LBi leads a uniquely differentiated brand evolution for The Cliffs portfolio of luxury properties.
Few brands stake their success on creating a sense of place more completely than does The Cliffs, a remarkable portfolio of lifestyle properties spaced throughout the Carolinas. One of their chief marketing challenges, naturally, was to translate the "breathtaking" (Tiger Woods' word) appeal of their properties into the abstract dimension of the web. Our efforts to achieve that translation on their behalf provide unique insight into the subtle powers of place in online space.
In early 2008 LBi was engaged by The Cliffs to craft a fresh approach to its online presence. Among the leading luxury brands in its space, The Cliffs properties are notable for deep connections they forge with the surrounding natural environment, with each site meticulously chosen from among thousands of acres of available land.
After exploring the eight properties within the portfolio, LBi proposed a revolutionary departure from The Cliffs longstanding commitment to a single site that combined all the properties within a single corporate sales funnel. Convinced that each property in the portfolio was being underrepresented and its unique characteristics lost within the sole interface, LBi proposed a series of micro-sites designed to deepen the sales messaging by creating a micro-brand for each product and elucidating the special character of each brand. The Cliffs'Keowee Springs property, for instance, would highlight its lakeside environment, its family-oriented appeal, and wouldshowcase its signature wellness facility. By contrast, The Cliffs at High Carolina would project a far different image: more masculine, mountainous, and driven by an emphasis on its signature Tiger Woods golf course. Stronger, differentiated content would be created and optimized for search to help select a better-qualified audience.
For the .com meta-site, LBi's strategy continues some of the same themes but also broadens its aesthetic palette, offering full-bleed photography over the more intimate postcard approach, larger maps encompassing the entirety of the Carolinas, and a roomier narrative on the general possibilities of life at The Cliffs. Visually, verbally—and even topographically—the meta-site aims to express the overall brand promise and communicate the larger sense of community and interaction that the properties collectively provide.
"Where the micro-sites aim for the intimacy of life at The Cliffs," says Managing Director Joe Schab, "The goal of the meta-site is to convey the broader possibilities of The Cliffs brand, including the positive reinforcements of being part of a likeminded community of ecologically conscious individuals and families whose share a common love of nature and all of the leisure opportunities it provides."
LBi's creative approach took its cue from a stated client need to communicate the sensibilities of place in the virtual environment. The company had struggled to translate an experience that depended heavily on 'being there' into an abstract web environment. LBi conducted a series of creative sessions that vetted various methods of imparting The Cliffs experience to an online audience. Ultimately, for a web demographic, the team conceived place more as a state of mind than a geographic destination and shaped its design to deliver the empathic qualities most closely aligned with the brand experience. To that end, the team's design replicated a postcard-like look, with a central image and text sitting slightly above a background of natural illustration. The image cleverly communicated the experience of receiving mail from a friend in some distant paradise. The diverse imagery of the properties—spotlighted in the postcard images and ranging from gorgeous low-land lakes to high-mountain peaks—would be tied together through the almost Victorian sensibilities of the illustrative backgrounds—replete with flora and fauna indigenous to the entire Carolinas region.
"We want the micro-sites to do what no other medium can do: offer the experience of looking at print collateral, watching a powerful narrative video, and seeing the actual topography—all in one place."
According to Art Director Alex Kurth, "The illustrations will ultimately provide a kind of creative glue across the multiple sites and address our clients' desire to establish a level of trust among consumers through the idea that a legacy of sustainable growth and architectural beauty was being established with each Cliffs property. The scaled-back character of our micro-sites will communicate this in its sophistication and understated personality. There's a level of restraint in our design that mirrors the thoughtful approach to conservation evident in the properties themselves."
Within this framework, LBi still wanted to push the boundaries of its web capabilities, conceiving of a threefold portal through which visitors would engage the brand.
"We want the micro-sites to do what no other medium can do—offer the experience of looking a sophisticated print collateral, a powerful narrative brand video, and the actual topography of the land—all in one place," Kurth added.
To that end, Kurth created a slide panel alongside the postcard that offered users a slide show option of viewing videos, remarkable still photos, or illustrated maps of the properties. The video for High Carolina, for instance, opens with Tiger Woods saying he was "in awe" the first time he took in the expansive mountain views at the property, as a gorgeous sunset expanse of mountains unfolds across the screen.
"One of the striking characteristics of the brand is the incredible range of geographies one encounters within the property portfolio," adds Creative Director Thurston Yates. "We wanted to offer a shifting web landscape that paralleled the natural diversity of the properties themselves—text, video, still photography—and hopefully deliver the same sense of perpetual surprise and engagement that the land itself does."
As visitors tabbed across the site, each section would repopulate the slide show with contextual content specific to the tab theme. The golf tab, for instance, would offer views of the 18th hole and the course clubhouse. Without having to navigate off of that one page, users would have the option of visual, topographic, and textual opportunities to engage the property.
As Account Manager Jeff Jones suggests, "Place means different things in the context of The Cliffs. It is a longing for escape from urban hassle, a sense of privacy and security, and at the same time a craving for freedom and adventure. By providing multiple avenues of engagement, we think we created an ideal framework for those desires to be satisfied."
The result is a powerful primer designed to entice users who are considering visiting one of The Cliffs properties—the ultimate goal of the online experience.
In 2008, LBi launched the first installments of the multi-site project, http://www.DiscoverKeoweeSprings.com and http://www.DiscoverHighCarolina.com, with the meta-site slated to launch this year, closely followed by the remaining property sites.