Services: Brand Strategy, Collateral Materials, Copywriting, Custom Building Artwork, Environmental Graphics, Logo & Identity, Messaging, Naming, Signage & Wayfinding, Social Media Strategy, Website

KOIN Tower

A newly restored best-in-class office tower that is iconic and beloved in the Portland skyline. 

 

The new owners of KOIN Center approached us with a big idea, to lead the Class A category, and to create something of enduring value. To accomplish this task, they committed to a complete rebrand and repositioning of the building. Their driving motivator was to bring prominence to the south end business district and develop a high quality asset for Portland by reinvesting in a city icon that had lost its way.

Our first recommendation was to keep the iconic name KOIN but to update it from "Center" to KOIN Tower, shedding its 80's image and elevating it to prominence. Our task was to then develop the brand story, the brand identity and integrate the brand throughout the built environment by coordinating our design decisions in partnership with the interiors and architect team at Mackenzie.

The Brand

It began with the creation of the foundational brand strategy document that clearly outlined the project goals, values, features, amenities, differentiators, target market analysis and positioning statement including high level messaging. Once the strategy was agreed upon, the first element to be developed was a brand new logo/identity system that was inspired by the geometric shape of the windows and the tower itself. The shape was developed into a pattern to extend the branding to a custom screen for the lobby, elevator skins and beyond.

 

Brand Persona Connected to Portland

Next up was to continue the custom photography, graphics and messaging throughout all touchpoints and into a suite of brochures and cut sheets for the brokers. The headline— Uniquely Portland, Uniquely Yours —was developed to reinforce the iconic nature of the building, without ever overtly stating it, and to extend an invitation to the target market to bring their company culture to KOIN where it would be supported in shared spaces, suite build-out and amenities.

Progressive Marketing & Authentic Brand Story

Continuing the newly developed brand to a mobile friendly, responsive marketing website provided the opportunity to reinforce the authentic story of KOIN leading the way to a new and modern Class A offering that would resonate with the aspirational tenant mix. #UniquelyPortland #UniquelyYours is also being leveraged into a social media strategy that ties into the expansive media wall planned for the lobby space.

Extending the Brand Beyond Print & Digital

In collaboration with Mackenzie, we brought the brand to life in the experiential environment of the leasing center. The messaging is carefully and purposefully integrated into the space creating the opportunity for prospective tenants to imagine work/life balance, the building and neighborhood amenities, and tangibly experience the planned building upgrades. All has led to new enthusiasm and proactive outreach from prospects for tours and information.

In 2015, SKB embarked on a comprehensive business plan to reposition the iconic KOIN Tower back to prominence as a best-in-class downtown Portland office building. A key first step in the strategy was to create a new brand identity that would communicate the iconic, best-in-class stature of the property.

In developing the narrative, Think Joule took a holistic approach to understanding the tangible and intangible elements of the property and of SKB’s business plan for the asset. From there, Think Joule masterfully crafted a brand identity whose use has been widely incorporated into the marketing materials and throughout the property, including graphics and cleverly integrated design elements, resulting in a cohesive KOIN Tower brand experience.

The measurable results over the past 30 months since embarking on the comprehensive business plan is a nearly 15% increase in occupancy and over 30% increase in rental rates.

— TRACI WALL, SVP ASSET MANAGEMENT, SKB

 Let's Create an Iconic Brand


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