SMC X The Lease Genius
Overview
The Lease Genius aims to fix the student housing market by taking a tenant-oriented approach to helping lease seekers. They help students acquire the right lease quickly, conveniently, and effortlessly.
The Smith Marketing Consulting team working on this project was led by Nicole Stevens, and project consultants included: Robbie Lim, Lisa Qiu, Deborah Adebola-Dada, and Cecelia Lopez.
The team started their work with The Lease Genius at the beginning of January 2021. After an introductory meeting with Zaais Van Zyl, the founder and CEO of The Lease Genius, their main focus became the branding for the company and solidifying a unique image for The Lease Genius. Major tasks included developing a brand guide, creating promotional content, and coming up with social media strategies for Instagram and Facebook.
Using Ron Tite’s “Think, Do, Say” model, the team began Phase 1 of their project:
Phase 1: Think (The Problem)
The team created a brand guide for The Lease Genius which contains anything and everything Project Directors need to know about The Lease Genius brand. We wanted to ensure that branding remained consistent across all social media platforms by equipping The Lease Genius with the right tools to do just that. Our team conducted an in-depth analysis of the market to determine how the organization should present itself through its mission & vision, design elements, logos, typography, color pallet, and much more.
At this stage, the team was ready to begin implementing Phase 2 of their project:
Phase 2: Do + Say (The Solution)
After the team conducted their research and completed the brand guide, they went on to create personalized social media templates and strategies for The Lease Genius.
Social Media Content:
The team started off by creating modified logos that matched the colour schemes of the corresponding universities where The Lease Genius has presence on-campus. Then each team member went on to create social media templates that can be easily modified to match the colour scheme of the corresponding University logo. Throughout the process, our team made thoughtful choices in the visuals displayed in the templates to create a professional look that would align with The Lease Genius Brand.
Social Media Strategy:
After finishing the social media templates, the team went on to lay out the proper usage and formulation of posts for The Lease Genius’s main social channels (Instagram and Facebook) by creating a revamped social media strategy for each platform. The team created social media strategy guides which contain information regarding how to run The Lease Genius’s Local and Global accounts. We created two strategy guides for Facebook (one for students, one for landlords) and one strategy guide for Instagram.
The team then went on to compile these resources into a marketing guide for The Lease Genius. Finally, the team wrapped up their project by presenting the marketing guide to over twenty Project Directors at The Lease Genius.
Key Takeaways & Keys to Success:
For this project, SMC had the opportunity to work with The Lease Genius team in building out their online presence. The team created a comprehensive brand identity consisting of logos, colours, and icons. Finding the proper values and missions of The Lease Genius was crucial to understanding how the design aspects need to be laid out and to ensure consistency amongst all copy and graphics. Social media post templates were created to improve accessibility and knowledge of maintaining the various social media pages the organization runs, including a different page for each city they operate in. SMC also helped develop social media guides for both Instagram and Facebook. Best practices regarding tone, post frequency, and content were given to reflect both audience bases of TLG: potential landlords and students looking for available leases. Features like hashtags and targeted Facebook ads were included to increase reach and grow TLG’s audience in the long run!