Whether it's for a vacation ski house, a mountain retreat, or an idyllic retirement home, buying one of these luxury home sites represents the fulfillment of a lifelong dream. However, when MicroArts began, Mount Will was just another tract of rugged wooded mountain land that, although visible from the access road, was totally inaccessible because it was cut off by a river in between. If we were to succeed in getting early buyers, the fundamental challenge for MicroArts would be to make the intangible tangible, such that prospects could visualize living atop Mount Will as being the ultimate realization of their dream.

• Build a strong brand presence so that the activity at the Mount Will development would create a buzz among the local community and vacationers.
• Enable prospects to "experience" the rewards of living in a home atop Mount Will.
• Generate a sizeable group of potential buyers prior to the lots officially being available for sale.
• Convert those prospects into buyers as soon as all necessary approvals were in place.
• Sustain ongoing interest and sales year-to-year throughout this multi-phased development project.

MicroArts named the development project "The Peaks at Mount Will" to convey an image of prestige and exclusivity, and created a bold graphic logo that would serve equally well for use on signage at the entrance to the development, and premium items and apparel, as well as on ads, literature and sales materials.

The first step in the brand launch campaign was to generate a targeted list of potential prospects. This carefully screened audience was invited to preview and reserve the home site of their choice prior to them being officially available for sale. However, in order to participate, these prospects would all have to visit The Peaks on the same weekend, and place a $5,000 deposit. This strategy created a "buyers' frenzy," resulting in 28 out of the 150 people who visited placing deposits.

The cornerstone of the marketing effort was the web site MicroArts developed to support the brand launch of The Peaks. An interactive map allows viewers to scroll over each home site to view acreage, price, and launch a pdf platt map. Other features of web site include streaming video showing the spectacular 180º views, a section on life at The Peaks, which showcases area attractions, highlights views of the local scenery and gives a taste of the mountain living lifestyle, and pages with points of interest about the local neighborhood.

To keep The Peaks on people's minds, MicroArts ran ads in the local newspaper and in Sunday River skiing publications, and developed a series of special promotions with giveaways like T-shirts, ski hats, and posters to generate new leads and promote The Peaks brand in the broader community. MicroArts also produced a new version of a popular tune with original lyrics promoting Sunday River, and "released" it on CD by giving it to prospects to help them imagine living at The Peaks.

With an ongoing communication program to update an ever broadening group of prospects and the local community on the latest news from The Peaks, plus continuous attention to search word optimization strategies, MicroArts has succeeded in keeping this exciting development project at the center of attention among visitors to Sunday River, the regional community, and beyond.