Repositioning Wohnwagon: from tiny house to modular brand

Wohnwagon is an Austrian company that has been developing sustainable solutions for self-sufficient living since 2013, from tiny houses to modular solid-timber houses. The projects are built in the workshop in Gutenstein, with a focus on self-sufficiency, regional building materials and future-proof energy solutions.

Wohnwagon was known above all as a tiny-house pioneer. With the expansion into larger solid-timber houses, the brand had to be repositioned in order to become visible as a relevant player across the whole construction sector. At the same time, the property crisis presented a communications opportunity: in an uncertain market, the task was to establish Wohnwagon as a future-proof solution for affordable and sustainable living.

The PR strategy relies on a combination of vision, tangibility and topical relevance. The focus is on interviews with founder Teresa Mai, who lent her voice to the narrative of ‘rethinking living’. To let journalists experience the quality and self-sufficiency of the houses first-hand, trial-living stays in tiny houses were organised, a format that made authentic first-hand reports possible. Corporate milestones such as a successful investment underline the company’s future viability. Seasonal topics such as the tiny house as a summer hideaway provide continuous media hooks.

Within a year, almost 80 publications were achieved in Germany and Austria, with an ad value of around €1 million and a reach of 886 million potential contacts. Media coverage ranged from leading media such as ORF, Der Standard, Die Presse and Welt am Sonntag, through trade publications such as Haufe, Ingenieur.de and Building Times, to sustainability media such as Utopia or Nachhaltig leben. Wohnwagon was successfully established as an innovative, trustworthy and forward-looking brand in sustainable living, far beyond the tiny-house niche.