New technologies combined with changing consumer and business expectations are raising expectations for how commercial properties are positioned, marketed and experienced. 

In response, CBRE Canada has launched Emerald Creative, a full-scale, award-winning in-house creative marketing agency dedicated to premier leasing assignments. The purpose is simple: to help Canadian landlords and developers differentiate significant commercial properties, lease faster and attract a desired mix of tenants to enhance neighbourhoods and communities.

“Our clients are building the fabric of world-class Canadian cities and they deserve a marketing partner that can help realize a property’s full potential,” says CBRE Canada President and CEO Jon Ramscar. 

“Emerald Creative brings together strategists, creatives and real estate specialists to produce integrated campaigns that elevate the country’s most significant listings. More than ever, we can help Canadian landlords connect with tenants from across our global platform, which is well-timed as Canada is actively seeking to attract new companies and foreign investment.”

Years in the making

While Emerald Creative is new by name, the capability behind it has been years in the making. 

CBRE Canada’s Property Marketing team has created some of the country’s most successful, internationally award-winning commercial real estate campaigns, continually raising the standard for how properties are brought to market.

Under the leadership of Iris Munro, Vice President and Head of Property Marketing, Emerald Creative works in close partnership with CBRE sales teams and clients to deliver marketing that differentiates properties, creates greater market momentum, and drives stronger leasing activity. 

“Property marketing has fundamentally changed,” says Munro. “Clients are looking for more than great creative. They need thoughtful positioning, compelling storytelling, new technologies, sophisticated digital experiences and campaigns that are directly connected to their leasing strategy.” 

“Emerald Creative is the evolution of CBRE’s property marketing service, bringing our various areas of expertise together under one roof with an expanded strategic focus,” she adds. “We are well-placed to lead the market in positioning new office, industrial and retail developments and large existing properties with significant vacancy.” 

A new model for property marketing 

Traditionally, landlords looking for a highly integrated marketing campaign may have engaged a third-party creative agency alongside their commercial real estate advisors. Emerald Creative brings many of those capabilities directly inside CBRE Canada. 

It offers the strategic, creative, digital and campaign expertise traditionally associated with a third-party marketing agency, from asset positioning and brand development to storytelling, digital experiences, integrated campaigns, experiential marketing and ongoing advisory. The distinction is that this work is influenced and developed from within the leading commercial real estate service provider.

 “We set out to create a new model for property marketing that combines agency-grade strategy and creativity with the market intelligence, relationships and commercial real estate expertise of CBRE,” Munro says.

That integration gives Emerald Creative access to a depth of context and insight that would typically take an external agency time to build. CBRE’s research, real-time market intelligence, leasing dynamics, competitive activity, occupier trends and relationships with landlords and tenants can all inform the marketing strategy from the outset.

“An external agency can learn the brief. We understand the business behind it,” Munro says. “We understand the leasing dynamics, the occupier landscape and the financial and strategic considerations influencing the assignment. That allows us to make marketing decisions with the commercial objective in mind from day one.”

Rather than treating branding, digital, content, campaigns and tenant engagement as separate workstreams, Emerald Creative develops them from a common strategic foundation, creating greater consistency from initial positioning through launch and throughout the leasing lifecycle.

“That depth of understanding allows us to connect marketing decisions directly to our clients’ business objectives,” Munro says. “We can identify what truly differentiates an asset, understand who we need to engage and build a campaign around how the market is moving and what matters most to occupiers. 

“The goal isn’t simply to create more marketing. It’s to create greater momentum, unlock opportunity and support stronger leasing outcomes.”

Built on experience

Munro brings more than 15 years of commercial real estate experience to her leadership of Emerald Creative. She has partnered with institutional investors, private ownership groups and developers to position some of Canada’s most prominent assets and developments, and spent a decade on one of CBRE Canada’s top office leasing teams in downtown Toronto before taking the helm of the company’s Property Marketing division.

That combination of marketing leadership and firsthand transaction experience helped shape the model behind Emerald Creative. “Working closely with landlords and occupiers through multiple market cycles gave me a very clear view of what clients need from marketing,” she says. 

“They don’t simply want to know what we are going to produce. They want to understand the strategy, the impact we’re trying to create, why we are recommending a particular approach and how it connects to their business objectives.”

From ambitious masterplans to high-profile towers and major industrial developments, Munro’s team specializes in distilling complex real estate opportunities into clear marketing positioning, compelling stories and integrated campaigns designed to capture attention and influence decision making. 

“Property marketing can no longer be reactive,” Munro says. “It needs to be strategic, targeted and deeply connected to the experience we are trying to create.”

Her ambition for Emerald Creative is equally clear. “Exceptional properties deserves exceptional marketing. With Emerald Creative, we have an opportunity to continue raising the standard for how significant commercial real estate is positioned, experienced and brought to market.”

For more information on CBRE Canada’s Emerald Creative services, visit cbre.ca/emeraldcreative