Q'ING UP
BEST OVERALL ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN
— As Seen In Builder Magazine, March 2001

     What do shrewd investments and outstanding marketing efforts have in common? They both pay big dividends. To be sure, the eighth annual NAHB National Sales & Marketing Awards netted a record-high yield. Judges culled more than 1,000 ads, collaterals, models, and other buzz-generating vehicles to identify, and salute the best in the industry. This year’s Gold Winners raise the bar on new-home marketing.

     How do you reach upscale international buyers who move from place to place? The marketing team for Querencia, a 350-unit luxury vacation golf community in San Jose del Cabo, Mexico, met that challenge by launching a branded marketing campaign to draw discriminating prospects to the community’s $750,000 to $3.7 million single-family homes.

     The campaign used Querencia’s unmistakable "Q" logo, a familiar community icon, to ensure consistency in all the marketing campaign efforts, from ads to collaterals. "High-end publications such as Architectural Digest, Mercedes Momentum, and Colorado Impressions were among our most successful ad runs," says Jud Perkins, marketing director for Querencia Properties. Wine Connoisseur magazine offered free ad space to the community just for the opportunity to run the elegant ad designs in its publication.

     The campaign’s first week yielded a $1.75 million cash sale; four $110,000 golf memberships sold during the initial six weeks. Sales currently top over $3 million and golf memberships over $600,000.

Project: Querencia, San Jose del Cabo, Mexico; Developer: Querencia Properties, Dallas; Ad Agency: The Weston Group, Los Angeles