Marketing strategy for Bruntwood
Industry: Property
Services delivered: Marketing strategy | Marketing planning | Project management | Agency management | Campaigns and lead generation | Copywriting | Marketing collateral | MIPIM support
Bruntwood is a commercial property specialist operating across the UK with a head office in Manchester. They own and operate coworking, office, retail and hospitality and lab spaces, as well as developing new spaces. They needed temporary support on the marketing strategy and implementation for their Manchester city centre portfolio.
Creating Thriving Cities
Bruntwood connects their customers and businesses with the spaces, support and people to help them grow. They own, let and manage outstanding buildings, workspace, innovation and science facilities. A dynamic and innovative company, they have a deep focus on supporting their vision of building vibrant communities whilst providing businesses with the support and expertise they need to supercharge their growth. From exclusive events and networking opportunities to state-of-the-art facilities design to putting employee wellbeing first.
The company has a Manchester city centre portfolio of over 25 properties including their development pipeline and offers office space, coworking, meeting rooms and retail. I was approached by Bruntwood to provide support on the marketing of this key portfolio and worked with them for over 12 months.
Why Bruntwood chose to work with me
“Emma hit the ground running which is exactly what we needed from someone who was going to tackle the marketing of these properties. Her extensive experience left us in no doubt, we’d get the best solution. Her knowledge of the sector, ability to work autonomously and lead key senior stakeholders was invaluable.”
Nicola McGee, Marketing Director
Property marketing support for Bruntwood
Bruntwood had a development pipeline of key properties including Bond, King’s House, Pall Mall and the Alberton that needed marketing support. There were also existing properties that had areas of void that required attention.
They needed a marketing consultant who could execute the marketing strategy for these properties whilst also being hand-ons in the delivery. The ability to operate independently and liaise with senior figures in the business was also part of the requirement.
Want to work with me?
Property expertise and relationships
With a busy marketing function, the team needed someone who could quickly get up to speed on the marketing for these properties. Having previously worked for Bruntwood for over 9 years, I had extensive knowledge of commercial property marketing, the workings of the business and relationships with team members. It was this experience that gave the team peace of mind they were in a safe pair of hands.
I began with reviewing the progress on the marketing plan for the properties in Manchester city centre. Whilst I was working across the whole portfolio, Bruntwood needed my focus on key development properties:
Bond - 35,000 sq ft
King’s House - 38,000 sq ft
Pall Mall - 93,000 sq ft
the Alberton - 232,000 sq ft
With completion time frames ranging from twelve months to four years, the objective was to keep the marketing activity on track and inline with key milestones. I worked with the marketing, commercial and development teams at Bruntwood on the strategies and project managed the implementation. As well as working with internal teams, I worked with external agencies and suppliers to deliver key assets.
“Emma embedded herself with the team, was great fun to work with and got the best out of everyone. Her collaborative approach was perfect for both internal and external stakeholders as well as agencies. She’s not afraid to make the right challenges and provide a different viewpoint. We got some great results.”
Nicola McGee, Marketing Director
Team Support
I joined the team in the office on a weekly basis to help build relationships and hold key in-person meetings. Regular weekly and biweekly meetings were held with both the marketing teams and commercial teams to ensure activity was on track as well as to review and make adjustments. I had the support of one of Bruntwood’s marketing executives as well as the wider marketing team to help with the delivery. Some of the marketing activity required wider internal stakeholder engagement including from Bruntwood’s directors and I liaised directly with them. I provided Bruntwood with a weekly report on activity so that they had visibility on progress against the objectives.
The Results
The Manchester city centre marketing has maintained momentum and marketing activity has been delivered aligned to development timeframes.
Key activity, I worked on for Bruntwood included:
Lead generation and digital marketing campaigns
Placemaking initiatives
Building positioning and branding
Brochures
Show suites
Axons
Hoardings
Video content
CGIs and 360 tours
Microsite refresh
Events
Sales presentations
The annual MIPIM conference in Cannes fell during my time with Bruntwood. I coordinated activity with support from PAs and the marketing team. This included liaising with sponsorship partners, ensuring key assets were delivered, facilitating comms, and reviewing speaker opportunities and ensuring directors were briefed.
Bruntwood also sought my help in launching a new product - storage. I developed the marketing plan, collateral as well as overseeing the implementation.
