Big Projects, Big Stories
After nearly a decade of work, Cooper Construction had completed the construction, development, and lease-up of the largest industrial business park in Southwestern Ontario. It was big news for the firm, but was nearly a best kept secret. To ensure the right investors, developers, and business partners hear of this major accomplishment, Cooper entrusted 7 Communications to communicate the story of the largest project in their 118 year history.
Background
In any construction project, 1.9 million square feet is a lot. Yet it becomes even more impressive when you discover that it is 1.9 million square feet of Class A environmentally sustainable industrial and corporate facilities that achieved LEED, WELL and Net Zero Carbon status.
Dubbed Hanlon Creek Business Park Phase II, this massive undertaking was completed in Guelph, ON by Cooper Construction and ranks as the largest commercial development in the history of Southwestern Ontario.
Having completed the design and development of Cooper’s website years earlier, we were pleased to once again partner with Cooper to create and execute a plan that honoured the request of ‘how do we get this story in front of more businesses and leaders looking for commercial and industrial real-estate development?’
Challenge
It is difficult to fully capture the scale of what Cooper accomplished in words. In order to make an impact, this story needed exceptional video support. It really was a perfect case of show me, don’t tell me.
When the client approach us, they had very few photographs accompanied by a handful of amateur video clips—nothing that did justice to the incredible project they had completed.
While they had clarity on the type of business and leaders they wanted to get in front of, they needed to find the right media and platforms to reach them in an impactful way. We needed to discover where their audience was and create a marketing plan to effectively engage them. Uncovering the right timing, platforms, opportunities, and story were all critical components of an effective communication campaign.
One small challenge added to our list after we began our research and discovery phase was LinkedIn. It became evident that this was an important platform for their target audience, yet Cooper did not have a LinkedIn strategy or staff who felt equipped and supported to manage the company page.
Challenge
It is difficult to fully capture the scale of what Cooper accomplished in words. In order to make an impact, this story needed exceptional video support. It really was a perfect case of show me, don’t tell me.
When the client approach us, they had very few photographs accompanied by a handful of amateur video clips—nothing that did justice to the incredible project they had completed.
While they had clarity on the type of business and leaders they wanted to get in front of, they needed to find the right media and platforms to reach them in an impactful way. We needed to discover where their audience was and create a marketing plan to effectively engage them. Uncovering the right timing, platforms, opportunities, and story were all critical components of an effective communication campaign.
One small challenge added to our list after we began our research and discovery phase was LinkedIn. It became evident that this was an important platform for their target audience, yet Cooper did not have a LinkedIn strategy or staff who felt equipped and supported to manage the company page.
Solution
1. Strategy & Planning: Through our research and discovery phase, constructed a marketing plan to engage with investment, business, and development leaders in Ontario. Once the story was published and gaining momentum, we would use LinkedIn as part of a second wave to continue bringing the story and the Cooper name in front of the target audience.
2. Video & Photography: Our creative and integrated teams captured, produced, and delivered a beautiful high-intensity drone video of Hanlon Creek Business Park Phase II.
We delivered two edits of the video: a wide-screen 60 second cut that captured the entirety of the project, along with a shorter 1:1 aspect ratio social media cut. We could describe the video more fully, but it’s more effective if you scroll down and watch it for yourself.
In addition to this, we delivered a gorgeous collection of photos included with the release that were featured in digital, social, and print sources.
3. Media Exposite: Next up was to announce the completion of Hanlon Creek Business Park Phase II to target media outlets and highlight all that Cooper had accomplished. In addition to a broader media distribution list, the story was also pitched to targeted trade media and publications that were important players in the commercial construction space in Canada.
4. LinkedIn: We launched Cooper Construction’s official LinkedIn business page and equipped their team with social media training, support, and a playbook to for LinkedIn success.
In addition, we created a LinkedIn advertising plan for Cooper that included a custom-built audience targeting mid to senior level business leaders in the fields of investment banking and land development in Ontario, ad creative, and copy. This plan alongside a proposed budget and timeline were handed off to the team at Cooper to execute in the weeks following the initial release.
Results
Our client was thrilled with the work we delivered and the results. They received 54,064,177 impressions from 25 stories, two examples of which are here and here.
While delivering great work always feels good, what feels even better is when the Vice President sends you an email that summarizes the experience with this one simple line “we have accomplished our target.”
“Your team put together a great campaign and we are extremely happy with the results.”
–Vice President, Cooper Construction
Core Contributors
