Shaping a community.
Challenge
Solihull Community Housing (SCH) run the housing service on behalf of Solihull Council. Managing just under 10,000 tenanted homes, approximately 1,000 leasehold properties, just over 5,000 garages and a small number of shared ownership properties and temporary accommodation units. They provide this service to members of the Solihull community who are looking to find a home and who may be in need of advice and guidance within the home-finding process. They briefed us to rebrand the service to better showcase their friendly and approachable service.
Turning instinct into action
A brand whose purpose is to serve need to understand their audience. We ran a focus group with members of the Solihull community to gain insight into the perceptions of the branding in order to strategise. This was then taken into consideration alongside the brand's vision to provide homes, improve wellbeing and strengthen communities.
The first action we needed to take was to adjust the tone-of-voice to be more uplifting and empowering, which reflects the positive work SCH does within the community. This clear messaging was then applied site wide, conveying that the service is approachable and always ready to give advice and guidance.
Visually, we wanted this message to shine through by giving the brand a fresh look. The new branding encompassed feedback from the initial survey. We did this by using warm, vibrant colours and symbolism to ensure their refreshed brand personality came across. From the focus group, we developed two directions that were presented back, allowing us to evaluate how people interpreted and felt about the varying elements in each new logo. Participants reported that the new branding successfully expelled negative perceptions they initially had regarding the organisation.
The new branding was tested with the focus groups once more, to review which brand direction would resonate with them the most. We then used the feedback to develop the final execution and the branding was rolled out across all touch points.
Impact
Participants reported that the new branding successfully expelled negative perceptions they initially had regarding the organisation, ultimately achieving the goals set out for the project.