Case Study: Hines ITalia

Milestone:  Launch of property development fund

Copies In Print:  5,000

Objective:  Hines Italia, the Italian subsidiary of commercial real estate developer Hines, wanted to boost understanding of the long-term value of sustainably built Class A buildings for the investment community. The team hoped to unveil the book at a celebration launching their new property development fund in Milan.

Challenges:  Hines Italia wanted to involve a number of different professionals—none of them professional writers—related to the financing, creation, and operation of commercial properties. The participants would be from Europe as well as America, and their text would be delivered in either English or Italian. Hines Italia also wanted to encourage participants to provide visual support for their essays, all in varying formats and degrees of quality.

Solutions:  Working closely with the Italian office, we developed a book that would incorporate informational graphics, all of them redesigned so the various source material had a uniform look and feel; essays from more than a dozen architects, real estate executives, and investment experts, which was first translated into English, edited by us for clarity and consistency, and then distributed to Hines's English-speaking employees for approval; and a running Italian translation of the English text in an exciting, streamlined design augmented with color photography that we procured.

Fulfillment:  We selected an Italian printer to manufacture the books and coordinated the delivery from the printing plant to the Hines Italia office in time for the event. We also coordinated shipment of a portion of the books to Hines's headquarters in Houston for distribution domestically.

Results:  Hines Italia was pleased to have a high-design book that made a strong case for the value of sustainably built high-end commercial properties. In addition to a useful tool that furthered its messaging to the investment community, the Hines Italia team also had a great giveaway for their event.