Hey there, Multifamily Insiders!

We recently had the honor of chatting with Daniel Holmlund on the WIN Multifamily Show. Daniel’s podcast features different aspects of the Multifamily world as he hosts experts in the industry ranging from investors, developers, and in our case, interior designers. Our podcast offered a new perspective to the show giving insight on the experience and sense of community that we strive to create at a multifamily property. It was a pleasure to speak to Daniel and discuss a secret ingredient we think makes our projects different than the rest. Instead of designing another pretty space, we strive to take our design to the next level by creating a community that taps into natural human psychology factors.

First off, give the podcast episode a listen!

Multifamily projects are in a unique position. If we go back to basic human psychology and take a look at Maslow’s pyramid hierarchy of needs, humans are motivated by various levels of need that must be met from the bottom of the hierarchy upwards to reach self-actualization. Firstly, a home provides the basic physiological need of shelter – this is at the bottom of the pyramid. As you move up the pyramid, we find more psychological needs. Within the context of multifamily, creating a sense of community is key to contributing to the psychological need of feeling a sense of belonging. We have found that this is a real key to the success of a project. If an owner can also tap into a resident’s higher cognitive needs for curiosity and exploration, as well realizing personal potential and growth, you have a slam dunk project.

Our goal with a project, as a method for developing a sense of community, is to focus on the narrative of the project’s residents, while intentionally positioning them as the hero of the story.

*SOURCE: McLeod, S. A. (2020, March 20). Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Simply Psychology. https://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html*

So, let's dig a little deeper. How do we develop a narrative story for a multifamily project?

We use marketing psychology to guide us through the development of a project’s narrative, and expand on the project’s unique personality. We first examine the project’s archetype. Archetypes are conceptual identifiers we’ve borrowed from the marketing industry as a basis for our design (you can google brand archetype and find hundreds of resources explaining this tool)

We use these archetypes to create a roadmap that drives all of our design decisions. There are two primary reasons you want to align your project with an archetype: 1) To establish a deeper connection with your audience – potential residents, and number 2) to differentiate your property with a unique, and memorable personality that leaves a lasting impression.

What exactly are archetypes?

Archetypes are personalities that appeal to the subconscious mind of the potential resident. There is an instinctive response to each Archetype that is built into the human brain, and this instinctive understanding makes it feel familiar. Using Archetypes is an extremely useful tool when defining the brand position of your property and the personality traits that will resonate with your prospective residents.

While Stereotypes that are often used to define the demographics of a potential resident pool are rooted in culture specific norms, Archetypes are rooted in universal truths that are rich and distinctive. They are relied on by big marketing companies, as well as Hollywood filmmakers. Here are some examples:

The exploits of Indiana Jones as The Explorer.
The guiding wisdom of Professor Dumbledore as The Sage in the Harry Potter series.
The conquest of Katniss Everdeen as The Heroine in Hunger Games.

Appealing to these archetypes within each of us is how storytelling is so successful. We have an intuitive instinct to connect and relate to these characters quickly. As characters are brought to life through a story, their personality evokes emotions within us and allows us to form a connection with the character. If you don’t want to compete with other properties simply on price, benefits and features, then you need to connect with your audience on a deeper level with a real personality and tone of voice.

Market research shows that brands with tightly defined archetypal identities rose in value by 97% more over six years than confused brands or brands with characteristics from many different archetypes. Wouldn’t 97% increase in value be wonderful for your property??

Alright, let me give you an example!

Say you come to us with an asset you want to reposition, thinking that your audience of prospective residents is everyone. Upon closer examination, we discover your property is adjacent to a popular park with biking and hiking trails, and that you want to tap into that as a main feature for your project’s appeal. From an archetype perspective, you want your brand to appeal to “The Explorer” within a perspective resident. In this case, your property’s personality should be aligned with the Explorer Archetype and use that personality and communication to evoke a tenant’s innate desire to explore.

The Explorer is driven by their desire to experience adventure and uncover the unknown. Challenging them to overcome the confines of modern life will resonate with them quickly. We may use a color palette inspired by nature. Organic forms. Decorative objects and art inspired by travel, and the joy of collection. We would pull textural elements into the space like natural wood tones, as well as textural, inviting fabrics with pops of inspiring color for example.

You could also use this archetype to define operational decisions items like using carafes of fruit infused water at the coffee bar, or including a branded water bottle in your tenant welcome package. Tenant outreach could feature organization of a run club, or an outdoor scavenger hunt.

The most successful projects also tie this into their overall branding – including signage, website, collateral → any touchpoint with a potential tenant.

Once you have a property personality, the opportunities are endless for how to implement it!

Did we get you thinking??

Pretty interesting stuff, huh? There is more to design than selecting that pretty pillow! Don't get us wrong, we like that too. We hope this recap inspired you to ask yourself some questions:

Does my property have a brand archetype? Does it tell a story?
Does my property create a sense of community with its design?
Does my property fulfill the hierarchy of needs beyond simple shelter?

If the answer is no for any of these questions, maybe we should work together on developing an amazing community together! Drop us a line and let’s chat!

Archetypes in design