As a result of an ambitious merger in the housing sector, we were tasked with the naming and creation of individual branding solutions for three businesses that would form a new housing group.
This powerful new organisation would comprise more than 125,000 homes, be the largest housing association in the country and one of the largest house builders in Britain.
The coming together of Affinity Sutton and Circle Housing required the naming and creation of a new brand to represent the force being created in forming the UK’s largest housing group. Three separate brands were required: a new umbrella group brand, a new customer facing housing association brand and a new commercial brand.
Our workshops and research enabled us to capture a unique positioning for each of the three brands. Identifying that there was a collective sense of spirit and ambition, we defined a unique positioning and purpose for each business that would lift perceptions of what social housing means to us all. Bringing this purpose to life we developed an overarching concept of the home being ‘a platform on which lives are built’.
This naming direction was about leading the way within the industry. It takes inspiration from the collective experience and insight of the merger group coming together and the benefits that come from that. Focused on the strength and stability of the new company, Clarion leads the industry and connects people to do powerful things. By creating a distinctive brand voice we brought this positive spirit to life.
Visually we were inspired by the unmatched perspective being represented by the new Clarion Group – looking out over markets, housing and otherwise – to see what’s happening and where to go next. Beautiful aerial photography of life, environments and communities helped enhance this concept perfectly.
The new commercial brand is doing something new in property (whilst also leading the way). Their story started with the 19th century engineer, Lewis Howard Latimer who worked with Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell. To both, he was a vital partner. The Latimer story and name was a perfect fit. More than creating – creating in partnership.
We identified the benefits in creating a connected approach to the three brands, ensuring they worked both individually and collectively. A ‘platform for life’ and the enabling nature of the group inspired us to develop individually dynamic brands. Each developed to have an ownable graphic language to ensure distinctiveness across communications.
We successfully launched the new Clarion Group and Latimer commercial brands to highly positive reception earlier this year. Our branding solution for the Housing Association will officially launch late 2017.
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