“Storytelling and emotional excitement is a key part of the marketing process”

Ballymore’s Head of Brand Design, Brisbane-born Matt Gavioli, talks to us about marketing Goodluck Hope and the importance of history.

Before arriving at Ballymore in 2016, Matt worked in Paris for three years concentrating on interior design, focussing on “branded environments”, helping to market fashionable new cafes and restaurants.

He studied photography at university in Australia that “spawned an interest in graphic design”.

Describing his working day in the new role as brand designer, Matt “ensures a consistency between onsite and offsite touch points, coordinating the online experience with the physical customer experience in the marketing suite, to offline and wider advertising.

“The most important difference compared to traditional print branding is the aim to embrace and discover a narrative where we work as story-tellers,” he explains.

He points out that marketing campaigns have become easier because “we are living in an age where we can access big data so we can very quickly determine whether they are working”.

But he says that compared to other developers, Ballymore has a “real understanding of how storytelling and emotional excitement are a key part of the marketing process”.

“For them, it is not just about selling an apartment – it’s about selling an exciting shared experience of what life might be like living on a development by promoting the overall sense of place.”

This was the case with Ballymore’s latest launch, Goodluck Hope, which he describes as “one of the most successful launches in a difficult market to generate sales”.

“The great thing we had with Goodluck Hope is that we were presented with a site which had a huge history”

He makes reference to the ‘Caisson’, the part of the historic Orchard Dry Dock where ships were built and repaired.

“The structure has been preserved and emphasised as a focal point of the development and as a meeting place for people to gather”.

His next project is Dublin Landings, “perhaps one of the most important projects for Ballymore being an Irish company and one of the largest multi-use developments in Ireland.

Located between Dublin’s international airport and historic centre, Dublin Landings will be a 1,000,000 sq. ft. mixed-use development comprising of offices, a boutique hotel, apartments, a gym and the central bank of Ireland.

“And it’s an exciting time for Dublin because of the huge influx of tech start-ups and business promoted by generous government support”, says Matt.

“The best thing about my job is that I am involved in a culture that’s design-led. Few other developers emphasise creative and intelligent design and I am fortunate to have worked with Roger Black, a creative director with a vision”.