OPEN DOOR
Open Door is a growing network of independent property businesses. Specialising in residential sales, they offer two main services to customers: modern auctions and traditional estate agency. Since their launch in 2012, Open Door have sold more than £80m of properties across the UK, with an average selling time of just 6-8 weeks.
THE CHALLENGE
Open Door wanted to push the auction side of their business but faced a real stumbling block over the common misconception of property auctions. Many people assume that only repossessed or run-down dwellings go under the hammer, and find the whole bidding process rather intimidating. Our task was to reinvent the Open Door brand and position it as the modern and better way to sell property.
THE SOLUTION
Meet Gary the garden gnome, the bearded face of Open Door. He’s a charming little fellow who is synonymous with good living and quality home life. He represents the brand’s inherent qualities: friendliness, helpfulness, honesty and simplicity. He makes people think of a traditional, wholesome and welcoming home. This helps make Open Door accessible to a much wider audience than landlords or property investors by appealing to ordinary people that want to sell family homes. Gary not only reinforces the brand colours in the clothes he wears but he has a number of humorous poses to highlight different brand USPs, such as speedy service and security. Gary was rolled out across a broad suite of collateral, ranging from stationery and print ads to car livery and even squeezy stress gnomes.
