Housing associations need better branding

This month Hyde launches its new three-year strategic plan.

Integral to this is a clear statement of the values which the Hyde brand represents. So what does ‘brand’ mean to a housing association and its stakeholders, including employees, residents, suppliers, investors, politicians and buyers of our homes?

“To suggest that the sector’s PR activity is poor is an understatement.”

Arriving at Hyde in 2014 completely new to the sector, I was struck by some amazing statistics.

In London, the G15 group of housing associations provides homes to one in 10 Londoners and builds one in four new homes.

Who is aware of this impact in the wider market? To suggest that the sector’s PR activity is poor is an understatement.

So how do you define a brand, and more importantly, how do you determine the values that you want your brand to represent and stand for?

If Hyde were a car, what would its badge on the bonnet be? If Hyde were a pop star, what songs would it sing?

If it were a supermarket, which one would it be?

Brand is about how the customer views your business as well as how you act and do business.

So if we consider a housing association in the context of a car, we would be safe for the family to travel in, economic, and reliable. We’d be a pop star who can be considered a role model, using their celebrity status for the greater good. We’d be a supermarket which combines excellent customer service, quality and value.

And so we first asked our staff – who are our main ambassadors – to articulate the values which they hold dear, which they will feel proud to defend, which they feel represent how Hyde should present itself to its constituencies.

This is key. How can we be trusted to provide good places to live for our residents if we cannot provide a great place to work?

And what are the brand values that our residents cherish? Homes that are in good repair, estates that are well maintained, easy to use services. Why would customers buy new homes from us? The same levels of quality, value for money and a company they can trust.

So if these are to be our brand values for our different audiences, our job now is to spread the message.

Residents need to understand what we are going to do for them and what we are not.

Politicians need to know we are serious in our intent to build more homes.

House builders, local authorities, investors and peers need to know what we stand for in order to form successful partnerships. But most of all we must encourage and foster an engaged, motivated and enthused team.

In practical terms the Hyde brand must encapsulate our vision, our mission and our social purpose.

It is the way we look at the world and its problems; it is the weaving together of our values, our behaviours and our objectives to create a story with which everyone can identify.

At Hyde we have just undergone a process of re-examining who we are and what we stand for. In this, our 50th anniversary year, how do we make our message relevant today?

What steps do we need to take in order to make a difference and what values and behaviours are we going to display on the way?

Our three-year strategic plan is neither long, clever, nor convoluted. It is succinct and to the point.

In fact it is the shortest plan we have ever produced. But it represents a set of values which everyone at Hyde – cleaners and caretakers, chair and chief executive – can subscribe to.

Every housing, finance, customer service and income officer can live, breathe and be proud of the Hyde brand.

It forms the basis on which local authorities, house builders, investors and peers will want to partner with us. It will set us on a clear path to providing better, easier-to-use services and it will enable us to play our part in solving London’s housing crisis.

Mark Sebba, chair, the Hyde Group