Behind The Scenes of the Willow Bridge Rebrand with Sarah Johnson

Welcome back to Season 3 of the Good Mood Marketing™ podcast! In this episode, our hosts are joined by Sarah Johnson, National Director of Marketing and Brand Strategy, to take a behind-the-scenes look at the recent rebranding of Lincoln Property Company's residential division to Willow Bridge. 

Tune in for an engaging conversation as Sarah shares insights into the symbolism, history, and culture that shape the Willow Bridge name and brand identity. From the collaborative efforts with marketing agency IDEO to the active involvement of employees at every turn, every element of this rebranding journey is a fascinating blend of art and strategy. We also discuss how the Willow Bridge team successfully revealed the new identity to clients and team members, the timing and intricacies involved with a nationwide rebrand, as well as some fun insights along the way.

Transcript

Katie Degutis:

Welcome back to another episode of Good Mood Marketing. Before we get started today, we wanted to update listeners that we're going to be changing up our format a bit moving forward. Instead of biweekly episodes, we'll be dropping new episodes when it makes the most sense with industry updates, trends, or important topics. Be sure to subscribe so you don't miss any future episodes!

Thomas Demiranda:

Welcome back to Good Mood Marketing. We're excited today to be joined with a special guest from Willow Bridge, formerly Lincoln Property Company, based out of Dallas, Texas. Please join us in welcoming Sarah Johnson.

Katie Degutis:

Woo. Hi, Sarah.

Sarah Johnson:

Hi. Thanks for having me.

Thomas Demiranda:

We're so glad you drove all the way from Georgetown, is what we were saying. Not that far, but far enough to still you know, make the drive down. So thank you. Sarah's the National Director of Marketing and Brand Strategy. So excited to have her. Sarah, before we dive into some questions about what you've been working on recently, can you just tell us a little bit more about your background and property management and your role at Willow Bridge?

Sarah Johnson:

Yeah, sure. So let's see. I've been in the multifamily industry for, it'll be 12 years in January. So it does not feel like that long, but I think that's how everyone feels in this industry. <Laugh> But I got my start, I think the same way that so many of us do, I was leasing apartments here in Austin, Texas. And then grew through, at the time it was Lincoln Property Company. But after a year of leasing, I joined the regional leadership team and I was doing training for our on-site employees, and then also a little bit of marketing on the side as well. And then we fully split the training and marketing departments into two separates. And I joined the marketing team at that time. And then from there I really focused on the central Texas region. That's Austin, San Antonio, kind of all the in-betweens as well: Kyle, Buda, San Marcos....

Katie Degutis:

I was gonna say, now it's like a non-stop in-between. That used to be a big way between the two!

Sarah Johnson:

<Laugh> I know! And really just helped build out the marketing team from there. You know, originally it was, it was just me, and then we brought on a second associate and then a third associate. So it was really cool getting to work with the central Texas team and build out the department and really see it grow. And then from there, last year I joined the national team up in Dallas, and I've been working with them for the past year as their Marketing and Brand Director. And it's been a really fun ride. <Laugh>.

Katie Degutis:

Awesome.

Christy McFerren:

That's awesome. You guys recently had some pretty big news with the rebrand.

Sarah Johnson:

Yeah. Yeah. We've had a lot going on. So yeah, it's, it's definitely been a really busy year and it's, you know, you've got your, your, your normal job of, you know, your marketing campaigns and all the programs you're running, and then this rebrand on top of it. So we've been really busy. <Laugh>

Christy McFerren:

Tell us more about that. We love talking all things brand here, and I know that Lincoln was a very well-known name in the space, but also there's a lot of really good narrative to Willow Bridge, so can you kind of walk us through what it was like to do that and the decisions you made?

Sarah Johnson:

Yeah, it was <laugh>, it was such a cool project because like you said, you know, Lincoln Property was so, so well known. I mean, we've been around since 1965, you know, we're so established and we're just really you know, we've got this really strong presence within the industry. And so earlier this year we were purchased by Cadillac Fairview Ontario Teachers Pension Fund. And so with, that in the contract, we did have to change our name. And so we started looking at, you know, who are we gonna work with to do this? Like, how are we going to approach this? How long are we going to take to do this? And it was a very fast process actually. And so we worked with a group, IDEO, and we, it was a really fun partnership because what they did is they brought in their expertise as a branding and design company, and they worked with our group because we, you know, we were only rebranding because we had to, because of the contract.

Sarah Johnson:

We didn't really need to because of our position within the industry or anything else that was going on. Again, we had this strength through our name. We, you know, we were very well-known and we wanted to be sure that we weren't changing anything with really who we are. So they worked with us. They did a lot of interviews with our employees, with our leadership teams, with our on-site teams, with our clients to really get to know who we were as Lincoln Property Company, you know, at our core. You know, what was the culture, what really are our strengths, what gets us excited, kind of all those pieces. And they brought back so much information, which was really great to see and great to take a look at. And from there, what they did was they built out these pieces that they were hearing from our clients and our employees of, you know, the traditions, the culture, the history of the company. And they wanted to be sure that they took that forward with the rebrand. So really what they came up with when they were, you know, talking to everyone, there was a lot of this history, this heritage. There's a lot of tenure within the company as you know, the company has tenure within the industry as well. And so looking back through our history, the very first community we ever had was Willow Creek in Dallas. And so they, they kind of looked at that for a second, and then they also found that with the whole symbolism behind the willow tree, there was a lot that we played with within the company with that. We have a lot of internal programs that we run. We have a milestone recognition program for when employees hit five years, 10 years, 15 years, and so on. And then there's also a Circle of Honor program that we run whenever an employee is promoted internally, as well as we have our gold medallion awards which we've, we run every year. It's an employee award ceremony for sales, for leadership, for marketing, for training, all kinds of, you know, different things.

Thomas Demiranda:

See now LinkedIn.

Sarah Johnson:

Yeah. <Laugh>. And with all of these internal programs that we've always run, there's been this tieback to the willow tree, whether the symbolism through it or it's stamped on the awards, or it's put onto jewelry or other kind of you know, award pieces that we can give out. And so again, they dug even further into this. And, you know, the symbolism with the willow tree of it being rooted, it having strength, but also being flexible, the branches, you know, extending out, you know, inviting others...

Katie Degutis:

Lots of reach...

Sarah Johnson:

Yeah. Yeah. And so they really, really loved the symbol of it. They loved that it already had a tie in with the company. So they were like, okay, let's build around this. Like, what can we do do with this? And like, take this idea, but also have a, a stretch forward and a way to bring it into the future. And so that's where they started looking at what can we add onto Willow? You know, again, the original property was Willow Creek. They came up with "bridge" with the idea of like the suspension bridge, that, essentially we're bridging forward, we're bridging into success, we're bridging into the future. So it was so cool because you kind of had the two sides of like, Willow being the tradition and the history, and Bridge being the future and going forward.

Sarah Johnson:

Yeah. So it was such a cool idea and a cool concept. And so just watching that whole process of how they came up with that. And really it was just from talking to our employees and really listening to like the heart of the company and the heart of the employees, which we've always been like a company about people. So the fact that they took that in and immediately was like, this is where we need to focus, is what, how the people feel. And it really shows through now. So it was super exciting to watch that happen.

Thomas Demiranda:

I imagine that everyone gets, like, especially being part of the process, like, of giving feedback that like team morale and everything just like went up because people were involved.

Katie Degutis:

I was going to say, it's super inspiring.

Thomas Demiranda:

Yeah.

Sarah Johnson:

It really was.

Katie Degutis:

It's the kind of day to day you're mentioning like, the different programs y'all have for people's milestones, for awards and things like that. Like it's the stuff that you forget about when you're going through your day to day, but when you look back on it or hear it all in this kind of presentation, when people are explaining their thought process to you, it's, I feel like it'd be super motivating and inspiring. It's like, wow, we're, we're doing so much more than I think about when I'm focused on today, tomorrow.

Christy McFerren:

Well, and if you think about how it could have hit so differently with having new ownership and being required to rebrand, it sounds like you guys turned it into a massive win.

Sarah Johnson:

Yes. And I, I think that's exactly it. Like, it, you know, there was, you know, I think concern from the employees or maybe a little bit of fear of like, well, you know, we're, we've always been Lincoln and now we're, we're not gonna be Lincoln and it's gonna be so different and everything's changing. And so I think this really helped that process of like, it's, it's not gonna be different. It's not changing. Like, we're gonna be growing. We always wanna be growing and evolving, but we're the same company, we're the same people, the same values, same culture. And so I think that they really felt that through the process of...

Christy McFerren:

That's cool.

Katie Degutis:

Yeah. Like, you know, I'm having a voice, I'm being heard. This is being transitioned across. So it was really, really great.

Katie Degutis:

That's cool. We've definitely had to do that for communities before where maybe the team had a lot of involvement. I'm thinking specifically of, it was formerly the Edge and then was rebranded The Verge because it was an acquisition. And so 90 days had to change the name and new branding and all of that. And it was the same type of thing. Everyone at the site level was like, we have a lot of pride in where we work. We have pride in where we live. And like, it was known within the university set there. And I think that having, like, when you do have those people that are invested, it also does kind of make it a little harder to get a decision because people, they do, they have their emotional ties to the past. And so, especially with you guys having to change the name, kind of, how did that process go with the stakeholders and, and actually getting approvals? Or was that once it kind of had the history from the branding company, was it a little easier to sell everyone on it?

Sarah Johnson:

Yeah. It was definitely a process and it's just because we, we just wanted to be sure that we didn't miss the mark, you know? And, and we actually had a pretty small team internally that was working on it. Just because we wanted it to be a really big surprise, a big reveal, a very exciting moment, you know, for our team members and for our clients and partners. So the team actually, you know, making, having this discussion and really working with IDEO on name options down to then the very specifics of the logo, the color, you know, the full branding package. Yeah. So we had a, we had a small team that we were working with and it was a combination of leadership across different departments within the company. So it really gave a really good rounded view of, again, you know, how the company runs, who we are. A lot of different opinions which helped keep us on track and keep us thinking open-mindedly. And so we had meeting after meeting of, okay, we've got the name. Now let's look at the logo. Now let's look at the color. And there was so much thought and detail put into it, which I really appreciate, just because it's not something that was just, you know, decisions made lightly and rolled out quickly. You know, we, we ran through this really fast, but we had so much thought and detail behind everything. And IDEO did also such a good job of hearing the feedback from everyone, of, you know, the colors we were using of the type of fonts we were using, things like that. And they did such a good job of really going into the explanations behind the, well this evokes this, and this means this, and we pulled this because of, you know, this. So they really assigned meaning to everything, which really kind of brought everyone together on board. And we all had the same understanding behind it. And, you know, it really tied it all together for us. And then it even helped forward, you know, with the teams, once we revealed and presented this, we kind of went through the whole breakdown of how we got there. And there was this, I think really just, big appreciation for the fact that it's new, it's different. It's not Lincoln. But Willow Bridge still is so much of who we are...

Katie Degutis:

At its core.

Sarah Johnson:

Yeah. So, you know, I think it, it's sometimes always you're, you're building with this big expectation of, you know, was it gonna be like the buildup, the hype, all these, these things. And then we have the name released and it's like, oh my gosh, <laugh>. It's like, is that what you were expecting or not expecting? And then we go into the story behind it and we go into the, the details of where each piece came from. And you really see it kind of light up in people's faces of like it clicking of, "Oh, I get it." And "Oh, I love that. That's awesome. Oh, that's so great." And you know, "I can relate to this." So, yeah.

Thomas Demiranda:

How long did that process take from like the moment that you guys like, knew that you had to start it and, you know, work with somebody to like finalizing and be like, oh, we got something now?

Sarah Johnson:

So when we were purchased in March of this year, and we knew then that we were gonna have to change the name. So we started trying to figure out, okay, who are we gonna work with? What's the timeline gonna look like? When do we need to have that name and brand ready to go to push out? There was a lot of, you know, legal pieces into it as well. And I think we started the process...hmm. I wanna say April.

Katie Degutis:

That's pretty quick, from when it was announced!

Sarah Johnson:

Yeah. Originally we thought that it was gonna have to be like early August of like, we're gonna have to have everything out there. And so we got, we, you know, we were able to push it back a little bit 'cause it is, it's a huge, huge project. And we didn't wanna rush it and we wanted to be sure that we were, you know, allowing the right amount of time to really give it the thought and detail that it deserves. And so we decided on pushing it out in early October during our Leadership Conference. Because we'd have, you know, all of our, our leadership teams and our employees in one spot. And so, and the employees that weren't able to attend, we did a virtual reveal for them. So at the same time, everyone within the company was able to hear and see it all at once. So we had the, the in-person conference and then we had a video stream going live at the same time...

Thomas Demiranda:

That's awesome.

Sarah Johnson:

When Duncan — yes — was revealing the name. So it was really exciting. It was really cool. It was fun kind of watching everyone's reactions, you know, when they put it up on the big screen and announced it. So it was really exciting that you know, you see all the hard work and the late nights and weekends and everything, you know, come to fruition.

Thomas Demiranda:

Yeah. I was, I was there and Kyle and we were, we were there joining other partners of you guys. And it was cool to see. I saw part of the presentation and then I saw the PR kind of go out and I was like, okay, this is all, all good.

Katie Degutis:

I felt, I felt like we got a little bit of a behind the scenes 'cause Thomas being there was like on Teams sending us pictures and it was like, "Look what just happened!" It felt like we were part of it.

Thomas Demiranda:

Yeah. I took the picture and then Melissa on our leadership team, like messaged or somebody...

Katie Degutis:

Sent the press release.

Thomas Demiranda:

Yeah. The press release. And, and that was, that was cool. So like overall the energy, like when everybody heard about it, it was just like over the top and people were just super excited.

Sarah Johnson:

Yeah. Super excited. I think everyone was just, you know, 'cause again, there was such anticipation of like, what are we gonna be called? Like who are we gonna be? Like what does the future look like? And so I think there was already such excitement there of just like the waiting game of like, we can't wait to find out. And then once we revealed it and we kind of again gave that story behind it and it was like, okay, now we know and we're excited and we can move forward. But it's still, it was again, that security piece came back in of like, but it's still what we know. It's still who we are. There's not gonna be big changes from us that we need to wrap our arms around. Yeah. It was just like, this is just a success plan forward.

Thomas Demiranda:

Yeah. And I saw like the messaging and like the whole presentation was like really well done. I was like, man, this is like, you know, some presentations you sit through and it's like not as interactive. It seems very like PowerPointy. And this one was like very engaging, but so internally now everyone knows like what the brand is, what it represents, you know, the past and going towards the future.

Sarah Johnson:

Yeah. It's all out there now.

Thomas Demiranda:

Now for like the industry though, because Lincoln was just, you know, such like a titan of a name. How do you guys plan to like, communicate this exact story that like everyone else internally is getting to like everyone else outside now?

Katie Degutis:

We should share this podcast for people to listen to...

Sarah Johnson:

<Laugh>. Yeah. Just like this. You know, we're getting out there, we're talking to as many people as we can, and we really wanna share the story 'cause we're so proud of it. You know, we were so proud as Lincoln and, and we're so proud now going forward as Willow Bridge. And so we just wanna be sure that we're sharing it with everyone. 'cause It, it can be confusing. 'Cause like you said, Lincoln was so well known and now it's Willow Bridge and it's like, wait, what? Like why did that happen? How did it happen? So yeah, we've got, we've got a big PR strategy put into place, a big marketing strategy put into place. We've got our website updated actually the website at that conference. So the day of the reveal, I think you guys like saw me like running back and forth.

Thomas Demiranda:

Yeah. <Laugh>.

Sarah Johnson:

I was in the background trying to be sure the website was gonna like, update with everything. Social pages all updated. So it's, it's funny how much like the name Lincoln touched and how much we had to then go back in and, and be sure that we rebranded and you know, and updated and we're still working through some of the smaller pieces. So I think it's, I'm sure it's gonna be a year transition 'cause you know, you go through the full calendar year of different things coming up. Different events, different meetings. But yeah, just a lot of communication.

Thomas Demiranda:

I did, I do remember 'cause me and Kyle were like, maybe we'll see Sarah and we're like, nope, we'll see her tonight. <Laugh>

Sarah Johnson:

Yeah. <Laugh>.

Christy McFerren:

So speaking of just kind of going forward, you guys have that bridge part of the name and that's all future focused. And it's very exciting to just have such that nice parady between your roots and your future. Yeah. so what are you looking at for the future? Like how are you guys moving into 2024 aside from the brand and communication? Is there new things we should be watching for?

Sarah Johnson:

So one of our really big initiatives is the resident experience. Like I said earlier, we've always been a company about people and our old tagline with Lincoln was a company about people, a company for people. And we have our new mission statement with this new brand, which is: We create places people wanna call home. Which I love because it still is tying in that like this is about people. And so a big initiative going forward is that we really wanna focus on the resident experience. We do a really great job with I think our customer service and our leasing teams and all of our management teams of, you know, really presenting these beautiful communities and these beautiful lifestyles. And we just wanna be sure that we are also delivering the highest quality resident experience that we can. And we've always, especially within the marketing department, we've always said that we're not marketing, you know, apartments, you know, with the quartz countertops, or the wood, you know, plank floorings or all those different pieces. We are marketing a lifestyle. We wanna be able to market and showcase to the residents this is what living here will encompass for you. And so that's what we just really wanna focus on is being sure that we are top of the line, offering everything that we can, giving the best service that we can. And there's a lot of cool programs out there. There's a lot of cool technology out there now. So we're really excited to dig in and, and see what that looks like. We're even bringing on to the national team a Director of Resident Experience to really oversee all this. So definitely a high priority. That's gonna be a big focus of ours and I'm really excited to see where it goes. It's cool.

Katie Degutis:

Yeah. I think that hearing those stories too back is also super inspiring once like those come together and being able to see the, the offering that is not just the four walls in the roof over your head because it really is, it's where people spend so much of their time, so...

Sarah Johnson:

Right, right.

Christy McFerren:

So much of a brand is about how it's experienced, so it's really huge to hear.

Sarah Johnson:

Exactly. Yeah. That's, that's really what we wanna be known for is, you know, not just a top management company, but like the lifestyle provider and we are providing homes and so that's, that's really the big piece for us.

Christy McFerren:

That's awesome.

Katie Degutis:

Well that's been great. It's been really lovely to talk with you today. I don't know how you can top the good news of Willow Bridge, but we do like to end every episode asking what has people in a good mood today. So I wanted to ask you, what has you in a good mood?

Sarah Johnson:

Is it cheesy just to say what, like sitting here with you guys?

Katie Degutis:

I'll take it!

Sarah Johnson:

This is really exciting. Like, I love like talking about the company and the brand and all the things. So this has put me into a great mood, just being able to have this conversation with all of you.

Thomas Demiranda:

Awesome. We would say the same, but we have a rule that we can't 'cause often, Katie, Christy, and I, we can't, you know, repeat. So since I'm going next I get to, you know, get dibs on Thanksgiving potluck that we're having later today with the team. So can't wait. Hopefully there's a lot.

Christy McFerren:

You're welcome to stay.

Thomas Demiranda:

Hopefully there's, you know, gravy and all the sides.

Katie Degutis:

I think someone brought it.

Christy McFerren:

Yes. we smoked a bird yesterday, <laugh> and some gravy and stuffing. So, but my good mood is I just did my hundredth scuba dive last night.

Katie Degutis:

Exciting.

Christy McFerren:

Yeah, I just started earlier this year.

Sarah Johnson:

That's, wow. I love that.

Christy McFerren:

I'm still pretty high from that. Yeah. And it qualifies me to take the self-reliant class, so I'm excited.

Sarah Johnson:

Yeah. Congratulations.

Christy McFerren:

Yeah. Pretty fun.

Katie Degutis:

I am also really excited to be recording again. It's been a minute since we've been in here, so this is fun. But also, and if <laugh> for anyone who has listened to the podcast before, I've been kind of threatening this as my good mood for about seven months now. Currently I'm scheduled to go out on a hot air balloon tomorrow morning. I'm really excited about it. If it ever happens <laugh>.

Sarah Johnson:

Oh, that is exciting.

Katie Degutis:

Who knows? If not, maybe my good mood next episode. <Laugh>

Thomas Demiranda:

It's been postponed like five times.

Katie Degutis:

Yeah. It's very weather dependent, which I can appreciate their safety concerns, so I'll take them as the experts, but fingers crossed it happens. <Laugh>. Yeah. Hopefully next time I'll be able to talk about how that experience went.

Thomas Demiranda:

Awesome. Well thank you everyone for listening today. Cheers!

Christy McFerren:

Cheers everybody.

Christy McFerren:

If these podcasts are putting you in a good mood, we would really love for you to rate and review us on whatever platform you listen to podcasts.