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