bBelief's branding and strategy for Landsec helps it transform the office leasing market

Who says small agencies can't work with big clients? Here's a great example from bBelief, which has been working with Landsec, aka the Land Securities Group plc, the UK's largest commercial property development and investment company.

Barry Tranter set up bBelief in 2019 as a purposefully small agency, offering brand consultancy right through to creative execution and roll-out. Its services are used project-by-project and increasingly for strategic advice across their businesses.

Landsec, meanwhile, is one of the largest real estate businesses in Europe, with a portfolio of retail, leisure, workspace and residential hubs. But even before the pandemic, it realised it couldn't rest on its laurels.

"The company had been anticipating a huge change in the office leasing market long before Covid and lockdown accelerated behaviours and attitudes," explains Barry. "They saw a need and an opportunity to completely redefine their approach to leasing and how they operate as a landlord.

"Rather than providing their office space through standard transactional landlord/tenant relationships, restrictive and long lease terms and selling square footage, they changed everything by putting the customer and their needs at the heart of their offer and working to build long-term, valuable client/landlord partnerships."

Brand foundation

Landsec has been working with bBelief to launch a new sub-brand called Office Space. It's founded on the phrase and belief 'Let's make the office work for our customers', helping the firm to structure its offer and operations in a completely new way.

"Office Space by Landsec provides a suite of tailorable office products that clients can select to provide the best solutions for their needs," explains Barry. "The products can be utilised separately or integrated with each other across sites and/or in the same buildings.

"Instead of restrictions and tied-in leases, customers face opportunities, new services and endless flexibility. Rather than a standard transactional relationship, clients are listened to, understood and provided with a wealth of experience and expertise to help them manage their workspaces and meet their goals."

The new branding enables Landsec to demonstrate the possibilities available, explain their new approach, and share the product range with a broad audience not used to being serviced this way. And so far, it's been a great success.

"Office Space has been the most visited area of the Landsec website since its launch," notes Barry. "And as well as the branding, we have created assets executions across digital, social, advertising, literature and presentations."

Graphic tools and tone of voice

The brand is designed to sit alongside the Landsec corporate mother brand while standing out and flexing its communications across multiple channels toward its target consumers.

"We used the corporate brand as the basis for Office Space, utilising the bespoke Landsec typeface, developing the patterns, iconography and colour palette," explains Barry. The inviting tone of voice and suite of geometric graphic tools combine to demonstrate the flexibility of the products and the spaces."

The project's success stands as testimony to the agency's distinctive approach to client relationships. "Our aim at bBelief is to create lasting relationships with our clients and become part of their team," Barry explains.

"I have a clear process called Brand Belief, which can be scaled according to budget and adapted according to project," he adds. "It's not a strict formula, as every project is different, but follows similar principles. It involves strategy and discovery workshops and runs right through to delivering the brand creative and launch."

Jo Smee, marketing director at Landsec, adds: "bBelief were able to understand our ambitions from the outset, asking the right questions and getting to the crux of the issue. The approach was collaborative and thoughtful.

"The brand enables us to clearly explain the products' merits while demonstrating the benefits of how they all work together. The assets and the language created for Office Space have made it easy to sell to our customers. Office Space is bursting with vibrancy and interest all of its own. And, it still manages to sit naturally alongside the overarching Landsec mother brand."