Building Dialogue

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46 / BUILDING DIALOGUE / JUNE 2015
W hen developing a new real estate proj-
ect, whether it’s commercial, mixed-use
or straight residential, it’s amazing how
real estate project branding strategy doesn’t get
as much attention as it should. This is surpris-
ing given how much real estate project branding,
driven by solid business strategy and goals, can
contribute to the success of a real estate project.
Setting a strong, clearly articulated brand for
your real estate project helps:
Differentiate you from a competing real estate project.
Create and reinforce a specific targeted customer ex-
perience.
Generate traffic and site visits from targeted prospects
and customers.
Improve navigation within the building, complex or
area.
All of this helps improve financial success of the real
estate project.
What Is Real Estate Project Branding?
Marketers sometimes talk about branding in ethe-
real terms that make it hard to define. In the simplest
terms, branding is about determining the personali-
ty attributes that should be conveyed in all aspects of
the real estate project, and tie those to business goals.
Example 1: This old building feels worn and faded,
but it’s in a hot area. We want to give the building a
fresh new look and feel to attract businesses cater-
ing to millennials. In this case, the project branding
would feature an “edgier,” modern look and feel that
manifests in the logo, colors, signage, modern materi-
als like white powder-coated metal and more.
Example 2: We want to attract high-end businesses
and high-end customers with discretionary incomes
of more than $150,000 per year. In contrast to the first
example, project branding would be developed using
high-end materials, classic type faces, colors, signage,
sophisticated language emphasizing luxury, and en-
vironmental theming that fulfills the classy, high-
end branding goals.
Obviously, there’s a huge difference between these
two sets of business goals, and it’s critical to the suc-
cess of the real estate project that business goals are
clearly articulated, so that it can be used to develop
strategic project branding.
A Strategic Branding Process
Will Answer Key Questions
The typical real estate project branding process will
start with discovery of your business goals, customer
profiling, and competitor analysis. At the completion
Marty Gregg
President,
Arthouse
Design
TRENDS in Branding Strategy