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How to Choose the Best Color Pairings for Apartment Branding

Written by Stacey Feeney on . Posted in All Articles, Branding, Graphic Design.

Color is so essential to branding and design, that brands are often recognized by just their chosen hues—even before our brains can process the logo shape or words. The cherry red of the Coca-Cola logo or the red and yellow that signify McDonalds are as distinct—if not more recognizable—than some of their other branding elements. Be sure to prioritize color pairings for your apartments to help make your mark. Before you design your logo or create your community website, start with finding the best combinations for your community using these tips and tricks. 

Understanding Color Theory

Color harmony is one of the main tenets of color theory that assesses which colors work well together—and which don’t. There are three main approaches to color harmony: complementary colors, analogous colors, and triadic colors.

Complementary Colors

Complementary colors are those that are opposite on the color wheel. For example, red and green, purple and yellow, and blue and orange are all complementary color pairings. The reason these colors work so well together is that complementary colors pair together a warm and cool color to create contrast. The opposing hues help the colors appear brighter for a more eye-catching combination. 

Complementary color pairings are often found in nature, which also makes them naturally pleasing to the human eye. For example, purple flowers with a yellow center, an orange sunset over the blue ocean, or green leaves with bright red berries are all beautiful combinations that you can find on almost any nature walk. 

Analogous Colors

Unlike complementary colors, analogous colors are those that are next to one another on the color wheel. Red, orange, and yellow, or blue, green, and yellow are examples of analogous color combinations. When creating an analogous color scheme, one color should be the dominant shade, while the others serve as accent colors. Though these color palettes aren’t as attention-grabbing as complementary color schemes, they are still very pleasing to the eye and are a good, more subtle option when choosing your brand colors. 

Triadic Colors

Triadic color schemes are combinations of three separate shades that are equal distances apart on the color wheel. Red, blue, and yellow, for example, is one of the most common triadic color palettes. Green, orange, and purple is another triadic combination. While this approach is less common than complementary or analogous color schemes, it’s a vivid option that can help your brand’s logo and marketing materials stand out.

color pairingscolor pairings

Choosing Your Color Scheme

Because there are nearly infinite color combinations to choose from, it can be a challenge to pick your brand colors. To make it simpler, start with the favorite or must-have color. Take that shade and create a few different color palettes to see what works best with your brand.

Combine your chosen shade in a complementary, analogous, and triadic color pairing. This will help you see your favorite hue in several different combinations, making it easier to visualize what your brand colors and logo might look like.

Be sure to also take a look at color psychology to ensure your chosen shade speaks to your brand values. Each shade has intrinsic effects on people, whether they realize it or not. Blue, for example, tends to have a calming effect while red creates a sense of urgency. Green is associated with wealth, while purple is often associated with respect and wisdom. Before finalizing your palette, evaluate your chosen primary color and make sure that the meaning aligns with what you want your brand to be known for.

Once you’ve nailed down your palette, don’t forget to expand your hues by adding both light and dark shades—to create a well-rounded palette that allows you to develop any marketing asset your community may need.

 

If you’re struggling to find the perfect pair of colors to represent your apartment community, we can help. As design experts in the multifamily space, we know exactly how to curate brand colors to make your community stand out. Get in touch today to get started!

Complaints About Creative Agencies Complaints About Creative Agencies

The Top 3 Complaints About Creative Agencies from Apartment Marketers

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

There’s a missing link between property management companies and your average agency. And it’s a big deal. So, when we first got into the creative business, as fixers and doers—we wanted to help property management companies by doing what the typical agencies weren’t: understanding you needs, connecting the dots of property management, and giving you a beautiful product of any size for any creative project; one that would make your marketing team sing.

We hear a few common complaints with regular marketing agencies from some of our prospective clients. Not only are we sympathetic—we’re here to be that missing link. Read on for how zipcode creative does things differently!

Complaint #1:

“We’re forced into big branding packages and can’t get help easily or affordably with smaller one-off needs.”


FLEXIBLE PROJECT SIZES

It stinks when you get sold something that you just don’t need. (Winter air in your tires, anyone?) That’s not what we do—we work with you to get what you need done. You can think of us as an extension of your own marketing team. We pride ourselves on communication and our ability to take any size project. We know every client is different, with different needs, different budgets, and we’re here for it all.

Let’s say, for example, you need just one thing: a property sitemap. We’ll do it. Or, let’s say that you need a full rebrand—we’ll happily do that too. And it will all look amazing. We’re here solely to support you with beautiful branding and industry-leading graphic design.

COMPETITIVE PRICING

We’ll provide you with lots of options to get your project done, and we make sure that we’re on the same page so that the process isn’t painful in the least. We’ll also make sure that you feel like you’re getting good value on the items we’re creating for you—project rates are our jam. Forget the hourly tracking. Transparent pricing means it’s easy for you and easy for your finance office (and easy for us, too). Certainly, We Make Things Look Pretty!…and—we make pricing and projects simple.

Complaints About Creative Agencies

Complaint #2:

“Extremely long turn around times, even for revisions! I sometimes have to do it myself in canva to get the design out in time.”


FAST

We know you need things—like yesterday—in this industry. Our turn around time is always surprisingly quick (and consistent). We have a roster of creatives, ready to go, and with that comes extreme flexibility, making sure you get what you need when you need it. Just ask our clients—they’ll tell you all about it.


VALUABLE

Just because it’s fast doesn’t mean it’s bad. Quite the opposite. We get hyper-focused on giving you a product that jibes with what you already have, so it’s not going to stick out. (Unless it’s supposed to, of course.)


EFFECTIVE

In the same vein, we’ll make sure you feel like you can offer opinions, comments, feedback and guidance at the right time, so we can keep things efficient—and avoid all those extra feedback loops, which stink for everyone. You’ll feel heard, we’ll feel guided, and the product will be beautiful and useful. In short, you’ll want to hire us for everything—be warned!

Complaints About Creative Agencies

Complaint #3:

“The deliverables we receive are often not to the level they should be; it’s clear they don’t fully understand the multifamily industry.”


THE HISTORY

We’ve been in multifamily for a good, long while—from all sides. We understand the needs, the pressures and the nuances of industry terminology and equal housing. This translates into our projects by giving us unique insight to capture residents’ attention through fonts, colors, and taglines, or by highlighting particular amenities, or through capitalizing on specific resident events. Those years in multifamily marketing have been spent with some of the bigger names in the industry, and our knowledge and expertise are part of everything we do. If it doesn’t cut muster, it’s not getting passed on to you, the client.

MAKING THE CONNECTION

These missing links between property management and the typical agency model can become stressors. (Exactly what no one needs.) zipcode creative was founded to bridge the gaps! We speak “renterese” and we’re ready to translate for you. Rest easy, knowing that you’ve hired a marketing agency that actually gets you and gets your industry. Now—what was that new construction we were talking about?

 


HELP US HELP YOU

Like we’ve said before, every client is different, and every community needs something customized. We can do that.

But first, we have a question:

What is your biggest complaint with your current agency partners?

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brand vocabulary brand vocabulary

Brand Vocabulary Defined for Apartment Communities

Written by Stacey Feeney on . Posted in All Articles, Branding, Writing.

You probably notice that you use similar words and phrases often—you may even have some that are a bit of your signature style. Did you know that your apartment community should, too? When it comes to defining your apartment brand, try thinking beyond branding basics like vision, mission, and values. Once you’ve established those foundational brand pillars, it’s time to add a bit of personality and pizazz. That’s where your brand vocabulary comes in.

What is Brand Vocabulary?

A brand vocabulary is a set of select words or phrases used regularly in describing your community and in all of your copy. Creating defined brand language at the brand development phase helps you create a consistent and recognizable brand that looks and feels consistent across touchpoints. 

Why Do You Need Brand Vocabulary?

Your brand is more than just your logo or your signature colors. How you speak, the words you use, and your style are just as important—and recognizable—as your visual branding elements. 

Similar to how individuals favor different terms, phrases, and sentence structures, brands can leverage language to create a distinct and easily identifiable personality. Some of the world’s most successful brands, like Disney or Apple, use strong brand vocabularies to create immediate associations with their brand. 

When you hear the words, “magic,” or “kingdom,” for example, Disney is one of the first brands that comes to mind—and especially when the words are paired together. Apple has also developed its own style. When you see a word that starts with a lowercase “i,”  like “iHome,” most people instantly recognize it as part of the Apple ecosystem. The brand has expanded this format, using it not only across product names but also incorporating it into advertising to create a thriving and distinct brand vocabulary.  

When done properly, your brand vocabulary will also begin to build an association between particular words and your community. Over time, this helps to generate heightened brand awareness and recognition, while also allowing you to differentiate yourself from your competitors.

brand vocabulary

How to Create Brand Vocabulary

Once you understand what a brand vocabulary is and why it’s important for your community, it’s time to start developing your own. Just keep these tips in mind to ensure your vocabulary is as effective as possible. 

Keep it simple

When you’re developing your brand’s vernacular, don’t overthink it. Some words and phrases that you use often are naturally tied to your community and your industry. For example, apartment communities often use some variation of:

  • Studio
  • 1-bedroom
  • 2-bedroom
  • Amenity spaces
  • Lease
  • Resident

To set yourself apart from your competitors, it’s important to expand your vocabulary beyond industry terms. Look to your brand’s vision, mission, and values to determine other words that might be a good fit. For example, if your brand is more forward-thinking or modern, utilize words with that same feeling and tone. If you’re more traditional and classic, lean toward words that evoke that same feeling. You can also try thinking up creative ways to phrase typical industry-standard words for a more creative spin.

Make it unique

Using unique words or phrases to describe common amenity spaces can help you create intrigue and be more memorable. For example, instead of calling it an on-site dog park, opt instead for “The Bark.” Instead of calling it the business center or resident lounge, you can opt for something punchier and more modern, like “The Hive.” Thinking outside the box helps you develop more memorable names that help to create a strong community culture and make your spaces stand out more to prospective residents.

Stay consistent

Above all, staying consistent with your brand vocabulary is key. Once you’ve developed and defined the different words and phrases you’ll use, be sure that everyone is aligned. If you decide that you always want to call them “residents,” for example, it’s important that marketing materials never use the word “renter” or “tenant.” Similarly, your leasing staff or resident-facing teams like maintenance or the concierge should always call prospects “residents,” on tours or during other interactions. Creating a consistent vocabulary across touchpoints is what will help set you apart from your competitors.

Developing a brand vocabulary from scratch can be tough. If you’re struggling to find words and phrases that feel right for your community, it might be time to enlist the experts. At zipcode creative, we have a team of seasoned marketing professionals that can help you nail down the exact right terms to add to your repertoire to help your community stand out. Book a consultation with one of our experts today to get started!

ORA is ©Fairfield Residential  |  Work executed by Stacey Feeney, owner of zipcode creative, while under creative direction and employment at Fairfield Residential.

brand development brand development

Brand Development: Apartment Marketing

Written by Stacey Feeney on . Posted in All Articles, Branding, Writing. 1 Comment on Brand Development: Apartment Marketing

You have big plans for your community. It’s a new construction and you want to make sure you’re getting off on the right foot during the lease-up phase. Or maybe you’ve come to a community with a goal to rebrand and want to leave all the unengaging old branding (or lack thereof) in the dust. Either way, you need to make sure you have your brand development strategy laid out and ready to roll.

What’s Brand Development?


Brand development is the work you put into how your client base associates with and feels about your brand. You build it up and craft it so that you’re selling an experience and a lifestyle, not necessarily just one or two products. The work you put in at the beginning when developing your brand will help your residents say “If I live there, I’ll be X, or I’ll feel Y.” It’s how you ultimately set yourself apart, even if you’re offering the same thing as another company—at the same price. Your brand is your calling card and how you make your residents feel.

What are the parts of Brand Development?


BRAND STRATEGY

Create your strategy and make sure it’s aligned with your major business goals. Create your mission statement, vision statement, and values. Your mission statement tells what you set out to do. Your vision statement is what it looks like when you pull off that mission successfully. Your values are what your company stands for. Get clear on these—they’re the frame (or skeleton if you want to get spooky) to the body of your brand and will hold things up and give it lasting structure.

 

BRAND STORY

What does your brand look like and sound like? Bring the personality forward and create a logo, a tagline, your brand colors, your fonts, and your website with all of that in mind. Make it stand out but have it all be approachable or understandable. Your visual identity and your verbal identity have to tell the story of exactly who you are and why you are—but in a lot fewer words than your mission, vision, value (and sometimes with zero words—like with your colors.) This is the outward-facing part of your brand that draws people in. Make it look and sound good.

 

BRAND STRENGTHENING

Once you have your framework and your “appearance” together, build your muscle and get strong. Make sure it all works, and test it regularly. How? Track everything. Make adjustments. This is how you can improve your brand every day.

brand development

Why is Brand Development Important?

No one wants to work hard on something totally pointless. Trust us—this brand development business? Not a waste of time. It can build trust with your customers, instill employee pride in your company and its culture, and boost social proof. All of which impacts your bottom line. Just make sure you do it first thing—before you throw a bunch of money into paid ads, marketing collateral, and other costly things.

BUILD TRUST

When your community’s actions, messaging, and everything they do align with your community’s values, you become trustworthy through predictability, and that you’re going to do what you say you’re going to do. No (bad) surprises.

 

BOLSTER PRIDE

Your employees can be proud of your community brand, because it feels more akin to being part of a family. They understand who the community is, and the big company goals, and can better support them in their everyday work functions. Proud, happy employees make for a more welcoming community. Bonus.

 

CREATE PROOF

If your brand feels obvious and easy to you as someone on the inside of the community, then you hope that it translates to outside the community. A sign of a successful brand strategy: your current residents and your prospective residents can put into words what the community means to them. When everyone on the inside is aligned, the messaging and the efficacy of your brand will come through without a hitch, making social proof (think testimonials and quotes) an easy-to-reach-for marketing tool.

 

CONFIDENT MARKETING

The foundational questions that show who your brand is and what your brand is doing? Already answered. So: your content creation is shockingly easy. Tell the right story in the right way in the right places, and your audience will see why they need it or want it. Creating consistency and confidence in your marketing is a beautiful result of well-done brand strategy.

How Do You Develop Your Brand?


This is the homework portion of the assignment. Sharpen your pencils.

COMPARE

Compare yourself with your competitors. Do a full SWOT analysis. What do you do better than your competition? That’s what sets you apart. Things like “lower prices” or “faster shipping” do not work here. Think through your values and how you can help that come through in your messaging—your values and your tagline.

RESEARCH

Before you create content of any kind, do your research. Understand who your audience is, and where they’re most likely to see your information and convert. Employ A/B testing to see what kind of campaigns are more successful.

STAND OUT

This is the visual part of the game, and how your residents know they’re at your community and not the one down the street. Yes, customer service can be part of this, but make sure that your visual branding is on point and unique.

SUMMARIZE

Be able to communicate your community brand with just a few words—your brand positioning statement, your tagline, your mission, these all serve as shorthand to fully encapsulate your brand. Get them all set and edit them until it completely conveys what you want. Build it into your brand guidelines, and include: all visual branding, messaging, tone, symbolism, and the thoughts behind artistic choices.

In addition to your brand guidelines, you also need to consider everything you offer: in-home amenities, community amenities, and why your location is ideal—(proximity to attractions, nature, highways, metro areas, etc.)

SHIFT AS NEEDED

Sounds scary. Isn’t. You want to stick with your brand guidelines that you’ve created, but you also must be assessing it regularly and be willing to shift if, for example, your ideal audience isn’t responding to your quirky brand personality. Your audience perception may be slightly wrong, and it’s better to evolve and capture that audience, rather than to be unwavering and fade into the rearview mirror of your target residents.

brand development

Avoid This with Brand Development

DELAY

Here’s hoping you’re reading this before you reveal or relaunch your community. Doing brand development first is foundational. You’ll end up wasting time and money if it’s an afterthought—that’s like trying to find a place to buy a map when you’re already several miles into a confusing and difficult hike. Frustrating, to say the least.

INCONSISTENCY

Brand guidelines will help keep you on the right path. Keep consistent in your online and print messaging, signage, blog, employee training, all of it. Keep the target the same. Keep the tools the same. That will help keep things on point all the time.

UNWILLINGNESS TO SHIFT

It’d be good if you did your audience and competition research and analysis before you launched any major campaigns or rebrands or management of a new community. However, maybe you didn’t. It would be fair to say that you can expect to shift some of your brand strategy that you’ve put together. Because, like we said before, it’s more important to reach your residents rather than to be doggedly consistent. Just make sure that your brand guidelines get the memo—review, shift and edit them as you need to so you can remain relevant. 

brand statements brand statements

Brand Statements That Define an Apartment Community

Written by Stacey Feeney on . Posted in All Articles, Branding, Writing. 1 Comment on Brand Statements That Define an Apartment Community

When you work with a creative agency to develop your brand style guidelines, you may be expecting them to create your visual branding components like your logo and brand colors. But what is often overlooked in brand guidelines are elements like tone of voice and messaging. Brand statements, however, are crucial to developing a well-rounded brand and allowing you to create compelling and consistent materials that will help attract your target audience.

Multiple different brand statements work together to create your brand’s “vocal” identity and brand messaging. Each serves an important purpose that helps define who you are as a brand and an apartment community. Learn more about each brand statement and why you need them in your community’s toolkit.

Purpose Statement

To create your brand purpose statement, you have to find your “why” and identify why it is you do what you do. Your purpose should be greater than the obvious motivators like providing housing or making money. Instead, you should look to your greater purpose that is rooted in your beliefs and morals.

A great way to identify your purpose statement is to think about your community’s founding story. Was your community created to offer a unique living experience for residents? Was it created to fill a hole in your area’s housing market? Narrowing in on the answers to these questions can help you synthesize the “why” behind your community’s purpose.

Vision Statement

In a nutshell, your vision statement is the goal you are working towards. While your purpose statement explains your “why,” or your motivation, your vision statement summarizes your ultimate goal. Your vision statement should sum up your desired community impact. 

These high-level statements are often lofty and bold, and they speak to how the future you envision not only for your community but also for the world. It also should speak to the future you want to achieve over the lifespan of owning and managing your assets.

Mission Statement

Unlike purpose and vision statements, mission statements are focused on your actions. They focus on the more immediate future, and the daily actions you can take to help you work towards your loftier goals. 

Mission statements usually follow a loose format, which includes explaining your business and tying it directly to your company values. It should also focus on how you serve your prospective residents. When crafting your mission statement, be sure to hit on these three key components: purpose, values, and goals.

Brand Positioning Statement

Brand positioning statements help you craft customer communications. Once you have your vision, mission, and value propositions, you can blend them together to create your positioning statement. 

This statement should identify what your company does, the target audience, and your key differentiators. They often follow a similar structure:

(Company Name) is a (industry definition) for (target audience) that (unique value proposition).

Following this general format will help you create the first draft of your positioning statement that you can tweak and refine until it feels true to your community.

Brand Attributes

Once you’ve nailed down your vision, mission, and positioning statement, it’s time to give your brand a defined personality. Defining your brand attributes will help you start to define your brand’s tone and style, which allows your audience to get a better feel for your community. 

Brand attributes are words that describe your brand’s personality. They’re also typically paired with a short phrase or sentence to give added context and clarity. A few common brand attributes include:

  • Friendly
  • Authoritative
  • Witty
  • Bold
  • Energetic
  • Laid-back
  • Sophisticated
  • Trustworthy
  • Aspirational

Consider choosing between three and five attributes that you feel best represent your brand and stick with them to create a consistent style.

Value Propositions

Your community’s value propositions are what make them different from your competitors—they clearly define why a prospective resident would want to choose your community over another. Crafting value propositions is pivotal to creating strong marketing materials; they allow you to clearly articulate what makes your community one-of-a-kind, and in turn, help convert prospects into residents. 

Brand Identity Statement

Your brand identity statement is often a short, two or three paragraphs that describes your brand voice, tone, and style. This helps you expand upon your brand attributes and personify your brand even further. For example, your brand may sound like a friend spending their free time hanging with the resident. It could also be a sophisticated, elevated tone that alludes to a luxury lifestyle. Deciding on your overarching identity is pivotal to bringing your brand to life in a more practical way. 

Each of these brand statements works together to tell the whole story of your apartment community or property management company. Individually, they don’t tell the entire story—but when you use them all together, it helps you define who you are and create a consistent message across all of your marketing materials. Brand development plays a crucial role in setting you apart from your competitors and fostering easy brand recognition, which in turn results in a strong, stable community! 

 

If you need help crafting your brand statements, enlisting the help of a seasoned agency like zipcode creative can help you build the strong foundation you need. Reach out to our team today to get started!