the company’s essence—something they don’t take lightly.

“It’s the foundation of our company. It’s who we are and how we behave,” affirms Suleman. “Until we understand who we are and how we want to portray ourselves in the market in a very deliberate, well thought-out and strategic way, we can’t put out product or services that reflects our true values and promises.

“Studio Pinpoint helped us understand in an organized fashion who we are, and who we want to be, by taking our vision, documenting and solidifying it in such a way that it can never be compromised. With that in place, design and architecture naturally follow the road map set out by Romana’s work in nailing down our promise, our brand and our essence.”

HUSH Marketing Director Erin Ackerman feels “too many companies try to be too many things to too many people, and as a result never excel at anything.” She says Studio Pinpoint took what HUSH wanted to do, then looked at the needs of their customers and was able to connect them.

“The translation was successful, people can understand what we are about and embrace us on a personal level,” she says.

Back to Basics
Explains Ackerman: “At HUSH is it very important to step away from what other companies in the industry are doing and start brainstorming on a very organic level. Just because something has been done a certain way in the past does not mean that HUSH will adapt it.”

“This way of thinking transcends beyond advertising and marketing, and I believe it’s what makes us stand out in these categories specifically,” she adds. “We start thinking from the point of view of the homeowner, instead of as a builder. Your home is the foundation of your life, it is the start point for every day, and because of this you have an emotional attachment to your home and we want that relationship to be portrayed in our marketing.”

Winning Formula
The Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD) doles out the Awards annually in recognition of outstanding firms demonstrating industry leading design, marketing and performance in home building and sales.

Winners are selected from over 700 entries narrowed down to a maximum of five finalists nominated in 46 categories by a handful of industry experts from across Canada and the U.S. All entries are judged based on creative, target and results, plus on-site visits to models & sales offices.