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Affordable Housing, Meet Affordable Branding

Written by Stacey Feeney on . Posted in All Articles, Branding. No Comments on Affordable Housing, Meet Affordable Branding

Every apartment community should have a brand identity. And we’d include affordable housing in that statement. However, making branding affordable for lower-income housing is more of a challenge. But: even with limited resources, branding can make an impact for affordable housing.

Affordable housing communities have different marketing needs and budgets compared to their conventional housing counterparts. But even affordable housing communities should seek a brand identity that’s all their own—so residents can have a fuller living experience, too.

The Uniqueness of Affordable Housing

Affordable housing has a few differences from conventional, and keeping those differences in mind can help your marketing choices—from budget to branding.

OCCUPANCY BENEFITS

With rents being subsidized for lower income residents at affordable housing communities (or units) it’s more than likely to have a waitlist for residents. Community property managers aren’t necessarily facing any vacancy issues, since there are plenty of applicants and hopeful prospective residents. 

Additionally, because of the waitlist, and with vacancy issues being virtually non-existent, marketing lower-income housing simply requires less effort.

BUDGET CONSTRAINTS

For all the pluses of affordable housing, there are certainly some downsides. A lower-effort marketing need often translates to little to no budget for marketing those affordable housing communities. 

An added challenge nestled within those budget constraints: Not all affordable housing is standalone. It’s sometimes offered as some percentage of affordable units (say, 20-40%) in the context of a larger building filled with conventionally priced units—which is a requirement placed on developers by some cities, counties, and/or states.

These “mixed-income properties”, as they’re called, sometimes have property teams fall into the trap of lumping branding in with marketing. But: the branding should be there from the start, as part of the construction or building process. Brand identity should come a long time before marketing.

BRANDING IMPACT

Every community should be branded, regardless of whether it is mixed-income or is only affordable housing. It will make a huge difference…because while occupancy may not be suffering, that’s not the only thing branding is for. 

Branding creates an experience and develops trust through consistency. This matters for every resident, whether they’re paying market rents or not. Every resident deserves a thoughtful experience and your full attention.

Affordable Branding Strategies

With budgets being restrictive and limiting, it’s helpful to look at creative approaches to keep your affordable housing branding—well—affordable.

CORPORATE LEVEL BRANDING

You might choose to brand your properties all in the same way, similar to corporate property management or an ownership company. That’s instead of a full brand identity at the property level for an affordable community. It’s one solution! Check out more on corporate branding for multifamily on another one of our blogs.

SMALLER SCALE BRANDING

Not in the budget? Scale it back. The time may be now and the place may be with affordable communities. At Zipcode Creative, we offer an Essential Brand Package because we know that every property should be branded, but not every property has the needs or the budget for the biggest package. So we tailor it to fit your needs, realistically.

In our essential brand package, we include:

  • Naming – 3 name options with logic and check for availability
  • Verbal Identity – Tagline Development and Headline Library
  • Visual Identity – 2 Logo concepts, a color palette, and typography

Along with this, we’ll provide a brand guide/style sheet, folders of individual assets, and logos in file types used for both print and digital. It’s everything a community needs to get their brand locked in. For more details, check out the brand packages Zipcode Creative offers here.

Bear in mind: the essentials really are the basics of brand development, the bare minimum we believe you’ll need. You shouldn’t immediately go for the simpler stuff, it’s just one option to have excellent branding at a lower price point. We’ll help guide you towards what’s going to work best for you.

Branding for Affordable Housing Still Matters

As we pointed out before, affordable housing communities should still get a fair shake with branding.

RESIDENT EXPERIENCE

Residents, no matter their income, should have a thoughtfully branded community that welcomes them. When a community lacks branding—it misses out on the sense of pride that can be shared among its residents. The sense of community might be lacking because the branding doesn’t solidify what the apartment community “stands for” or values. With a brand clearly delineated, it’s easier to make sense of what to expect—which can mean a lot to any resident.

Additionally, with attention to detail (think: well-thought out branding) residents will feel more confident that your community actually cares and will meet their needs—in repairs, in maintenance, and in overall customer service. It’s part of your promise.

COMMUNITY IDENTITY

While there is a significant lack of affordable housing available for everyone who needs it in the U.S., there are still a number that you may be “competing” with. The role of branding may be even more important for affordable housing communities—not just to claim more residents than the competitors—but to foster loyalty among its residents. 

What Do You Need? Brand Quiz

The branding solutions for affordable communities should be just that! Affordable. With experience across several multifamily sectors (senior, student, conventional, affordable housing) we recognize that nothing is ever “one-size-fits-all.” 

That’s part of the reason we created our brand quiz. Use it to determine what branding scope is going to be best for your property, and see exactly how Zipcode Creative can help.

Create Your Own Personal Brand Voice

Written by Stacey Feeney on . Posted in All Articles, Branding. No Comments on Create Your Own Personal Brand Voice

At Zipcode Creative, we know that brand voice is tricky—how do you determine it, and how do you stay consistent? What is the right path to take? Take your own personal brand voice for starters.

What everyone really needs is a worksheet. Hard-hitting (but fun) questions to guide a brand into its truest shape.

Walk through the various bits and bobs with us—and note how it may shift based on the personal or professional side of things and see how your brand voice can come alive.

Attraction & Audience

Who do you most want to attract in your life?

For the personal side, you’ll focus more on who you share your life with in all its ups and downs, so: a life partner, a mentor, or a coach. If you want to keep things professional with this question, think of the people you’ll see almost every day: co-workers, boss or company, or mentor.

A consideration that comes close on the heels of those questions is: 


What qualities should the people I want to attract have?

When you think through who you want to attract—and what qualities they have, this gives some insight into:

  1. What you feel you may be lacking (something to complement you)
  2. Who you think is most desirable to be around

Core Values

What are the things most vital to living your life the way you think it ought to be lived? Is it honesty? Gratitude? Entrepreneurial spirit? Giving? What things are at your very core? Those are your core values—the things that you would still cling to if everything else got stripped away.

For the professional side, it’s good to investigate your key accomplishments. What has been your greatest success in your work? It may be small to some, but it’s vital to choose something that felt like a big deal to you, whether it was learning something completely new, or completely shattering a previous goal you’d set.

Passions and Skills

There’s so much more to any person than what they accomplish. Look at your top passions and interests. This shows your willingness to learn something new, and shows your interest in things that are maybe typical, or just give more vibrancy to who you are—which is all part of your brand.

Your strengths and skills as a professional also help give color and shape to the professional side of your personal brand. A top strength is something that has maybe been part of your professional journey: You got better at managing others because you had a boss that wasn’t the best, and you learned how not to do things. Maybe you have excellent budget skills because your parents brought you up to spend, save, and give, and your ability to make a budget work is highly desirable and something you enjoy. Again, all part of your personal brand, even if it shows up with you at work.

Personality

This is the most fun part. Getting to know who you are, based on your own perception and what others have said about you, gives a clear picture of how you act, how you’ll likely act in specific situations, and your usual way of doing things. Every one of the following questions narrows down the details a little further.

Descriptors – What words describe your personality? This can point to what you know about yourself and what others have said about you—both personally and in your professional sphere.

Celebrity Swap – Who would you want to swap places with (think Freaky Friday)? Who do you find fascinating, and why?

Dream Car – Color, year, details. The more specific you are, the better understanding of your personal and professional brand.

Fashion Forward – A favorite fashion brand (and why) brings insight into the aspirational. Whether you prefer funky or modern or classic, this says a lot about you!

Weekend Plans – What’s your ideal or favorite weekend activity? If you mostly want to play board games, drink tea, and knit, that tells a different story than if you want to go four-wheeling, hunting, and grilling.

Music Match – Your favorite genre of music gives a little more color to your personal brand. Upbeat classical? Old timey country? 90s R&B? Post-modern shoegaze pop? It all puts different shades on your brand.

Your True Era – If you could time travel—which era would you aim for? Or would you stay right here, right now? This has more to do with your interests rather than your ideals, likely, but gives an interesting spin on what you value and what you’re curious about.

The Worksheet

Here is your worksheet, in two pages – just save the images! 

Corporate Brand Voice

HOW TO

Now that you’ve seen the research and understanding that goes into developing a personal brand (whether taking the personal or professional angle) it might be easier to understand how a brand voice is strategized.

You’d consider and clarify:

  • Brand Goals (similar to personal hopes/dreams)
  • Target Client/Customer Persona (who you most want to attract)
  • Your Brand Differentiators
    • Mission/Vision/Values
    • Purpose
    • Core Values
    • Goals
    • Company Culture
  • Brand Personality & Voice
    • Archetypes
    • Attributes
    • Tone of Voice
    • Vocabulary
    • Positioning
    • Tagline/Copywriting
  • Brand Personality Slider
    • Note: The cool thing about the slider is that you don’t have to fully skew one way or the other, you can be balanced between casual and elegant—or you can be relatively complex without going full complicated

IMPLEMENTATION

It’s likely that your corporate brand voice was (or will be) created in a small circle of “trust” in the company. But when it’s time to get everyone else bought in and trained, that full brand implementation (and carrying out your brand voice) is going to be intrinsic to your success with continuity and consistency. 

How do you teach others to embody your brand voice? If you’ve created a “founder” brand, wherein the personal brand and corporate brand are nearly one and the same—you can train your team members directly on the voice of your founder.

At Zipcode Creative, for example, we’re a founder brand. That means that Stacey Feeney is Zipcode Creative, and everything is written from her personality and perspective. 

This looks like:

  • Quick, friendly email replies: “You got it!” or “Roger that!”
  • Lots of exclamation points in email communications (with rereading to make sure it’s not over the top)
  • Demeanor focused on service—to help clients with anything needed, big or small
  • Being honest, open, and transparent

Stacey is front and center, and everyone is trained in her voice—that keeps things consistent and trustworthy.

(Keep in mind: that’s just one approach!)

Apartment Community First Impressions

Written by Stacey Feeney on . Posted in All Articles, Branding, Marketing, Writing. No Comments on Apartment Community First Impressions

Today, digital first impressions are the main way you’ll get a first impression as an apartment community. So, your website needs to be ready to catch some eyes, pique some curiosity, and answer some questions. Billboards are still out there, sure, but websites are the new billboard. The homepage header text is the billboard tagline. The imagery is the eye-catcher. The contact us page is the phone number at the bottom. For apartment community first impressions, potential residents are about to have their perceptions shaped—does your community speak to them and meet their criteria?

According to Census.gov, renters who moved from 2019 to 2021 found places primarily through internet sites (like Craig’s List, apartment.com, realtor.com or Zillow) (46%) and through word of mouth (39.1%). More affluent renter households were more likely to use internet sites to find new rentals. (54.3% compared to the 30.2% below the poverty level).


When you head to an internet site or hear about a place—the next step is clicking the link to the property website, or Googling the apartment community until you find it.

So:
There’s no better place to be than where your prospects are LOOKING. So: Learn how to “set the tone” for future interactions using your brand paired with your website to make an excellent first impression to help their decision-making process.

Branded Website = Power

BRANDING REVIEW

A brand is great because of the work that’s put into it, and the consistency the team maintains.
At Zipcode Creative, we take great pride in asking the right questions, doing the research (on your ideal resident) and crafting brand guidelines that align with your vision and with your target resident. See the ingredients for the secret sauce to apartment branding here.

A good brand has all the makings of a fantastic first impression:

  • Name – Research on your IRP, history, and locale along with availability for URLs and socials helps us narrow this down and make it uncommon, memorable, and relatable
  • Logo – Whether a refresh or a strategic new design, it will be made to grab attention, portray professionalism, and tell your story (in the shortest way possible)
  • Visual Identity – 55% of brand first impressions are visual, and it only takes 50 milliseconds for consumers to judge the visual appeal of your brand. The color palette, typography, icons, and plenty more keep you recognizable.
  • Verbal Identity – Voice and tone development helps you indicate your brand through your words. Your messaging and how you say it. Taglines, headlines, phrasing.

When you have all the pieces, you’re ready to set up your website to impress.

WEBSITE AS BRANDING PLATFORM

The website you create is how you can showcase your brand. On it you can show off your brand personality and engage the audience you want to target using your well-developed visuals and perfectly precise messaging.

Visual Branding on the Website

THE RIGHT PLATFORM?

When it comes to creating your website, there are a few “typical” ways to go. You might choose a template website, or go all in for your brand with a custom site design. Depending on which way you go, we’d recommend Jonah Digital for template sites and RESI for template and custom sites. Both offer beautiful options that provide the integration you’ll need to use with your property management system.

BRAND VISUALS TO STAND OUT

The main reason your brand must be developed before you set to work on your website is to enable your community to stand out. There are so many websites these days. And competition for apartment communities is only getting stiffer. Strategize by making your brand different—and consistent. Your brand visuals should resonate with the prospects you’re targeting so you can create conversions using your best marketing tool: your website. 

A note on template sites: Using brand visuals to stand out is particularly important if you’re using a template site that’s similar to your competitors. Work on making your template site (if that’s the type of website you’ve chosen) to be as custom-looking as possible. Curate your imagery carefully and adjust the design to set it apart.

Brand Voice on the Website

Making sure that all your bases are covered with your brand voice can help keep things consistent and recognizable. There are no sharp left turns with the messaging that throw off your website visitors. And if you craft your voice right and address the proper pain points (while offering solutions) you become the answer for your prospects, encouraging them to engage with you.

SEO VS. BRAND VOICE

If you want to make a good first impression, you have to be found through search, as well. This means finding the right balance between SEO-focused content and ensuring your brand voice still comes through. Optimize and engage—that’s a tall order, but it will get eyeballs on your site, and your brand voice will keep them there. Learn more about striking the right chords with your content and using SEO and brand voice to capture and engage.

CRAFT COMPELLING COPY

To make a good first impression is one thing. That’s usually up to good SEO and interesting visuals. But your copy will keep your website visitors on the website. To create attention-grabbing copy, try the following tips:

Write for short attention spans – Apartment hunters don’t have time to sit and read something super long. Get to the point.

Write scannable text – Give ‘em the highlight reel, with bullet points and clear headers.

Use simple, familiar words – It’s not the time to show off your fantastical lexicon…er, amazing vocabulary. Be approachable (generally) and keep with your brand personality.

Cut the fluff – Make your sentences short and sweet. If you can get the point across with what you’ve said, don’t add any more. EDIT!

Make a Lasting Impression

According to PERQ, website leads are more likely to book a tour and sign a lease than leads from any other source—across the board, for the past two years.

That means your website has a lot of heavy lifting to do. Make a memorable impression on the site visitors. Strategize around the user journey. Answer their questions. Encourage them to take the next step with a clear call-to-action: Schedule a Tour Today!

Start your relationship off with your prospects on the right foot.
Capture with SEO.
Attract with visuals.

Engage with verbal messaging.

And before you do any of it:
Ensure your branding is up to the task.

Brand recognition can lead to conversion, whether for tours or leases. Invest in your branding so your website works for you.

Brand Implementation is the Key to Success

Written by Stacey Feeney on . Posted in All Articles, Branding. No Comments on Brand Implementation is the Key to Success

A well-developed brand is only theory until it’s seen and experienced in the wild. Brand implementation for multifamily is the key to success—to set your community apart and stand out against the comps.

If your brand is fully developed—visual, verbal, experiential—and everything is laid out and planned, it doesn’t matter at all unless and until it’s carried out. Pay attention to how you implement your brand across every channel and touchpoint. For example, consider how your onsite team is carrying out your branding. They’re not marketers, but they’re certainly part of your brand perception for both residents and prospects.

Brand Consistency Comes Through Training

If they’re an employee with your community, they’ll play a part in the brand perception. Everyone who touches the brand should fully “get” the brand—through how they’re treated by upper management, and through how they’re familiar with the visual and verbal identity aspects of the community brand to, in turn, be able to speak to residents within the brand voice.

TRAINING

If your teams don’t “get” the brand, they weren’t trained properly. Ensure nothing falls between the cracks and use tools and training to get your whole team on board.

Corporate training – Bring in the marketing team to train everyone. Make room for questions to ensure full understanding of brand elements and guidelines (so, questions like “Why?” are definitely welcome here). Give some background into choices and ensure the mission and vision are crystal clear. Give examples of what it looks like in action, too.

Use the tools – Using the Canva Brand Kit will help streamline your visuals. Using ChatGPT can help corporate take control over the brand execution—particularly if you create fill-in-the-blank brand voice prompts, like: “Please write a ______ in our brand voice that is youthful and quirky.” This is particularly helpful to create a starting point if you don’t have a branding team with a copywriter helping at every turn. 

Make Marketing Materials Cohesive

Your prospects should be able to see and feel and experience your brand in a cohesive way no matter where they are in the (sales) funnel, and no matter where they are in their resident journey, whether researching apartments or living there, from online search to in-person tours. That’s done through brand consistency.

TOUCHPOINTS FOR BRAND CONSISTENCY

When does consistency matter? All the time. That’s how you reach peak brand awareness. But it’s particularly helpful to make sure you have these bases covered:


Digital presence – Messaging and visuals must maintain the brand identity. This is usually the first point of interaction for prospects. So ensure your website, socials, and digital ads all add up to the same brand!


Physical marketing collateral – Everything that has your name on it should be immediately recognizable. Every handout, every brochure, every sign should be completely cohesive with the brand’s look and feel.

Surroundings (Details and Decor) – Don’t stop at your stationery and website. Bring your brand all the way into your interiors. The décor and lobby styling should reinforce your brand (not clash). Bring the color palette into the paint choices, or artwork, or throw pillows (or all three).

Basically: Attention to detail will get you on the right track, and keep you there. Implementing brand guidelines consistently, and you’ll be able to build trust with your prospects.

Keep the Brand Promise to Residents

Now that your prospects have turned into residents, your branding work is far from done. The trust you’ve built with your prospects should NOW turn into the loyalty you build with your residents. Maintaining your brand is done in part by the actual experience of living at your community.

WHY KEEP THE BRAND PROMISE?

Loyalty stems from a positive experience. When something is good, we want more of it. Hence, another lease renewal, or a handful of referrals. Seeing a pattern of this? Your brand is on the right track, keeping the brand promise—what you say you’ll do and actually doing it.

GO BEYOND LEASING

Executing the brand isn’t just about arriving at the signature on the lease. Like we said before, it’s for far more touch points than that. It also includes:


Staff Interactions – They’re the true embodiment of the brand. Their greetings, their body language, their email messaging should all be part of an experience that is fully in line with the brand’s values.

Community Standards – If you have the correct color signage, but it’s poorly lit, that’s not a good look. Ensure maintenance and updates happen regularly so that hard work in branding your community isn’t totally detracted from. Focus on quality, cleanliness, and style—all in keeping the vibe of your brand.

Amenities and Events – Choose events that work within your brand and don’t feel “off”. Amenities should have been chosen to differentiate you—now make sure they’re a fully positive experience that helps residents make lasting memories.

You can see just how well your brand is “working” in your community based on the renewal rates and referrals that come in. If your resident is satisfied, they’re not looking for the greener grass. They’re telling their friends that your community is where the grass is truly green. Retain them!


Get beyond the logo and aim for the heart of your brand. Train your personnel to ensure it’s coming through in human interaction. Create tools to make it easier. Keep your brand promises. Implement your branding and enforce it (gently) regularly. When the branding is done authentically, with buy-in, it’s a lot easier to sell the whole community as the place to live.

Corporate Branding for Multifamily—Part 2: Rebrand vs. Refresh

Written by Stacey Feeney on . Posted in All Articles, Branding. No Comments on Corporate Branding for Multifamily—Part 2: Rebrand vs. Refresh

Now: we’ve covered brand goals, types, and loyalty for corporate brands. It’s time to figure out the when/why of the multifamily corporate branding and whether you need a full rebrand or if a refresh will help you achieve your goals.

Corporate Rebrand vs. Refresh

Is it time to get a better corporate brand? Or do you simply need a brand refresh?
Go through the following sections to have a better handle on when to do it, why you should, and whether a full rebrand or a simpler refresh could work for your multifamily corporate brand.

WHEN/WHY

  • If your multifamily corporate brand is changing the services offered—time to rebrand. 
  • If your portfolio is shifting (up, to Class A, for example) you’ll want to consider a rebrand.
  • If you’ve created new brand goals—a rebrand may be in the cards.
  • If the existing brand is not strong enough (you only have a logo and colors)—a rebrand could do a world of good.
  • If your reputation is not great or you’re under new management

REBRAND

If, for example, your brand is shifting up into Class A properties, a rebrand could fit into the equation pretty well.

To do this, you’d look to do the following:

  • Rename the company

or

  • Redesign the logo; and
  • Create new visual and verbal identities

REFRESH

If your brand is in decent shape or you don’t want to lose the brand recognition you’ve already built, but it could use a little shine, a brand refresh may work to help boost your corporate brand.

To refresh your corporate brand, you’d:

  • Keep the existing logo or modernize it while maintaining recognition; and
  • Change or expand the visual and verbal identities

Corporate Brand Rollout

Once the corporate brand is ready to go, plan as much ahead as you can. Implementation can happen relatively seamlessly if you’re focused on creating clear guidelines, providing proper training to employees, and understand from the inside out what it is your promising—and how best to keep it.

CLEARLY DEFINED GUIDELINES

A clear brand guideline will go a long way. Knowing exactly the brand voice, the colors, the logo usage, the patterns and textures—creates the path forward and keeps your brand headed in the right direction (no swerving, and no weird logo stretching.) Using a tool like Canva’s Brand Kit makes things really easy for non-professional designers who are charged with creating posts for social or crafting resident event announcements. A few clicks, and they’ll have the right colors, font, and styles at their fingertips.

START INSIDE

Employees – Your employees must believe in and trust the brand and have buy-in with the core values. They must feel they’re being treated with the values and priorities the brand is claiming. It’s clear when the culture and the brand don’t align—so ensuring that employees experience and agree with the brand is key to having the consistency and clarity in the online and in-person experience for anyone coming in contact with the brand.

Training – To enable full brand understanding and buy-in, training is vital. Brand messaging and personality are smack-dab in the midst of this. “How does your brand treat people?” should apply to your employees as well. This can come in the form of “we don’t say this, we say that” as well as proper logo usage, and how to add a logo to an email signature. Having access to the brand guidelines is also helpful for folks to be able to recognize (because they’ve become so familiar with it) when the brand lands properly in interactions and visuals—and when it’s off.

DELIVER THE PROMISE

To clients – Investors or owners want to know that you’ll be all that you say you’ll be. They’ll be looking closely into whether your corporate multifamily brand is the right fit (and doing some shopping around). So be clear and be consistent and build trust up from the beginning—the proof should always be in the pudding.
 

To residents – If you say you’re going to do something and be something as a brand, your residents (who are essentially your customers) will hold you to that. Stay the course, and continue training so that the brand you portray will be the brand that comes to life in their interactions and experience, from first phone call or email to lease signing to resident events. Even if your brand is well-developed, that continuity can come to a screeching halt when onsite staff doesn’t carry through the brand personality.

CONSISTENCY AND COHESION—EVERYWHERE

Consistency is key for brand recognition, and later: brand loyalty. Those who are brand loyal recognize who you are and what you do, and want to share it with others. From printed marketing collateral to how your employees answer the phone, make sure it’s cohesive across the board.

Now you know: when to rebrand vs. refresh for your corporate branding. And why it’s vital to leverage your brand in your training, employee treatment, and brand promise. Look at your audience. And brand like your leases depend on it.

Corporate Branding for Multifamily

Written by Stacey Feeney on . Posted in All Articles, Branding. No Comments on Corporate Branding for Multifamily

Corporate branding and community asset branding are similar…but not exactly the same in multifamily.

Multifamily corporate branding differs in its goals, audience, and the way it’s rolled out. But the strategy is much the same:

  • Get employee buy-in
  • Keep things consistent and clear
  • Maintain the brand promise

Let’s review all the aspects of corporate branding.

Goals of Corporate Branding

The goal with branding is to help a business—a company—be successful. But the steps to get to that point are less straightforward. There are four common groups and associated goals that will see your multifamily brand and need to resonate with it. Depending on who you want to attract, your goal may shift.


GROUP/GOAL 1: GET INVESTORS

Striking, consistent branding is a show of strength to investors—the effort you put in can display professionalism and what they can expect going forward if they’re looking to make a sound investment. If your company’s primary goal is to attract investors, they should be your target audience. Strategically develop the corporate brand to resonate with them while communicating the company’s services and capabilities to create trust.

GROUP/GOAL 2: SELL THIRD-PARTY MANAGEMENT SERVICES TO OWNERS

If you want to sell your third-party management services to owners, get your culture aligned. Similar to how any business owner vets and interviews potential employees—they’re a representation of your brand. Creating a clear corporate multifamily brand can help speed up the process of selling third-party management services to owners. The clearer a corporate brand is internally, the clearer it will likely be externally, with all your business transactions and partnerships.

GROUP/GOAL 3: WOO AND FILTER IN TOP-TIER EMPLOYEES

If you want to attract employees, make sure your brand is embedded in your culture. Not all employees are top–of-the-line. You have to attract or train them, and then: retain them. The branding in place can do this by helping create a culture around the corporate brand. When your culture is established, the corporate brand helps do some of the heavy lifting for you—the prospective employees may be able self-sort and be attracted by the brand that resonates with them. Additionally, your brand promise is lived out in how you interact and treat your staff. They won’t believe a word of your “We want everyone to feel at home” mission statement if you berate your employees.

GROUP/GOAL 4: ATTRACT AND RETAIN RESIDENTS

If your main goal is to get leases signed, make sure your brand is air-tight. Seeing a corporate brand that has its stuff together is good for a number of reasons—residents will have some semblance of brand recognition, and your management company’s portfolio may end up being top-of-mind for the residents when they have to relocate if they’ve already had a good experience at another community your corporate brand is managing.

Also: If you’re aiming to make your brand more resident-facing (more details on brand visibility in the next section) and your website will function as a “mini ILS” to show off a searchable version of your portfolio of properties, you’ll want to gear your messaging and brand toward the end user.


Corporate Brand Visibility at Property Level

Say you saw a sign for “Sunseeker Hills—Managed by Zenith Properties”. Does that feel out of place? Normal? Too much? Not enough? How should a corporate brand show up at the property level? That completely depends on the owner, the operator, the desires of both.

Depending on how your corporate brand wants to show up will initiate its visibility level.

RESIDENT FACING

If you want residents to have clear knowledge of the property management company that operates the building, make your brand more visible. This can come at a variety of levels:

Light – The brand may appear minimally in resident announcements, and staff may wear corporate branded attire (think “Managed by X Companies” in smaller lettering underneath the asset name, for example.

Medium – For a little more visibility, having “Property Name by Corporate Brand” stated on everything brings it up a notch—all collateral marketing and signage. This level of visibility makes it clear to prospects and residents alike who operates the building.

Heavy – For the most visibility, brand the properties as the corporate brand (like hotels) or a portfolio-wide brand. This will propel brand awareness and recognition in the market

BEHIND THE SCENES

There’s also the option to have your corporate brand completely independent of your property brand. If you want to keep them separate and have the operating brand kept behind the scenes, that’s a totally fine and valid choice. Note: If the residents don’t see the corporate brand, it should still be developed and maintained for groups beyond the resident (investors, owners, operators).

Types of Property Brands

Of course, not all property brands are the same. From sharing a logo to being completely independent (on appearance)—there are a few paths a property brand can take.

CORPORATE BRANDED

Corporate branded properties have a property brand which is the same as the corporate brand. Same name, same logo, same visual identity.

PORTFOLIO BRANDED

Portfolio branded communities are all branded the same as one another, but still individual from the corporate brand. From one property to the next, the name, logo and visual identity are the same, but the corporate brand is entirely independent and different.

PORTFOLIO NAMED

With portfolio named properties, each property has a twist on one name—they are individual brand identities, but have the same Portfolio name. Yet, it’s still individual from the corporate brand. In this case “Alta” is the portfolio name.

PROPERTY BRANDED

This is currently the most common way to manage corporate brands and property brands. The property brand is fully individual from the corporate brand and other properties owned or managed by the same company. They don’t look or sound related.

Creating Corporate Brand Loyalty

Every brand—whether in multifamily or another industry—needs to create brand loyalty. Crafting corporate brand loyalty requires a more specific strategy, attuned to the right audience.

AFFORDABILITY

Making costs transparent, and making pricing simple is part of the key to affordability (and building up a reputation as a corporate brand that cares). Keep it simple and straightforward without nickel-and-diming with deposits and fees all up and down your leasing charges. Even if you’re a luxury brand.

REWARDS PROGRAMS

Speaking of hotels, creating brand loyalty can stem from a robust rewards program. At hotels, you can often claim rewards from staying at the same corporate brand (Hilton Honors or Marriott Bonvoy, for example). These rewards could help you earn discounts or a free stay, depending on how much you use them. Similarly, a corporate brand may create a rewards program for someone renewing for another year, referring a friend, or simply paying rent on time.

Though it’s not always the best bang for your buck, Starbucks Rewards work in that it keeps people coming back—because they can earn double stars on specific drinks or at particular times or days. Getting something free makes us a little blind on how much we’re spending to get that free coffee.

WELLNESS INITIATIVES

Taking into account mental and physical health can help create a culture shift in your brand. 

Consider offering different programs like:

  • A Mental Health Day – A day staff can take off for mental health, even if more for corporate employees can show residents the company cares for the total wellbeing of the employees
  • Classes and Services at the Fitness Center – A fully rounded health experience can go beyond gym equipment
  • Health Education – Bringing in local professionals to teach classes or guide residents through meditation
  • Information for Mental Health – The more assistance with hotlines and local services you offer, the clearer it is that your brand truly cares

PHILANTHROPIC INVOLVEMENT

This is a big one. Seeing a corporation do good in the world brings all the warm fuzzies. If you know that paying a little more for one brand will help you support them bringing better food access to those in need—you may be convinced that your extra dollars are money well-spent.

Showing this community involvement can be a little tricky, but looking at what your audience cares most about can help you find a few causes that align.


Depending on your target audience, your goals for your multifamily corporate branding may shift in strategy. But keep your brand solid and steady.