Building brand recognition in the property sector
Brand Development
In early 2007, Rectory Homes, one of our longest established clients, commissioned us to re-evaluate their brand positioning and image. Our primary objectives were to build brand understanding and recognition as the business launched into new geographic territories in the UK, diversified its core property offerings and expanded it’s staff base to enable business growth.
In addition, Rectory’s board recognized the need to create competitive advantage in the crowded independent, regional property development market prior to a forecast economic down turn through 2008/9. In short, if the market was going to diminish, they wanted to be understood, believed and valued by their regional customer base.
The challenge
Traditionally, Rectory had placed little emphasis on brand and image development. It’s owner, ethos and the quality of properties built were considered as all that the Rectory brand needed in order to demonstrate the businesses worth. Whilst they needed property literature and advertised in property sections of regional publications, the priority had been to ensure that the logo appeared on all marketing material. Consistency of image and the way that marketing communications could be used to build understanding of Rectory as a beneficial business were considered as unnecessary, provided that marketing successfully promoted specific products.
The outcome was successful property marketing but with radically changing style and content, particularly with fast turnaround press advertising. There was no added value in terms of building the brand and, if an ad failed to deliver sales, no way of identifying why this had happened. After much debate and recommendation from Purple Frog, Rectory decided to change their ethos and redefine their image and communication approach.
The approach
Purple Frog began to redefine Rectory’s corporate image with workshop and discussion sessions with the businesses owner, CEO, directors and selected staff groups. The aim was to gain sound understanding of various hopes, plans and aspirations for the businesses future. Despite a perception from senior management that all staff had a unified understanding of what the business stood for and the direction it was heading in, we gained considerable variation of views.
Our first task therefore was to combine these insights with market and competitor analysis in order to create a clear, real and believable vision and brand positioning. This was then added to with visual and written descriptors of how the positioning could be communicated to various audiences. Once senior management had agreed the vision and positioning, they became (willingly) primary custodians of their brand positioning, image and communication approach. In itself this ensured that they would successfully lead their staff through brand change in the future and have clearer understanding of image and communication ideas as we developed them.
Having defined the positioning our second task was to begin building a structured corporate image – visual and written/spoken language – to best portray the business positioning, all potential corporate and product marketing applications and through all potential communications mediums.
This work encompassed logo redesign, colour palette creation, information hierarchy, type faces, photographic and illustration styles, various templates for corporate use – stationary, emails, signage etc. and variable style guides for different literature, advertising and promotional use. In addition we developed a writing style for different communication needs, where each allowed for both appropriate brand messaging and targeted messaging to various target audience.
Results
The outcome was a complete corporate and marketing guideline for use by both the client’s small marketing team and other 3rd party contractors. In turn this enabled Rectory to ensure consistent brand image and communication across all potential uses, regardless of who was commissioned to produce sales and marketing material. This enabled the client to not only begin to build brand recognition, understanding and belief but to save considerable money through needing less tactical marketing communication and enjoying better returns on investment when they did conduct this activity.
In addition, staff, partners and suppliers gained a better understanding of, and loyalty to, the company they worked for thus building motivation, contribution and advocacy.
Ultimately, Rectory Homes have gained a highly recognisable and differentiating brand image, begun to create understanding in their marketplace of why they are a good business to buy a new home from and have established a long term, powerful and flexible new business tool.
To find out more about how Purple Frog can help you develop your brand and corporate image, call 01844 295170 or email more@purplefrog.co.uk
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