A new way to live
Alongside the brand work developed for Haiku’s unique rental offering, which you can read about here, Greystar partnered with Chello to establish Haiku’s distinct differentiation in the Australian market. The goal was to drive awareness and secure resident contracts by amplifying the brand promise ‘Everyday living that reduces with less hassle giving you and more time’.
An Australian truth
The Australian Dream — the belief that home ownership leads to a better life — served as the cultural insight that inspired our campaign platform. With home ownership becoming increasingly out of reach for many Australians and the rental model favouring landlords, renting at Haiku offers a refreshing alternative.
Designed for renters
Haiku’s inherent people-centred approach to renting led us to make a bold creative decision: flip the negative stigma of renting on its head and empower people to embrace being ‘Rent Proud’.
What sets Haiku apart from other Build-to–Rent offerings is their focus on service. Haiku not only builds, they also manage properties for life, each one designed around the human needs of their residents. Think of them as the landlord who’s genuinely on the side of the renters.
Haiku is renting by design, so the message ‘Designed for renters’ became our brand anchor, positioning Haiku as a unique player in the rapidly growing BTR space.
Consumer testing on Kantar’s Link+ platform played a key role in gaining stakeholder buy-in and shaping the messaging, which now guides all Haiku communications.
Rent proud, own life
The poetic connotations of Haiku inspired us to bring the concept to life in the campaign with the evocative line ‘Rent proud, own life’.
Led by a hero film from the perspective of an empowered renter, the campaign expands this message into various life-owning scenarios, highlighting the benefits of living at Haiku. Delivered through a pithy monologue, the script gives a knowing middle finger to the near-impossible reality of owning your own home, while championing the lifestyle choices that come with renting at Haiku.
A vibrant grade, dynamic camera movements, and an energetic edit compliment the impactful intent of the script and campaign concept.
A collaborative production
Chello were involved in every phase of the campaign, culminating in an epic on-location production featuring 14 unique shots across Haiku’s ‘Gladstone’ building and various suburban Melbourne locations, capturing the essence of life at Haiku. Each location brings a different line of the proud renter’s monologue to life, allowing us to edit the film into a series of targeted, benefit-driven vignettes.
Shot over two days, we assembled a talented local crew with award-winning DOP Alex Serafini calling the shots. Directed and produced in-house at Chello, lead actress Lucy Cawood brought the manifesto to life with energy and passion. We matched Lucy's dynamic performance with a custom-composed, 90s Riot-Grrl-inspired track and a slick grade by Marcus Friedlander.
Partnering with digital marketing agency Rocket, we also developed and launched full-funnel dynamic paid social executions to compliment the films and drive website traffic and resident sign-ups.
