Northwood

The Northwood company has been in business since 1995 and is a well-established national lettings and estate firm. They have over 90 franchise locations that are owned and operated by local businesses. However, Northwood recognized the need to update their brand in order to remain competitive in a field that is fast expanding, including the introduction of new internet challenger brands. This is despite the fact that Northwood has a good reputation for being a trustworthy estate agent that provides a great service. After participating in a competitive pitch process, Northwood made the decision to collaborate with uDIGIE in order to initiate the process of rebranding.

Prior to beginning any creative work, we researched our competitors and also had a branding workshop with a group of Northwood franchisees and the Belvoir Group team. Both of these activities led to the development of our brand. We endeavored to determine precisely what was required to serve as the foundation for the new brand, as well as what was significant to franchisees and the clients they served.

We were given the responsibility of providing the brand a more contemporary and contemporary appearance, while at the same time preserving the heritage of the brand, which included the Northwood ‘burgundy’ that both the staff and the customers had grown to love and recognize. We needed to produce a new brand image that not only bolstered the national identity of the estate firm but also brought considerable value to the company by improving their market positioning, increasing customer interaction, and recruiting a more diverse population.

To bring Northwood’s general appearance into the present era, we have developed a new corporate identity for the company. The revised logo is still clearly “Northwood,” with the lowercase “n” continuing to be used for a more gentle appearance. However, it has adopted a more dynamic style, taking the previous “rooftop” and adding a contemporary perspective to it. The newly designed Northwood rooftop emblem incorporates not just the highest points of the houses, but also the letter ‘n’ and the letter ‘w’ from the Northwood neighborhood. There is also a customized version of the Red Hat Display that is included in the written Northwood logo. This version features sharp angles that extend upwards to depict the peaks of rooftops on the letters ‘t,’ ‘h,’ and ‘d’ that are particularly significant.

After that, uDIGIE assisted Belvoir Group with the roll out and execution of the brand for Northwood across both online and offline elements. These elements included store fit outs, digital design, and most significantly, for sale and to let boards. Because the boards required to stand out in a crowded and competitive market, we decided to break with tradition and add a die-cut board with a soft edge that leads with the two key brand colors, which are “cherry burgundy” and “indigo.”

The new branding will be implemented in each of Northwood’s ninety locally owned franchise offices, and the company will also undergo an overall modernization procedure.

As part of the rebranding process, the font for Red Hat Display and Nunito has been altered to create a more welcoming and pleasant atmosphere for the brand. Additionally, the color palette has been completely revamped. In order to match the deep “indigo,” we have created a more vibrant and daring hue of the “burgundy,” and we have also elevated the “old Northwood yellow” by adding a warmer “gold.”

Here’s a comment by Kiara Simmance, Marketing Director at Belvoir Group:

"uDIGIE designed the refreshed branding for Northwood and we couldn’t be happier with the results. They took the time to understand our business, our franchisees and our customers and came up with a brand that was just what we needed, an evolution not a revolution. The ongoing communication and project management was great, and we felt reassured throughout. The brand is now live and being tried and tested in the ‘real world’ and we’re still just as happy with the outcome. We look forward to working with uDIGIE for future Northwood marketing campaigns."