Today we’d like to introduce you to Chad Martin.
Thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, how did you get started?
My story, as it relates to design, starts fairly early. I always liked to draw. In my early days in Montgomery, AL, I’d draw when I wasn’t getting into trouble. It didn’t matter what; I’d practice different things. For a few years, it’s just getting the proportions close with 2D images, cars, animals, you name it. As I began to notice things like perspective, drawing became more challenging, but I was decent at observing the photo or still life and replicating it on paper. After several repetitions, I improved and noticed that art class was easy for me in high school. Fast forward to my senior year. All I thought about was how I could make a living at drawing. I wasn’t interested in the starving artist path, so I picked graphic design. This was the perfect time when computers were becoming a new tool we all had to learn. I got to my third year in college and sometimes found myself bored. I wanted to change majors to Industrial Design, but my appetite for college to be over was more robust.
After graduating, I was focused on applying my talents to the built environment. I moved to Nashville to work for a large architecture firm. I quickly moved from presentations to designing signage and small spaces. I learned how branding could weave its way into the built environment through thoughtful placemaking. After moving back to Birmingham, I left the large firm and found a small local architectural firm with many talented artists, and you could see the differences in every way. They weren’t drawing buildings; they were designing places. After getting my feet wet in the student development world, others noticed us in the multi-family world. For the next ten years, I’d sharpen my tools and knowledge by growing my circle of influence on each new development I worked on. I was now helping design the architectural details and elevations. I’d often be asked to create the space plan and function while selecting the furnishings, materials, and paint colors. Soon after, I began to help shape the landscaping direction and lighting choices while still handling all the brand elements that made each property unique. That’s the journey that brought me to what I call property branding.
What is Property Branding?
Property branding is a design effort that weaves architectural elements, interior experiences, and branding into one environment. It’s placemaking – a multi-layered approach to the planning, design, and coordination of public spaces that promote positive lifestyles and well-being – and environmental branding – the extension of a brand into everyday living spaces that enhance a user’s experience through materials, finishes, lighting, landscaping, signage, custom art, landscaping, etc. – meet. Think of custom-welded bike racks, engaging signage, two-story murals, motivational messaging in the fitness center, and architectural details that layer into the property’s community and design aesthetic.
Property branding starts with the identity of a place. Still, it takes on a life of its own when lived experiences are combined with customer experiences – beginning as soon as a person navigates the website, tours the property, and continues through the leasing experience and move-in day. Once someone is a part of the community, the brand experience continues through how events are run, the grounds are kept, or even how the amenities are maintained. All these small experiences become a multi-layered, more considerable experience that orchestrates what and how a brand is experienced.
It wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Sure, there’s always the worry of getting clients and keeping them happy, but that’s everyone’s day-to-day. The only other struggle I’ve seen associated with creatives is understanding the business side and writing tight agreements. The next frontier would be to learn what makes your clients successful. That type of empathy can save time, revisions, and a few points on your blood pressure. I’d recommend asking as many questions as you can, something we call conversational discovery. The only other struggle looking back is time itself. We only have so much before the sand disappears into the bottom of the hourglass. There’s always opportunity to discover new areas we can improve in placemaking. It’s an evolving process as you learn you still have to manage your time and client’s needs.
Let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know? Why Does Property Branding Matter?
We can talk all we want about enhancing the user experience – but why does that experience matter so much? Quality property branding is eye-catching, memorable, and provides differentiation in a saturated market, according to a recent Forbes article, it all comes down to tenant retention. When a tenant has consistently positive experiences at their residence—the more it feels like home, like they are part of an engaged community—the more likely they are to renew their lease. At the same time, much of the data behind rental renewals highlights the what (57% of renters renewed their leases in 2021, according to a survey by RealPage), very little of the why has been quantified beyond tenant testimonials at individual properties. However, real estate developers and investors consistently attest to property branding influencing lease rates: “We have seen our properties exceed our leasing, sale, and investor goals because of [property branding] work that ensures our communities are a place our residents want to call home,” said Patrick Jackson of NOVU Residential Group. And keeping a tenant in their residence for another year adds significant savings. According to a survey of landlords by Avail with Realtor.com, finding a new tenant costs anywhere from $100 2,500, considering unit turnover repairs and updates, marketing, and vacancy rent amounts, among other factors. And while a renewal lease rate won’t match a market-rate new lease, tenants are often willing to pay up to an 18% increase in their renewal rate, with the average renewal rate showing a 10% increase in 2021 (RealPage).
What makes what I do different?
It’s all about timing. There are dozens of elements that go into a cohesive, comprehensive property branding strategy – several of which have been touched on here – but what’s often overlooked is the process and timeline in which property branding is integrated into the developer’s timeline. Typically, a branding company creates a logo with a brand guideline for future brand integration into the website, property signage, and leasing materials. This branding process will start as the project begins and then pause while construction drawings are produced. Then, it will pick back up as the leasing efforts become real. Once that begins, the branding role diminishes to support, tailing off when the clubhouse and amenities are finalized.
The new, more efficient, effective way begins when the developer acquires the land. We’re on the team and involved from the beginning: architect, interior designer, civil engineer, landscape architect, and property branding. Alongside the developer, we start with the story and inspirational images to shape the architectural language, the interior living experiences in the clubhouse, the entry sequence, the appropriate 3rd place(s), and the exterior placemaking, as well as accentuate any natural amenities surrounding the property, like walkability, the ocean, a lake, river, or local trail system. Once the developer agrees upon this inspiration packet, it’s presented to the design team to summarize the vision. Often the traditional design process operates in silos – the landscape architect working on the layout, the architect focusing on the building, the interior designer jumping into the spaces, and then branding being layered last over an already fully baked space. This creates unnecessary inefficiencies and an overall lack of design consistency. In the past, we as a design team would walk through a finished space and viscerally feel the disjointed elements – furniture didn’t match the scale of the space, the interior design leaned modern while the exterior skin of the building felt traditional, the branding felt like a slapped-on afterthought – and it took a significant amount of extra time in meetings and hourly design edits to try and mend the disconnects to feel thoughtful.
We needed a unified design team that was all on the same page from the beginning creativity of a project – to have a cohesive vision and know what design elements we wanted to fight for and protect right from the beginning of the project. Integrating property branding early ensures consistent communication, a constant thread weaving each project element together from the initial vision and inspiration to the final built spaces. Ultimately, efficient collaboration leads to accurate execution, which results in a unified end product and a healthier bottom line. Everyone and every design element works together to form an all-inclusive experience and an enhanced lifestyle for the resident.
We’d like to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you.
I’m not sure about luck, but I’ve been blessed to be in the right place at the right time.
Contact Info:
- Website: weavebranding.com
- Instagram: @weavebranding
- Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/chad-martin-0b782a15‘
Image Credits
Chris Luker
