Helping YourLand Plan a Market-Leading Eco-Community in Fraser Rise
YourLand Developments acquired 1,400 lots in Deanside in Melbourne’s west, and planned to create an eco-friendly community of the future, with 7-star, all-electric homes and features that meet the next level of sustainability credentials.
They engaged Property Republic Director, Judi Carr, to spearhead a consumer insights activity, that would deliver the YourLand team with clear insights, recommendations and an action plan to achieve project success.
Our consumer research methodology was extremely effective in gaining insights into the expectations and perceived benefits and disadvantages of an eco-community from locals. These valuable insights have been delivered to the YourLand development team to positively influence the strategy and design of the project.
In our comprehensive report, we identified 11 key opportunities, which if adopted, should result in project sales success through differentiation.
The Approach
A number of different methods were employed to seek the opinions of potential purchasers, including a coffee consultation, online survey and workshop. Combined with visits to similar new communities, meeting with builders and a Council officer and understanding the Melton City Council’s long-term objectives, Judi and the Property Republic team gathered invaluable insights to inform and support the YourLand development.
Our approach had three phases: Plan, Action, Report. This structured methodology ensured a robust approach, provided community comfort and set a clear direction.
Plan
The first activity involved reviewing all existing documentation that outlined the purpose, target market and business objectives for the project. We then met with the YourLand project team to ensure a deep understanding of the task.
Following this, we met with the Social Planning Officer from the City of Melton to understand their sustainability objectives. This ensured that YourLand is well-informed and best placed to help the City achieve their objectives.
Action
Coffee consultation
The first activity in the action phase was conducting a ‘coffee consultation’ at Bella Vista Café. Locals were offered a free coffee in exchange for answering survey questions, with the objective of obtaining public feedback about eco-communities and their appeal. A total of 56 answers were collected.
Online survey
We conducted an online survey to provide demographic information as well as helping discover ideas and insights about the perception of eco-communities. Existing and prospective residents were recruited via email, social media and posters in local shops. A total of 28 survey responses were collected.
To incentivise, survey participants had the opportunity to win one of three x $200 VISA gift cards plus nominate one of three local charities to which YourLand donated $5 for every survey completed (capped at $1,000).
Community consultation
The final activity involved facilitating a 2-hour community consultation at Fraser Rise Community and Children’s Centre. In this interactive workshop, we took a deep dive into aspects of the online survey that required further clarification. The session was designed to further explore local residents’ perception and expectations of an eco-community, and covered a range of discussion topics, including:
What features purchasers would expect to find in an eco-community
What home buyers think about 7-star, all-electric homes
What barriers there are to purchase
How these barriers can be overcome
To incentivise participation, each attendee received a $150 VISA gift card at the completion of the session.
Report
We utilised a range of methods to capture and monitor feedback for the YourLand team, including:
Online survey tool
Photography
Social media monitoring
Visual and written representation
Interview transcription
The Results
The information we captured was compiled into a comprehensive report, which identified 11 key opportunities to differentiate their project from the competition and achieve sales success.