Anticipation is built long before the doors open.

Author | Paul Skuse, Oakfield Marketing

aka, What property developers can learn from Hollywood.

Over the New Year break, I caught myself watching a few film trailers.

Early trailers, too. The kind that appear months before anyone can actually buy a ticket.

The Odyssey and Disclosure Day.

Both are landing in cinemas this summer, and both have dropped trailers a full six months out. Importantly, these aren’t the only trailers — they’re just the first. The opening notes of a much longer campaign that will continue to evolve, reveal and build momentum right up to launch day.

Here’s the key detail most people miss: neither film is finished.

They’re still editing, still refining, still arguing over scenes, still making decisions behind the scenes that will ultimately shape the final experience.

The cut isn’t locked, the story is still being tightened, and yet…
…the marketing has already begun.

Because Hollywood understands something the property industry too often forgets:

Anticipation is built long before the doors open.

The Trojan Horse effect
The Odyssey, fittingly, begins with the Trojan Horse, and it’s a near-perfect metaphor for early-stage marketing.

These trailers aren’t selling tickets yet. They’re doing something far more subtle. They’re slipping quietly inside the walls of our consciousness, seeding curiosity, building familiarity, and starting conversations that feel natural rather than forced.

They’re also just the beginning. One of several moments that will be released in sequence, each adding a little more depth, a little more clarity, and a little more emotional investment as the launch date moves closer.

By the time tickets actually go on sale, the audience already feels invested. They know the story, they recognise the tone, and emotionally, they’re halfway there.

That’s exactly what early-stage property marketing should do.
Not sell.
Not shout.
Not push.
But arrive early, lightly, with intent, and then continue to build momentum.

A quick confession (age reveal incoming)
I’ll admit it — I’m of a certain age. I grew up on sword-and-sandal epics like Jason and the Argonauts… proper classics.

So, when I see a new Odyssey teased half a year out, it genuinely excites me. Not because I can buy a ticket — I can’t — but because it reminds me just how powerful storytelling and anticipation really are when they’re handled properly.
And property marketing, at its best, is exactly that: storytelling.

The lesson for developers
Too many developments wait until:
• the show home is dressed
• the hoarding is up
• the sales suite is ready
…before saying a word.

Hollywood would never do that.
The smarter approach is to market while you’re still building — while plans are evolving, decisions are being made, and the story is still taking shape.

Because by the time reservations open, you don’t want silence, you don’t want cold traffic. You want people who already know the story, already trust it, and already want to be part of it.

If you’re building something worth selling, don’t wait until it’s finished to start the conversation.

Drop the trailer first. Drop it early, and keep dropping right up until they can buy, and beyond.

And drop me a line to begin the marketing process ahead of your competition.