Communication Audit

Created by: Team LamluckJenelle HameluckRay Lam

Tsawwassen Springs.

Table of ContentsBACKGROUND ................................................................................ 4 THE DEVELOPMENT.............................................................................4POSITIONING....................................................................................4COMMUNICATION OBJECTIVES................................................................4INTERNAL DECISION MAKING STRUCTURE...................................................4EXTERNAL RESOURCES STRUCTURE..........................................................5

CURRENT SITUATION ...................................................................... 6 OWNED MEDIA..................................................................................6NEWSLETTER.......................................................................................................6BLOG................................................................................................................. 6SALES CENTER.....................................................................................................7FACEBOOK...........................................................................................................7TWITTER.............................................................................................................7YOUTUBE............................................................................................................8WEBSITE.............................................................................................................8

EARNED MEDIA .............................................................................. 8 VARIETY CHILDREN’S CHARITY LOTTERY GRAND PRIZE DONATION..................................8PRINT, ONLINE, AND TELEVISION.............................................................................9CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENT......................................................................................9

PAID MEDIA ................................................................................. 10

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Background

The DevelopmentTsawwassen Springs is a resort style community located in the center of a par 70 all-season golf course. It includes luxury services all year round including a 32,000-square-foot clubhouse. There are 296 condos and 194 detached homes. The homes range from the mid 300,000’s to over a million therefore the key target market for the development is empty nester baby boomers. These baby boomers are looking to downsize and make their lives easier by having amenities on site.

Tsawwassen Springs was developed by Shato Holdings owner Ron Togio. Ron is also the owner of White Spot and the Giants. Because Tsawwassen Springs is a high profile development it has attracted celebrity investment including singer Michael Buble, Olympic gold medal hockey coach Pat Quinn, and music industry leader and world famous musician Bruce Allen.

One of the developments key selling features is its environmental elements. This includes creating a habitat that is friendly for bird migration, hence the heron being part of the logo and the name of the newspaper. The condos are also heating by geo-exchange which is a renewable resource and come with a plug for electric cars or golf carts. Every aspect of the development right down to the paint was thought of with the environment in mind.

Positioning-A luxury resort style community

Communication Objectives-To quickly and effectively sell the condos and detached houses at Tsawwassen Springs

Internal decision making structureThe CEO of Shato Holdings and the Tswassen Springs development is Ron Togio. Reporting to Ron is Phil Yee and Ross Clouston of Talisman Homes. They are the builders of the condo’s and single family homes and are the heads of construction. Also reporting to Ron is his daughter Sarah of regency realty. Sarah is in charge of sales and has a team of 5 sales staff reporting to her.

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External resources structure

The external resource structure for marketing Tsawwassen springs is quite interesting. First reporting directly to all internal resources is Ashley Willard Bauman of Beyond the Buildings. Ashley is held on retainer for this development and acts as a liaison between the development and Braun Allison. Braun Allison is in charge of creating all the materials for this development this ranges from print ads to web design and facebook updates. Then reporting to Braun Allison is Peak Communications who is in charge of coordinating where and when ads will be placed and other PR activities.

Ron Toigo CEO Shato Holdings

Talisman HomesBuilders

Phil Yeeco-owner of

Talisman

Ross Cloustonco-owner of

Talisman

Regency Realty

Sales Team

Sarah Toigohead of sales

and Ron's daughter

Beyond the Buildings

Braun Allison

Peak Communicatio

ns

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Current SituationOwned MediaNewsletterBecause not everyone in the community was in agreement with the development of Tsawwassen Springs the marketing team decided to create a newsletter that would feature the great things Tsawwassen has to offer such as local restraint, stores and parks. By featuring these locations it attracts local tourism to the area. This newsletter helps to connect the community to the development. It is easily distributed through White Spot and the Giants games and has an image that is consistent with other collateral items. We recommend however that they switch to post-consumer paper in order to help support the developments eco-friendly image.

BlogNot many developers have blogs which is what makes this an effective tool for Tsawwassen Springs to be using. It allows them and guest authors such as the interior designer to tell the developments story in a unique way. It also provides an opportunity to link to media coverage. Our recommendation is that they invite

guest bloggers with an interest in development, design, golf, and the environment to write for their blog. By doing this the Tsawwassen Springs blog will link to the guest blogger’s webpage and therefore their followers.

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Sales CenterThe Tsawwassen sales center is unique in the fact that it utilizes all the surface areas to not only sell the product but to tell the developments story. It’s look and design is consistent with the brand image and the hands on displays including an interactive station allow the prospective buyers to do research and explore without feeling pressured by the sales staff. Something that we recommend is that they play some soft music to add ambiance. Currently the sales center is very quiet and the hard wood floors echo when you walking making it uncomfortable for visitors.

FacebookThe Tsawwassen Springs facebook page looks quite out of place when it is compared to their other materials. Facebook’s layout does not allow them to showcase their unique brand elements which help to set the development apart. As well they only have 152 followers making it not

the most effective communication tool. TwitterTwitter works well for high profile developments such as Tsawwassen Springs. It allows the developer to communication to prospective homebuyers where sales are at and if they are about to miss out on an opportunity. It also allows them to communicate with homeowners that are already living in the development in regards to construction schedules and events that will be taking place. We don’t believe that Twitter should

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be used as the only tool to communicate to their audience as their key target market is baby boomers, many which choose not to use social media. Instead we recommend direct mail as an effective way to communicate to this audience.

YoutubeIn order to stand apart from other developers Tsawwassen Springs created a series of videos that showcased different elements of the development. We recommend that Tsawwassen Springs utilize tags such as “Michael Buble” so

that the videos will come up when someone is searching for his music videos and therefore will increase the views and awareness. WebsiteTsawwassen Springs has a very effective website that is frequently updated. It provides potential buyers with information from all aspects of the development and can also be utilized as a tour guide for those looking to visit the area. A recommendation we would make it to highlight the celebrity investors more by linking to their website and having contests that link the companies together.

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Earned MediaVariety Children’s Charity Lottery Grand Prize donationThe Variety Children’s charity lottery allowed Tsawwassen Springs to advertise the development across BC while donating to a good cause. We recommend that this be front and center on the Tsawwassen Springs web-page while the lottery is taking place.

Print, Online, and TelevisionTsawwassen springs was able to hold a successful press conference that involved all of their celebrity investors. This press conference gave the media the opportunity to question all of the parties involved and the event was showcased across new stations, blogs, and newspapers. We recommend that they should have pushed the date forward a bit as the Canucks were in the finals when it took place and a lot of the questions to the celebrities involved who they thought would win at the playoffs. We also recommend that more be done to showcase Ron Togio’s donation to the A.L.R as there

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is a lot of negative media revolving around how Tsawwassen Springs took land from it.

Celebrity EndorsementTsawwassen Springs could not have a better line up of local celebrity endorsement. The celebrity investors include; singer Michael Buble, Olympic gold medal hockey coach Pat Quinn, and music industry leader and world famous musician Bruce Allen. In fact Michael

Buble said at the grand opening event “I invest in people not projects” which bodes well for this development as well as Shato Holdings other companies. A recommendation that we have is that they leverage this opportunity more by having them tweet messages to their fans and talk about their investment in the development at interviews.

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Paid MediaNeed to add tomorrow have info at work

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