Salvi Homes

Brand identity and marketing strategy for two major developments — Savona and Hillshire — from a homebuilder that’s set the standard in Sherwood Park for over 35 years.

Situation

Salvi Homes has established itself as a leading homebuilder in the Sherwood Park area for over 35 years. Salvi's high-end luxury brand caters to a discerning buyer, while Ironwood Homes specializes in servicing two distinctive audiences: move-ups — families looking to purchase a more affordable higher-end home — and empty nesters. The Salvi brand has become the industry standard, a benchmark to which other builders aspire. Their commitment to quality has earned an enviable reputation and respect among Sherwood Park and area residents.

The challenge to ThinkTANK Advertising & Design was to further establish the Salvi brand in Sherwood Park and show Salvi as being a good corporate citizen by supporting many non-profit and charitable organizations.

Salvi Homes half-page Sherwood Park newspaper ad

Task

In late 2012, ThinkTANK was approached by Salvi to become their agency of record. This included many tasks, from developing and implementing a strategic marketing plan to logo and branding development for two major projects that Salvi was preparing: Hillshire and Savona.

Both projects required extensive research into Sherwood Park, its residents and businesses, its proud history, and their home purchasing behaviour. ThinkTANK's role was to develop the brand identity and rationale for Savona, and develop an overall marketing strategy and budget for Hillshire.

Savona

ThinkTANK took inspiration from the Italian heritage of the Salvalaggio brothers, who founded Salvi Homes more than 35 years ago. The client wanted the brand for the new building to be based on the existing Salvi logo, so we began looking at famous Italian towns starting with "S" to take advantage of the stylized "S" featured in the Salvi logo. We narrowed it down quickly to Savona — the birthplace of Christopher Columbus, a town famous for its hills, farming, and its proximity to the Ligurian Sea.

Savona is a project taken on in association with Strathcona County, in the Centre of the Park development located north of Sherwood Drive on Festival, near Sherwood Park Mall. The primary audience for this property is a mature Sherwood Park resident ready to downsize their home; the secondary audience is a young family looking for a starter home in a community where they can grow and establish roots.

Hillshire

Hillshire is a land development project that began in 2013. Salvi Group had acquired a 16.72-acre Municipal Reserve on the south side of Sherwood Park, located just west of Cloverbar Road on Wye Road — 12.6 acres of upland forest and 6.92 acres of reconstructed wetland, with an abundance of nature trails, an existing elementary school on-site, and existing retail and commercial development, including grocery stores, a gas bar, and other professional services directly across the street.

ThinkTANK developed a branding system for the new development. The Hillshire name took inspiration from the rolling topography of the area, with a slightly Celtic feeling to it — a mildly Celtic-style font, while still incorporating the traditional three trees of the Salvi logo, with colouration and shapes representing the hills and water of the area's topography.