Category: All Articles - Page 15

Creating a Sense of Community with Design in Multifamily

Written by Stacey Feeney on March 12, 2023. Posted in All Articles, Graphic Design.

Gather around the fire, and we’ll tell you a tale of how creating a sense of community can be done through branding design at your apartment communities.

THE ROLE AND IMPACT OF DESIGN

A community should be just that. A place where people feel like they’re home. But where does it start? The first interaction. And it probably won’t be in-person. Perhaps they’ll see a digital ad. A window sign. A flyer. A mailer. Whatever they see, it will be designed. And it will either beckon them in to learn more, make them ambivalent, or will give them cause to never think of it again. That’s the role of design for your multifamily community.

Let’s take a mailer that your prospects receive. Maybe they like the design, it speaks to them. And if they do decide to learn more, they’ll find “more where that came from” and it will be aligned, organized, and will tell one visual story (ideally). Guess what else? Predictability typically means comfort, and where someone is comfortable, that has the ability to become home. AKA a lease that gets signed.

THE ROLE OF BRANDING

The resident experience is the ultimate in feedback. Just like design has its place, it also has a vital impact. After you’ve attracted prospects, and they’ve signed a lease, you want to keep them—because it’s way more cost-effective to keep the residents you already have (no empty units)! Resident retention is a pretty good indicator of how well you’re leveraging branding in your community. How can you leverage it? What makes the most sense? When you create a sense of community with design, first up is cohesive and consistent good apartment branding, which builds trust. Trust equates to satisfaction and open communication. And even better, you get to tell the story of your brand—so you can define the problems it solves, the solutions it provides, the way it’s different from your competitors.

Pairing Identity with Interior

LEAD INTO COMMUNITY

Just like excellent packaging hints at what’s inside with typography, spacing, shapes, and color, multifamily communities should lean into integrating the brand’s visual identity with the actual physical space. It’s the ultimate inspiration to take interior design and draw it through to your visual identity. Making this cohesive, from the real/physical, to the portrayed/branded ends up reinforcing the space and relaying the full intention: everything was designed for the resident. Typically, taking the common amenities and the clubhouse design is the best place to draw inspiration, because it’s the most heavily designed. (Units will be left a little more customizable, to the residents’ tastes.) Creating a sense of community through branding design that integrates with the space itself is something you can absolutely do!

CREATE A CULTURE

Tell the story of your brand using color. Optimistic brand? Use green. Passionate brand? Use red. Sophisticated brand. Go for black. If your multifamily community is near a sports team or university, match or blend with their color scheme for an even bigger-feeling community. (Roll tide!) Additionally, use design elements that you see in the common spaces and clubhouses. Find lifestyle stock photography that aids in telling that story to give a better sense of community. Just like you use messaging to tell about the way you’re different from your competitors, you can use visual identity to create a culture around your brand—one that prospects will want to be part of, and will be attracted to.

GO FURTHER WITH AMENITY NAMES AND BRANDED WALLS

Getting creative with naming your amenities is a fun way to draw in your prospects as well. Forget “rooftop patio”—try “The Echelon” instead! Use the names to fully extend your brand to every corner of your multifamily community, so everything feels intentional, fun, and fully meshed. Additionally, creating a branded wall or window art, making your brand larger-than-life can help excite your community’s prospects, applicants, and residents.

(Un)Common Spaces

Imagine a theme park without the overpriced snacks and massive lines (with its super fun different “worlds” all over the park). Your community can have just as fun of a vibe. In the theme park, everything within each world is named and designed to fit within a specific mold, for fun and for a type of consumer immersion. You, multifamily marketer, can do the same!

EXTRA SPECIAL AMENITIES

They’re not special just because you say they are, though that’s one part of it. They’re special because of the thoughtful branding you’ve put in place. The common spaces in your community don’t have to be old hat, boring, run-of-the-mill things. You can boost them to an extra special level by branding the heck out of everything you have. Special names. Special design. Tie it in with the broader picture, and the resident gets the sense that these are no ordinary amenities—they’re extra special, because time was taken with the branding, and each piece was well-thought-out and intentional. Residents are way more likely to value what you tell them to (subconsciously through branding). When you are intentional in creating a sense of community with design, people will be attracted to that.

USE BEHAVIOR TO MARKET

When you know your ideal resident profile (IRP) and what they’re most likely to be doing during the day, night, weekend. What their desires and fears are and what their problems and goals are, you have a clear indicator of probable behavior. Use your IRP’s behavior demographics to pinpoint exactly which amenities you should draw attention to (and spend time on branding heavily). Ensure you’re reaching them with authenticity and storytelling to simply show them the amenities that will

1) Help them reach their goals

2) Aid in solving a problem

3) Fit into their routine

When you can fit into your IRP’s life a little more seamlessly, signing a lease seems like the easy and right choice. And that’s the power of creating a sense of community with design!

Fair Housing Act Compliant Marketing Fair Housing Act Compliant Marketing

Fair Housing Act Compliant Marketing for Multifamily

Written by Stacey Feeney on March 12, 2023. Posted in All Articles, Marketing.

Make sure you have fair housing act compliant multifamily marketing. It’s vital that it follows all the rules that are put forth in the Act—especially so you don’t end up redesigning or reprinting your marketing collateral and adding in extra expenses. Some portions of the Fair Housing Act are much easier to follow than others, but it’s best to review the fair housing compliance regulations specifically around marketing and branding for apartments.

The Fair Housing Act

QUICK OVERVIEW

The Fair Housing Act was introduced originally as part of civil rights. It helps prevent discrimination against protected classes.

WHO ARE FAIR HOUSING ACT PROTECTED CLASSES?

The protected classes under the fair housing act are the following: Familial status, disability, religion, race, skin color, nationality, sex.

Some regulations vary by state, so please check your local resources (your state government website, i.e. ca.gov) to see if there are additional classes that must be considered for protection against discrimination locally. Sometimes that includes marital status, military status, student status, source of income, age, sexual orientation, and creed.

At its most basic, the Fair Housing Act helps provide equal treatment to all for housing. Making sure you have fair housing act compliant multifamily marketing is common sense.

Avoid Fair Housing Act Violations

DIVERSITY

Every diverse situation should be represented in your marketing and branding materials. In photos, in messaging, ensure that your resident images run the gamut in race, age, ability, and familial status and type. Even when it comes to the photos that are hung up in the leasing office or in any handouts, it’s important to keep those updated and diverse, as well.

EQUAL HOUSING ICON USE

Use the equal housing icon on everything, not just some of your marketing. For example, if you print a brochure with a lease special with no logo, and then later print a brochure that includes the logo, you might be flagged for attempting to charge more money for someone in a protected class. Make sure it appears in the footer or corner of everything you put out.

INCLUSIVE MESSAGING

Whenever you’re creating content for your apartment community, it’s always better to describe the amenities and the services instead of the ideal resident that would live in your community. That is, describe what you do have and what is permitted rather than saying “No ____” or “No ____.” That is, unless it’s pets. Quick note there: Service dogs are not pets, and saying “No service dogs permitted” is the opposite of inclusive and could create a lawsuit.

SPREAD THE SUPPORT

Giving is good! Supporting different causes is great. Having transparency about where your donations go can be helpful to show you support a variety of groups and causes and aren’t just looking to donate to Christian-only organizations. If you hold fundraisers, advertise for them equally. Put the same amount of effort into each. And be sure that the organizations you give to are inclusive in the way they aid the community and reach different populations.

TREAT PROSPECTS EQUALLY

Prospects as well as applicants and residents are considered in fair housing act compliance. They’re all protected. This goes for in-person, over the phone, and via email. Anyone that walks in the door should get the same (high) level of attention and service. Ensure your staff is well versed and well trained in this.

Final Reminders for Fair Housing Act Compliant Marketing

QUICK TESTS

Short on time but you still want to make sure your multifamily marketing is fair housing act compliant? Use these quick guidelines to help:

Use FHA logo in all ads
Try to vary people in your photos
Describe amenities, not the resident you want to live in your community
Make every part of your marketing welcoming to all

REMINDERS

1️⃣ Describe the property, not the resident—it’s okay to have internal very specific ideal resident profiles, but those shouldn’t show up anywhere outward-facing.

2️⃣ Keep materials consistent so that what you say is the same as what you have on your brochures. Never ever say “no children” or “a place for professionals.” Both are 100% discriminatory.

3️⃣ Use neutral words when talking about residents: “people” good “elderly” or “family-friendly” might be a little too identifying / could be considered discriminatory in extreme circumstances.

4️⃣ Be mindful of how you give directions—using landmarks that are neutral is best (not a country club, not a church, etc.)

5️⃣ Senior living and 55+ communities have special exemptions. See more about their fair housing act exemption.

FHA RESOURCES

If you’re still seeking out more FHA compliance answers for your marketing, check out the hud.gov sites. They’ve made multiple resources available, including fair housing advertising overviews, HUD advertising guidance, and they’ve also created equal housing opportunity graphics in varying sizes for use on all of your multifamily marketing collateral.

Authentic Branding in Multifamily in 6 Steps

Written by Stacey Feeney on February 23, 2023. Posted in All Articles, Branding.

Authentic branding in multifamily can truly create a difference in your resident retention and loyalty. Like most things in life, the proof is in the pudding. That means: the goals you set, the relationships you build, and the people that you bring in as part of your staff are actually what makes residents’ dreams come true. Delivering on promises made is authenticity.

Marketing (and research and discovery) gets you to a certain point in preparing for success, but it can only take you so far. How does authentic branding in multifamily come about?

1. BE REALISTIC

Create attainable goals for your brand. Make a mission you actually believe in—not just one that sounds good. And whatever apartments or lifestyle you’re “selling”, make sure you’d buy into it, too. When you convince yourself first of the value of your community, you’re better positioned to speak to those exact values to someone who needs to hear it.

Scripted or not, reality TV is a booming business. Because people want reality—or at least some form of it. A voice, a personality, a brand they can relate to (or see something of themselves in) is ideal. In fact, reality and authenticity is expected. The FleishmanHillard 2021 Authenticity Gap study showed a significant gap between what consumers expect of companies and what they provided: 95% of the industries studied aren’t meeting expectations when it comes to providing customers better value. And when residents find something out of alignment, it’s more noticeable. Be honest. Be realistic. Be transparent. Follow through.

2. FOCUS ON RELATIONSHIPS

It can be an arduous journey to get to this point in your brand building. You’ve worked hard on creating long-term goals, an aligned mission, vision, and values, and messaging and visuals that work hand-in-hand. What’s next? People over profits. Community over competition. Be genuine with the way you start and maintain relationships with your residents—or really anyone who comes in contact with your brand. (More info on good apartment branding here.)

3. GO LONG

Have you ever met someone who knew exactly what they wanted to do since they were young, and then did it—and didn’t let anything stop them? Be like that, but in brand form. Taking a long hard look at your brand goals (1, 5, 10 years out) is helpful to pinpoint what your priorities are and where you want to go. Your community shouldn’t be treated as here today, gone tomorrow. Put down some roots and invest in those around you. By building relationships over time, you have a better shot at creating a full 360-degree brand that looks consistently authentic from all angles.

4. LEAD NURTURING

People like to be wooed and pursued (within reason). The market is saturated with options and everywhere they turn, there’s an ad that feels tailored to them. The internet is full of research and search engine results, and finding authentic branding in multifamily will stand out and offer transparency and grab attention. And once you have that attention, nurture, nurture, nurture. Figure out your best “prospect” journey, and stick with it. (Relationship building, remember?)

5. HIRE “BRAND AMBASSADOR” EMPLOYEES

You have to hire the right people. Get current staff aligned with your brand message (post it, say it, bring it up in meetings). Create trainings around how to treat residents and prospects—your bread and butter. Ensure that every opportunity is taken to deliver fantastic customer service, along with honesty and transparency in interactions. Keep your reputation nice and clean. Encourage your staff to play the long game, and get to know the people they’re talking to on the phone, via email, or in person. Remembering details adds the authenticity of a human touch to your apartment brand.

6. AVOID SALES-SPEAK

You can close sales without being “salesy.” Instead, seek to provide value through:

Helpfulness – “Here’s our most popular floor plan. Folks love the open concept kitchen and living space. But we do only have a few of these left.”
Encouragement – “Moving can be so stressful! Let me know if there’s anything I can help with.”
Patience – “Whenever you’re ready to talk move-in dates, let me know—I’m available via phone or email.”
Kindness – “Is this your first apartment? How exciting!”
Gentle reminders – “Just wanted to quickly remind you that our leasing special is over at the end of the week. I’d be happy to give you another tour. Let me know how I can help!”
Tours are key for excellent first impressions.

Friendliness and genuine interest from staff shift your apartment brand into Authentic Mode. That’s the space where sales happen and leases get signed.

Authenticity in Branding

That certainly covers the customer service portion of your brand, which is essentially your messaging proven true. Branding with consistency is key to authenticity, because it makes something expected, predictable, and worthy of your residents’ trust.

Branding is the starting point of those promises, those relationships and the solutions you offer. When you begin with knowing your audience, you can tailor your brand voice and tone to reach the audience you want to build said relationship with. When you create messaging that’s helpful, you can start solving problems. When you create imagery, fonts, colors that are a visual representation of your brand, your staff can extend that “brand” to every interaction your resident has with your community. Authentic branding for multifamily starts from the very beginning, when they first see your sign or contact you, all the way through to their maintenance request as a resident.

Apartment Brand Research and Discovery: Don’t Skip It

Written by Stacey Feeney on February 23, 2023. Posted in All Articles, Branding. 3 Comments on Apartment Brand Research and Discovery: Don’t Skip It

The Apartment brand research and discovery phase is vital to a successful launch. It sets the stage. Just like you wouldn’t buy a house without doing an inspection, you wouldn’t launch a brand without going through the steps of research and discovery. It carefully lays the foundation for what you need to do next with your name, your logo, and your messaging.

It’s smart.

Apartment Brand Research & Discovery Includes

TARGET RESIDENT MARKET

For both the community and the market, it’s vital to identify your target resident market. When you know who you’re trying to reach, that greatly impacts both your verbal and visual identity pieces as a brand. In market segmentation, break it down into four pieces, and break it down further to get super-specific about your IRP.

Geographics – This includes where they are. Demographics – These are data points around who they are. Psychographics – This information relates to your ideal residents’ ethos and hobbies—how they spend their time and energy. Behavioral – This indicates where they are in the “funnel” and what they like to spend their money on.

GEOGRAPHICS	DEMOGRAPHICS	PSYCHOGRAPHICS	BEHAVIORAL
Country	Age/Generation	Lifestyle	Benefits Sought
State	Gender	Activities	Purchasing Habits
City	Ethnicity	Interests	Brand Loyalty
Neighborhood	Income	Opinions	Usage Frequency
Density	Education	Concerns	Occasion or Timing
Population	Social Class	Personality	Buyer Readiness
Climate	Marital Status	Values	Engagement Level
Language	Family Size	Attitudes
	Life Stage	Political Affliation
	Occupation
	Religion

LOCATION

It really is all about location, right? Our internal team will take a look at where your building is (or will be, for new construction)—what’s around it, what’s nearby, what are the local hotspots, conveniences, attractions, and history, and how the area is perceived.

COMPETITIVE MARKET

Investigating who you’re “up against” can be key for determining what makes you special and different: do you have a gym on site? More community events? Bike storage? Looking at what the competitors are lacking (and making sure you’re not missing what they have) will be helpful for figuring out how to tailor your messaging to fully identify your offerings.

COMMUNITY DETAILS

The really fun stuff that makes up your actual physical community can be wonderfully inspirational while we go through apartment brand research and discovery. It helps us understand the community itself in order to create a brand that flows out from what’s already determined.

Architectural design – Art deco? Adobe style? Allowing the details of the building to come through in the font, the colors, even the brand tone can make a brand absolutely POP.
Interior style – The details of stylistic choices can impact your brand in a big way. We’ll often be inspired by mood boards, whether they’re from you or from us. Color palettes, pattern and texture, design elements—everything comes together to make a big, beautiful brand.
Amenities – Your amenities go hand in hand with your brand. You could be simple, standard, elevated, or luxurious. Work with what you have, and be realistic about what you’re offering. (i.e. Don’t claim luxury if you’re offering simpler student housing.) And then: tweak your brand messaging to align with it!

COMPANY VISION

Sometimes the ownership of the up-and-coming brand comes into our discussions with something particular in mind. We love that! If you have something vital that must come through your brand (and/or your community name) we are all ears. We’ll add it into our research and discovery phase, making sure that you have a few branding options that work within your ideal parameters. For example, if you are hoping to name an apartment building after one of your founders, we’ll try every possible angle to include that vision—sometimes when you have more choices, the winner becomes more clear.

Remember: Every unique service or offering you have is a differentiator, to put you higher up on the list of possibilities for your future residents.

How does Research & Discovery Impact Brands?

Your name, your logo, and your messaging have to come from somewhere. If you’re a new construction, dream big. If you’re taking over as new management and going through a rebrand, look closely at what you’re working with. Either way, you need to come up with some solid pieces of your community that will inform your brand in both the visual and the verbal sense. When you’ve put the work in (the ol’ apartment brand research and discovery phase) your residents should be able to say, “If I live there, I’ll be X or feel Y.” That’s the power of excellent branding. And when a resident trusts you, they’re more likely to stay—because you’ve done what you said you would. The power of positive research, in branding, is better for leases than any amount of positive thinking.

How to Prep for Branding Projects

When it’s time for apartment brand research and discovery—make sure you’re fully prepped. Typically, we ask for quite a few pieces from our clients because we want the full picture (not just half of a jigsaw puzzle with a couple of key pieces missing). When we have it all, we can start formulating a brand strategy that will dazzle and delight—instead of fizzle and fail.

NEW CONSTRUCTION BRANDING

When we do a new construction branding project, we want it all (cue Queen) including:

Architectural Files
Interior Design Mood Board
Color and Finish Schedules
Renderings, if they’re available
List of Amenities: (both unit amenities and common area amenities)
Pitch Deck/Equity Book/GEO Study: This investor research paves our way.

It’s like the start of a brochure. Or…a dating profile of sorts. Speaking of which:

BRAND PERSONALITY PROMPTS

Play a quick game of Get To Know Your Brand, with a few prompts to give you a stack of personality traits to weed through (Maybe 20-30). Mark up your favorites (5-6) and now you have a handful of your top personality traits—perfect for providing direction to your marketing team and branding providers and graphic designers (us)!

On a first date—how does your brand act?
At a cocktail party, what’s your brand wearing (outfit and attitude)?
If your brand had a dream home, where would it be? Country? Top-floor Penthouse? Yacht?
When your brand feels totally comfortable, how does it interact with others? Shy? Introverted? Outgoing? Extroverted?
What’s on your brand’s “bucket list”?

Every one of these Dating Game-style questions help us to get to know your brand a little better. See the style, the passion, the goals, the priorities, and the values. Plus, it might be the most fun you’ll have in the midst of your apartment brand research and discovery phase.

OUR BRAND QUESTIONNAIRE

Our favorite questions to ask of apartment brands are similar, but a little bit more pointed, to get you thinking hard about what’s most important to your brand’s success. Every one of these questions helps us cut to the chase—to see the inner workings of your brand now, or your eventual, aspirational brand. See more of our brand questionnaire here.

Zipcode Creative Provides Apartment Brand Names

We’re the Jacques Cousteau of apartment brand names—we take a deep dive so you can enjoy the wonderful treasures of a clearly and cohesively named apartment community: more signed leases, and higher resident retention rates.

We work to cover all the bases, so you can be sure that you’ve got a solid choice for a name. We’ll give you name concepts along with the logic behind them. We’ll search for meaningful inspiration for the name from the project, the locale, the company, or the owner. We’ll also research the name for viability of use in these areas:

US trademark search
Online reputation search
Website domain availability
Social handles availability (IG, FB)
Digital impact (SEO)

Imagine if you’d picked out the perfect name, but there were 0 social handles available, and all the good website versions of the name were used up! You’ll also want to make sure that every bit of energy you’re putting into the name doesn’t land you in a tough SEO spot—competing with a lot of other “Aston apartments” search results, for example.

Along with these services, we give recommendations for best choices among the name concepts we provide you and answer any questions you might have. There’s so much to a name—and plenty of research is par for the course. For good names, anyway.

Through hiring a pro team of researchers, designers, copywriters, and marketers, (hey, like us!) you’ll be able to confidently proceed with your brand strategy (and name)!

Color Psychology: Selling a Feeling to Lease Units

Written by Stacey Feeney on February 17, 2023. Posted in All Articles, Graphic Design.

Whether you realize it or not, you have an unconscious reaction to every color you see. Color is a powerful way to subtly affect someone’s perception, making it a useful tool for companies looking to refresh and reevaluate their branding. Instead of choosing colors at random, leverage color psychology to make more strategic decisions and develop branding that makes the right impression. You’re not selling units, you’re selling a feeling with your apartment branding – or at least, you should be!

What is Color Psychology?

Color psychology is a brand of psychology that analyzes how colors impact human moods and emotions. This discipline has determined that each of the main colors on the color spectrum has a distinct set of associated feelings and perceptions.

BLACK

Black is perceived as a bold and powerful color. It also evokes sophistication, mystery, and sadness.

WHITE

White is considered a very pure shade. It also is associated with peacefulness, cleanliness, and simplicity.

RED

Red is commonly associated with strong emotions, including love, passion, and excitement. It is also sometimes viewed as the color of anger or dominance.

BLUE

Blue has a wide range of emotional reactions. Some view it as a calming or wise shade, while others feel inspired, stable, or peaceful.

GREEN

Green is often associated with nature and growth. It also evokes optimism and good luck.

YELLOW

This bright and bold hue conveys feelings of energy, cheer, and warmth.

PURPLE

Purple has long been considered the color of royalty. It’s also associated with imagination, wisdom, and rarity.

ORANGE

Similar to yellow, orange brings out feelings of enthusiasm and happiness.

Using Color Psychology to Build Color Palettes

Choosing the right color to represent your apartment community is a pivotal decision. Spend time deciding which traits and characteristics you want to be associated with your brand, and pick the hue that best lines up. If you’re unsure of what shade to use, consider pulling colors from your community’s interior design mood boards. This will help create an even more cohesive look across physical and digital spaces.

After choosing your primary shade, you’ll also need to build a color palette. Leveraging differences in hue, tint, tone, and shade can help create a well-rounded, multidimensional palette that is versatile enough to work with all of your marketing needs.

Hue

Hue is the purest form of a color.

Tint

Tint is the pure hue mixed with white to produce a lighter version of the color. For example, mixing purple with white results in a lavender shade.

Tone

Tone is the pure hue mixed with gray to produce a muted version of the color. For example, mixing green with gray creates a silvery, sage green hue.

Shade

Shade is the pure hue mixed with black to produce a darker version of the color. For example, mixing blue with black creates navy.

Creating variety in hue, tint, tone, and shade will create a monochromatic palette that gives you the perfect shade for every use case. You can also incorporate a contrasting, “pop” color that will highlight important elements of your design. Consider picking a color opposite of your primary shade on the color wheel to make it stand out.

If you’re having trouble deciding on your primary color or creating your color palette, branding experts like zipcode creative can help. As experts in apartment marketing, we can create a cohesive color scheme that represents your brand and sends the right message to prospective residents. We can even help you translate your chosen color palette across all of your marketing materials for a unified look. Get in touch today to learn more!

Brand Voice for Apartments: What It Is and How to Use It

Written by Stacey Feeney on February 12, 2023. Posted in All Articles, Branding, Writing. 1 Comment on Brand Voice for Apartments: What It Is and How to Use It

What is Brand Voice for Apartments?

DEFINITION

Show your brand through words. Connect to your audience. Bring in your:

Personality: through tone; your
Style: through descriptions; and
Clarity: through explanations.

Brand voice for apartments is the hidden string that ties your content together, to create a seamless, connected experience across channels and all content (and all verbal identity pieces). Brand voice brings your multifamily brand to life through words, and is one part of the full verbal identity. There’s that phrase again: verbal identity—keep reading if you’re wondering what that is.

PARTS OF THE VERBAL IDENTITY

You’ve heard of visual identity. Maybe. That’s what a brand looks like. The verbal identity is what it sounds like: words, content, messaging.

Brand Statements – What you do and why (and why you’re so special).
Brand Voice – We just told you, but no worries: it’s how others hear you and perceive you in written word.
Brand Tone – This is how you say it, depending on the occasion or the audience
Brand Story – This is the behind-the-scenes, get to know us for real, part of your verbal identity
Brand Vocabulary – Semi-style guide; this adds different word usage rules—especially proprietary or made-up words, plus how you use grammar and punctuation, and what’s off limits or definitely discussed in your content.

More Important Than The Logo

The logo seems important. It absolutely is. You’ve heard us say this before, but it bears repeating: Your logo can’t do everything for your brand. In fact, brand voice is more important to your apartment community because it is directly communicating your brand to your current and prospective residents.

BRAND NAMES ARE KEY

The part of your brand voice that tops the list of importance here: apartment community brand names to accompany that logo. While both are essential, the name holds more importance. Here’s why…

The verbal identity (the apartment name) informs the visual identity (the logo design)
Words can create imagery that speaks volumes
A good name with a bad logo is painful
A bad name with a good logo is absolutely tragic

Bring them both together, and you can thoroughly explain who you are, define first impressions, form brand recognition and leave a lingering flavor. The question you most need to answer when you’re creating that brand voice is: What do you want your communities to “taste” like?

This can be done through brand personality choices that are portrayed through your voice and in your tone.

Brand Voice vs. Brand Tone vs. Brand Style

What’s the difference? It’s subtle. But it’s there.

BRAND VOICE

This is what your brand talks about. It’s your brand, through words. Brand voice is what you always use to relay the core, most foundational aspects of your brand—the soul (through your mission, vision, and values.) It’s consistent and reliable. It tells your audience who you are, what you do, what you believe, what we stand for, and what you have to offer.

BRAND TONE

Brand tone is how you say things. It can vary based on the audience, the channel, and the subject. Brand tone allows you to ramp up emotion or connect on a deeper level with your ideal resident. Tone can keep your brand flexible in its verbal identity. According to Forbes, “When communicating, there is a necessary balance for brand voice to bring consistency and tone to create a relatable space.” Residents who relate are residents who remain in the community.

BRAND STYLE

Brand style is what the eyes (instead of the ears) take in. Up for a quick game of word association? Let’s go with “style.” We’d say “fashion, looks, couture, tailored.” Right? So, brand style is how the brand looks: logo, colors, fonts, designs, images. We use our eyes first—and that’s when the first impression comes in. And we love a good first impression. But that’s not the only bit apartment brands need.

VOICE IS OF EQUAL IMPORTANCE

Go deeper: Your brand voice counts just as much. After you grab the attention of your ideal residents with a sweet logo, then the viewer slows down to read just a quick headline, for instance. And these words can penetrate their minds more deeply and provide greater understanding of who your brand is and what you do. That’s if you’ve taken the time to create an engaging brand voice full of personality that will draw them in with useful, relatable content.

Where and How to Use Brand Voice

BRAND STATEMENTS

Use your brand voice in your brand statements. This includes your mission and vision statements. Your values. Your purpose statement, your brand positioning statement, and your brand attributes. Bring out the voice there and make sure it aligns with the personality traits you’ve identified as part of your brand.

BRAND VOICE FOR APARTMENTS

But how do you incorporate that? You’re going to have to write how people speak. Why do I have to write that way? Because that’s exactly who’s reading it. People. (And sometimes Google bots.) A quick test for this is to literally read your copy and content outloud. Does it sound natural? Does it sound like a conversation you could have with a friend? Most of all: does it sound the way you want your brand to sound—does it use the personality you’ve set aside for your exact brand? Here are a few personality spectrums to get you started:

Trendy vs. Classic
Casual vs. Elegant
Matter-of-Fact vs. Enthusiastic

BUDGET FOR STRATEGY AND COPYWRITING

Finally, are you putting enough weight behind your apartment’s brand positioning? We mean strategy and professional copywriting when you’re branding or rebranding an apartment community. (Wondering what makes a good apartment brand? Read this blog next.) If strategy and copywriting are not in the budget, get it in there now—it will be worth the amount you spend on it.

Pro-tip: When you get a professional copywriter (like the ones here at zipcode creative) make sure your strategy is clear. If you don’t have a strategy, get one. That will save you a lot of time when it comes to aligning all the copy around your super magical, one-in-a-million brand voice for your apartments.