Higuerón West 217/News

The making of an iconic advertising campaign

The making of an iconic advertising campaign

Jan 08, 2019 WORK

Turn to the back cover of the magazine and you will see the distinctive advertisement of Higueron West, the stylish new residential development overlooking the Fuengirola and Benalmádena coastlines. You may have noticed it already, for it forms part of an ad campaign with a difference.

Words by Michel Cruz

Photography by Wayne Chasan

To understand the new series of advertisements, one has to know a little about Higueron West and the people behind it first. HW217, as it is also referred to, is the current landmark project of Urbania, a well-established and highly respected property developer with a long and proud list of projects to its name in Madrid, Barcelona, Brazil and indeed the Costa del Sol, where its portfolio includes Icon Signature Villas in Santa Clara. Though it operates on a sizeable scale, building residential and commercial projects, student housing, co-working centres, renovating historic buildings, and even creating the infrastructure for entire new suburbs and industrial estates, Urbania’s approach is that of a boutique developer.

This is especially true of Higueron West, an expansive new lifestyle community that will see phased development with spectacular sea and mountain views. This gated community borders the Reserva del Higueron Resort, and as such will add to the broad array of existing on-site amenities, which includes a variety of restaurants, a state-of-the-art spa and sports club, and a beach club that will open in 2020. Higueron West will complement this with its own co-working space and concierge services, but what really marks this project out is the attention to detail in everything from architectural styling and interior layout to landscaping and lighting.

“Everything is done to improve on the existing formula of property development,” says Marketing Director Lenore McCarron, who is the creative force behind the brand’s distinctive marketing and presentational concepts. “For us, simply delivering attractive properties is no longer enough, and as we have the luxury of being able to create the blueprint for a master-planned residential community at Higueron West, we’re going all-out to make it very special.” Indeed, who else would appoint a leading architect – Rui Costa – to become the ‘Guardian of the Concept’ and ensure that every little detail, from plants and roads to pavements and parks, adds up to a unique quality of life.

 

From development philosophy to creative campaign

“We’ve worked very hard to create a special concept and we’ve also worked hard to develop a brand that conveys that concept accurately,” says Lenore. “This is why we present our project in a different way. Not for the sake of being different, but to reflect that this is a property development that thinks beyond design and construction to really creating a wonderful modern lifestyle in a beautiful natural environment with attractive modern homes and amenities that are in harmony with their surroundings.” Sustainable development is at the heart of the concept, and this is reflected not only in parks, wooded groves and indigenous plant species, but also in Higueron West’s branding.

The ad campaigns that run in Essential Magazine are a case in point, yet Lenore and her team wanted to take things a step further to mark the new benchmarks being reached, such as the commencement of construction in Phase I, the granting of the building licence and the landscapers setting to work to create a ‘Jacaranda Avenue’. “I wanted to recreate the iconic Manhattan skyscraper construction image over our first site works, but this proved complicated as one photographer after the other bowed out, telling me it was impossible.” However, a chance visit by Wayne Chasan, dropping by to see Lenore, led to the creation of something quite unique.

Wayne had been providing images for the project for some time, but when Lenore told him about her idea he was the first to enthusiastically accept the challenge. “Of course, it wasn’t easy on either a practical or a technical level,” says Wayne, “but that just made it more fun.” A new image was shot of the construction site and when the search for a suitable steel beam proved complicated Wayne found the answer was close to home – the exposed ceiling boom in his loft studio – which he skilfully photographed, inverted and used as the steel beam upon which members of the real building project team of Higueron West were seated in a detailed replica of the original.

 

A personal approach

This personal approach, involving real staff, was important to Lenore, who worked with Wayne and members of her marketing team to ensure that every detail was perfect, from the outfits and reflections to the fact that, in this 21st century version of a 1920s classic, alcohol and tobacco were omitted. “We had a great deal of fun in a wonderful ambience of creativity and camaraderie,” said Wayne, for whom this is a highly enjoyable new kind of project. A new campaign had been born, and while the team worked on new iconic image ideas to relate to the HW217 brand, news that the building licence had been granted was celebrated with a fun video.

“We call it the ‘Happy Video’ and used members of our team to act out the roles, as we wanted to share this news with more than just a newsletter or press release,” says Lenore. Produced with a great blend of fun and professionalism, the ‘Happy Video’ reflects the creativity of Higueron West’s marketing team in how it shares project information in such an upbeat and innovative way. 

Needless to say, it has gone down a treat, and paved the way for the next Essential back cover ad, which featured a new interpretation of the classic ‘marines planting the flag on Iwo Jima’ image. The US marines were replaced with actual members of the landscaping team from Acer Jardin planting a tree below the strapline #gogreenbelt, to mark the creation of Higueron West’s parkland. The Christmas ad sees none other than Lenore in the role of Audrey Hepburn in a play on ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’.

“In keeping with the desire to photograph actual team members I was a model for a day, complete with hair, dress and self-made props like the cones we made and painted to look like the real display in the movie.” The photo – with iconic reflection and all – was made by her nephew’s girlfriend, who as it happens is studying design in New York and had just acquired a state-of-the-art camera. Guided by detailed instructions from Wayne, she took the required Tiffany’s shot, while Gomez & Molina allowed Wayne to turn their jewellers in Puerto Banús into a photo set and provided authentic diamond bracelets worth €75,000 for the shoot.

With all the elements in place – and a great deal of technical work to put it all together with the perfectionism and eye for detail that makes Lenore and Wayne such a creative team – the advertisement on the back cover of your magazine was created. We can’t wait to see those of the coming issues!