In the world of housing corporations, more is at play than ever before. You are no longer just an executor of the primary housing task, but stakeholders are increasingly demanding a clear direction on societal issues such as housing shortages, sustainability, and the energy transition. The importance of ‘brand thinking’ in this sector is therefore growing; this also applies to de Alliantie.
The challenge
Studio Dumbar researched the most fitting repositioning, formulated the brand strategy, and designed the supporting visual style; a revitalization of the existing house style. As we often experience, the logical question then follows: how do you take the next step in implementing the house style with this ambition? What exactly is that step, is there even one, or are there perhaps multiple steps? What investments are involved? Do we have everything we need? What channels and brand assets are there?
All of these are logical and relevant questions, which is why VIM Group was brought in. Through a scenario- and impact analysis, we provided the insights that allowed de Alliantie to make informed decisions. Although it turned out to be (much) more than expected, it provided a reassuring solid foundation and guide for the project.
Our solution
The most complicated puzzle we had to solve together was the timeline. De Alliantie fully committed to the ‘New Application House’ project, which was driven by the same business objective. This already demanded a lot from the organisation. We agreed not to interfere with that construction, but at the same time, you wanted these developments to be incorporated into the new style right away. The starting point was to present de-alliantie.nl as the first public-facing site in the new design before introducing the rest. This was practically impossible as almost all online and IT resources were dedicated to another project (besides regular work).
Another challenge was that the employees of de Alliantie had already seen the first visual interpretations of the new house style and were eager to embrace it as soon as possible. This enthusiasm is incredibly important for the success of the project; you certainly don’t want to wait too long before continuing.
Through balancing, creative solutions, organising many parallel processes, smartly utilising partners, and a flexible timeline, we succeeded in launching the individual brand assets in all channels within a very short timeframe. Ultimately, it became almost a ‘big bang’ with the launch of de Alliantie’s key channels and brand assets in just one week.
Colette Laddé, Communication Advisor at de Alliantie
The result
De Alliantie’s processes involve many internal and external systems and websites. Due to individual responsibilities and past implementations, there was a highly varied image of the touchpoints in the customer journeys. Simultaneously with the implementation of the new house style, we were able to bring more unity to the customer experience by applying the same (visual) designs everywhere. The same applies to the locations where customer interactions take place. These have now been harmonised across the entire working area, whereas before, the individual regions interpreted the brand experience at their own discretion.
On the way to ‘the best and friendliest corporation’, it helps if your house style reflects that. This is certainly the case for the revitalised brand of de Alliantie. The colours (WCAG-compliant) in combination with the form language and visual language are distinctive and characteristic. In particular, the illustration style has created new possibilities, as converting lots of informative and instructional text into friendly yet clear illustrations makes rules for residents more accessible. This increases compliance. By animating the illustrations, de Alliantie is now also able to explain common issues to its customers using the same recognisable imagery. This reduces the burden on the service organisation. In this way, a well-thought-out design also contributes to an optimal business process.
