Launching a 900-Acre Master-Planned Community Through Strategic Communications
Challenge
Oakwood Homes sought to introduce Prairie Point, a 900-acre master-planned community in southeast Aurora, to prospective homebuyers, community stakeholders and the broader Denver metro market. The launch presented an opportunity to generate awareness of the development and its role in meeting regional housing demand, while requiring coordinated messaging across project partners, elected officials and company spokespeople.
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Strategy
Linhart developed a comprehensive launch communications strategy to introduce Prairie Point to the Denver metro market, highlight its role in addressing regional housing demand, build awareness among prospective homebuyers and community stakeholders and emphasize the uniqueness of the community: it was already surrounded by top-notch schools and established retail corridors. With the groundbreaking event serving as the centerpiece, the team coordinated messaging across project partners and elected officials, developed a proactive media relations strategy and prepared spokespeople to communicate the development's vision and uniqueness.
Execution
Linhart managed communications surrounding Prairie Point's groundbreaking, including developing key messages and talking points for Oakwood executives, the mayor and a city councilwoman. The team also led all earned media activities, including spokesperson prep, development of rapid response materials and executing a strategy for engaging media before, during and after the event.
Linhart developed and distributed a news release, conducted targeted outreach to business, real estate, housing and local news outlets and secured advance interviews and event coverage from outlets including The Denver Post, Denver Business Journal and Homes.com. The team also conducted post-event outreach to local broadcast stations unable to attend the event, while the statewide news release distribution further extended the announcement's reach.
Results
The launch generated significant earned media visibility and increased website traffic following the announcement.
- 10 earned media placements, including eight feature stories and broadcast segments, with coverage in The Denver Post, Denver Business Journal, Homes.com, CBS Colorado, Aurora Sentinal and The Colorado Sun.
- More than 35 million earned media impressions, extending awareness of Prairie Point across the region.
- 37% increase in Prairie Point website traffic following the announcement.
- 736 newswire placements and more than 2,400 website clicks generated through statewide news release distribution.
The campaign successfully introduced Prairie Point to key audiences, generated widespread visibility for the development and established a foundation for ongoing community storytelling and future homebuyer engagement.
