Challenge:
started in 1960 as a remodeling and custom-home builder, The Corky McMillin Companies had expanded their operations to include real estate investment, land development and home loans. McMillin initially wanted Advanced Marketing Strategies to develop a new web site that was more customer-oriented and educational to prospective home buyers. They envisioned a site that would help them regain their role as a leader in the home building industry and take them to the next level interactively.
Strategy:
Advanced Marketing Strategies conducted a 2-phase web research study over 4 months. It was imperative to dive into the minds of the consumers, as well as key McMillin executives during the first phase – Discovery. During this phase, over 1,200 online customer surveys were conducted, along with 30 internal McMillin executive interviews, competitive online analysis of 20 web sites, two focus groups and a comprehensive competitive advertising and search engine optimization study. All the findings were intensely analyzed during the second phase – Definition, where bigger picture recommendations were uncovered.
Results:
McMillin’s expectations of the research project were exceeded, as recommendations were made to McMillin that extended beyond the scope of the project. It became apparent to Advanced Marketing Strategies during the definition phase that building an interactive web site wasn’t the only strategy…it encompassed a much bigger picture. Recommendations included not only web site elements with consumers wants and needs, but also paradigm shifting changes within The Corky McMillin Companies, such as consolidating their Marketing department and business divisions, as well as a new company-wide branding initiative. This initiative led to AMS developing a new tagline, “Built on Principles.” This tagline, inspired by an actual list of 9 core company values, captured the integrity of the McMillin Brand, and would eventually be used to unify the many company divisions. In the end, AMS was hired not only for the website, but also for the branding initiative.
