Yerkir Real Estate

Research

In-depth interviews and focus groups revealed a number of misconceptions about the real estate business in Armenia. With the ubiquitous mistrust towards brokers, Armenians had devised dozens of mechanisms that helped them avoid dealing with any mediators. But why?

Because people saw brokers as ‘middlemen’ in a deal that they could close themselves. For many, the words broker, agent, or commission fee carried mostly negative undertones because they or someone they knew had had a bad experience with real estate agencies in the past. And let’s be honest, why pay for something you can do yourself?

The key takeaway here is that our main competitors weren’t the other agencies but the people who ‘know better’. In other words, our competitor was our target audience.

Solution 

Within the updated brand strategy, we offered the client to start with a ‘semantic repackaging’ of these problematic buzzwords. Thus, the words broker and agent got replaced by consultant and assistant, and service fee became commission fee. This was a fairly simple doublespeak solution but over time it will implicitly change people’s perception of real estate specialists and their mission. It will also help Yerkir’s customers to appreciate the brand’s actual benefits even more.

“From dream to goal” – this is the new tagline developed for Yerkir real estate based on the new brand strategy. It highlights the idea that the company’s seasoned professionals have the expertise and tenacity to help you turn your dream of a new home or property into an achievable goal.

Brand Identity

With the brand’s back office arranged, it was time to upgrade the visual identity. The first ingredient that had to go was the old logo. With Yerkir’s plans to expand into the international market, the new logo had to be legible in English, so we discarded the Armenian letters and opted for the Latin alphabet. However, considering the company’s long history and brand recognition, we preserved a couple of elements from the old logo, namely the blue color scheme and the famous globe shape, which we repurposed into a curvature to resemble a horizon.

Naturally, with the horizon came the themes of ‘sunrise’ and ‘the colorful sky’, which determined the brand’s visual style and secondary colors. Transitioning gradients and a pastel color palette became the hallmark of Yerkir’s new identity, while the curved line is now present in almost every piece of visual communication that the company puts out.

Brand awareness

To communicate the new brand positioning, we launched a 60-second commercial on digital channels.

It features DIY enthusiasts who discard the help of specialists because they believe that everything is a Google search away; these are the people who will never admit that they have butchered the assignment.

In the end, the voice-over narration suggests that there are some tasks that should be left to professionals: “The internet can help you get results… Questionable results. Yerkir real estate – trust your dream to professionals.”

Final touch

This project couldn’t end with a PDF via email ։) All these suggestions would be in vain if Yerkir’s staff failed to follow the new guidelines. We had to make sure everyone understood why the changes were made and how they would impact the work in the long run. So as a final stop on the journey, we met with Yerkir’s entire staff, answered their questions, and presented their new brand strategy. (Or in real estate terms, ‘handed the keys’ to their new brand).

Credits

• Creative Director: Hovhannes Margaryan
• Design Director: Anush Ghazaryan
• Designer: Ani Amarian
• Copywriters: Anjela Petrosyan, Mary Mayilyan, Artush Gevorgyan, Gosh Yenokyan, Tigran Gevorgyan, Ani Yavrents
• Account Manager: Diana Stepanyan
• Production Manager: Gevorg Torosyan
• Photographer: Andranik Mantashyan
• Director։ Hovhannes Margaryan
• Camera Operator։ Artur Ustyan
• Set Designer։ Armen Ghazaryan
• Production Assistant։ Gevorg Torosyan
• Color Correction and Editing։ M2 Production
• Gaffer and Key Grip։ Geras Velikhanyan
• Costume Designer։ Lilit Ketikyan
• Hair and Makeup Crew։ Diana Aghajanyan, Diana Gevorgyan
• Actors։ Avet Zohrabyan, Viktoria Sahakyan, Suren Poghosyan, Nelli Meliqyan, Henri Mkrtchyan, Sargis Sargsyan