Citizen
Citizen is the new name we created for WM Housing Group, one of the country’s largest housing associations.
The name perfectly captures this excellent organisation’s strong sense of social purpose. Together with a great new look and a full suite of collateral, Citizen’s new name has given them a huge shot of confidence for the future.
Key services provided
Full rebrand
New name
Brand architecture and positioning strategy
Stakeholder consultation and engagement
Guidelines and collateral
Key messaging and tone of voice
Interiors, vehicles, uniforms, signage
Striking new website
“You did an amazing job for us. I truly think we now have the best brand in the sector.”
“Being a citizen is a hugely important idea for us. It means being part of society, having a stake, having rights as well as responsibilities and being respected. People in our communities face some fundamental challenges and we want to be able to offer support when they need it. Citizen provides more than just homes; we provide a foundation for life.”
Research and stakeholder consultation
We laid a strategic foundation through research and competitor analysis, also looking at trends in the housing association sector and consulting with staff, customers and external stakeholders. We found there was lots of confusion created by multiple sub-brands, which led to confusing customer experiences. At the same time, a series of mergers over several years meant the group was in the process of consolidating into a single organisation. There was a strong appetite for creating a unified single brand, which would support consistent services standards and a sense of common purpose.
Developing the brand and name
Through a series of workshops, we established key drivers and values with the board and leadership team. Authenticity and a strong sense of social purpose were seen as key.
We crowdsourced over 400 new name ideas before a detailed evaluation process that led to the choice of Citizen, a name that captures the organisation’s values and social purpose, while celebrating the strength, capabilities of each individual customer, and the part they play in our society. We wrote the positioning copy for the new brand and developed a strap to sum up the core proposition:
‘Home is our foundation for life.’
Brand toolkit
Our visual brand strategist Naomi Atkinson created a strong visual style for the new brand. The goal was to create a consumer-focused fresh look which would be very customer friendly. It used punchy oranges and pinks and a strong logo to create a distinctive graphic style.
Vans, uniforms, interiors and more
The brand has been applied to Citizen's signage and office interiors across the Midlands, as well as vans, uniforms and the full range of collateral. Our approach to the office interiors was to create, warm, inviting and ergonomic spaces that evoke the comforts of home.
Digital by choice
A fully featured new website supports channel shift and provides customers with convenient 24/7 access to reporting repairs, paying rent and other critical housing services.
Citizen’s new site was designed around the idea of ‘digital by choice’ which means creating digital services that customers actively prefer over traditional channels. The new site has seen a 77% increase in new users and a 34% increase in the amount of time spent on the website.
A detailed review of analytics and user behaviours, helped the team develop a strong sense of users’ preferences and needs. We found that customers were coming to find contact details, report repairs and make rent and payment enquiries, so the new design provides efficient routes to the most popular content and services, while giving particular emphasis to journeys into digital services, such as rent payments and reporting repairs.