Brand Me

Hi all... I need your help! I am putting together a piece on the concept of the corporate brand and its potential to fall away the further it is from the corporate head.
However, I am curious as to how people "define" brand. What is it, how to you get it and keep it. How do you make sure that others get it too?
I am looking for responses from a wide variety of positions in our industry, so the more voices, the better.
Tell me about your companies (specifics or generalizations are welcome) and how YOU understand and continue your brand.
Thanks!

Hi Tara,

Branding is very important for a business. Creating the right brand can essential be the key to success together with hard and quality work. Branding includes the quality of work provided, a form of marketing and even a slogan. For example, at Apogee they have “Where Experience and Performance meets” and that’s in all of our advertisement and in our work by providing quality management. At my personal company the Maysonet Group, I have A Dream + a Vision = A Reality, and I implement that in my branding each day, by providing my clients the best service in the world, and helping their dreams become a vision and in the path of reality.

Branding, know what you are providing, ensure its quality and consistent, and always deliver on your promise. Keep your marketing and slogan near to what you provide and believe in.

Great question - we are not huge on branding at our company as in trying to trumpet the management company itself. And we're not focused on a flashy presence.

The one element of branding that is really important to us is the attempt to gauge what prospects and residents "really" want - and it shifts. Right now, we are trying to make sure that all of our words and actions are about extreme service, value, and ability to form relationships at our communities (as in don't move out, you'll lose all of your friends) -

And we go with our "people" skills - we capitalize on friendly and fun. This goes all the way to the top.

Have fun with your project!

-S

I think "Branding" really refers to your public intention of reputation. What do you want to be known for?

With the evolution of intense social media, branding is more important than ever. I recently worked for a self-managing owner with 6,000 units. He had never wanted to make a big deal out of his name; however, his properties had great individual reputations. We were able to build on those individual reputations to create a positive brand in that marketplace--primarily through getting our message out with a corporate web site. (All other advertising, Facebook and PR was designed to support and feed that effort.) Therefore, if residents of one property were looking to move to another suburb, they now had a place to do that. The corporate web site became one of the top five sources within a very short time.

The key to being successful with branding is to make sure that it reflects who you really are--or who you are becoming. If you don't meet customer expectations you have now alienated a potential renter--and perhaps even their circle of influence.

The same is very true on the site level. I have taken over management of properties that had horrible reputations (or a very 'tarnished' brand). In some cases we have gone through the expense of renaming (in order to rebrand). Many times owners have been unwilling to invest in renaming. In those cases reputation was turned around; however, it took quite a bit of time. (It would be interesting to know the cost due to lost Leases for not renaming.) Regardless, much was accomplished through extensive bannering ("Under New Management"), visiting with city leaders, etc.

Good luck!

Thank you for your feedback, gentlemen! And on that note... with the concept clearly defined, how are you guys specifically "enforcing" (not the right word, but...) or reinforcing its element on a site level. I guess I am looking for how well you believe your individuals relay the concept of your brand management to the customer.

A couple of thoughts on this one:
1) If it is truly an attitude or level of service that everyone engages in, the message will be easy to reflect to your customers (internal as well as external). If there is not consistency in behavior and treatment, do some investigating and call out behaviors that are detracting from your brand. (This can be done in a positive, supportive way.)
2) Consistently reinforce your brand in e-mails, internal newsletters, company meetings, reviews, contests and one-on-one meetings. Hold brainstorming meetings to get everyone's participation (and buy-in) as to how to better reflect your brand.
3) Ask your customers how you are doing? This is so easy to do today with on-line surveys and Facebook. You can even hold an informal focus group on-site to see what your renter-customers see as the 'reality' of your brand. Don't forget to ask your vendors as well!

Hope this is helpful!

My company, Ross/Luthin Creative, is involved with "Site Branding". That is, matching the property's environment with the company branding and mission. There are so many opportunities to promote a managing company's brand on a given multifamily property... through signage and graphics for sure, but there are also other environmental cues that should be explored on every site. Architecture, landscaping, lighting, marketing office interiors to name a few. Everything about a property's environment says something about your brand message. Carefully investigating your site branding opportunities and implementing an onsite branding plan allows you to deliver in the real world what your brand strategy promises through marketing and advertising.

Branding is very much important for advertising your company.To set up a new brand in the market you have to use your endless effort. Because for upgrading any company to a branded one is not an easy job.
So make your comapny branded with new and creative tag line