Aldon

Reinvigorating a DMV developer

In 2018, new leadership came to Brown Development with an ambitious vision to leverage highly valued properties for considerable company growth and expansion. It would require a full alignment of all divisions and an overhaul of the current corporate culture. Employee satisfaction had diminished under previous management, and morale-building was urgently needed. Much of this was in the works when Grafik was invited to partner with leadership in the development of a comprehensive rebranding transformation. 

Our efforts began with a series of internal sessions, gathering stories and perspectives on where the company was heading, and how fast it could get there. We heard about a dramatic shift in everyone’s workday experiences. Leadership’s focus on employees was driving greater engagement and higher productivity. In external research efforts, tenants remarked on the positive change, as did business partners. Grafik captured the forward momentum in a new brand mantra, It Starts With You, and set about to create a new brand identity under a name that was familiar to stakeholders, and entirely new for target markets: Aldon.

With a modernized visual identity and relatable messaging in place, we turned our attention to bringing the brand to life on Aldon’s website with a multifaceted strategy. To enhance user experience while boosting search engine visibility, we focused on improving content density and streamlining the information architecture. With the approaching Google Core Web Vitals update, we adopted a mobile-first, responsive approach so users could access the content on any device.

Next, we updated the website’s voice and feel to reflect the four key pillars of the brand: caring, collaborative, empowering, and purposeful. Staff headshots, testimonials from residents and partners, as well as including images of people on property site pages added a human touch that encapsulated the mantra. Finally, Grafik ensured that the new website would serve as a blueprint for Aldon’s future corporate site, with the ultimate goal of migrating all community websites onto the Aldon corporate platform, creating a unified and cohesive online presence.

 

The new brand led with empowerment and collaboration; it pointed to the extraordinary opportunities ahead; and it radiated positivity. Since the rebrand in 2021 and the launch of the new website, Aldon has successfully expanded into three states and has been recognized as a “top place to work” for two consecutive years.

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