SALOM INVESTMENTS: BRAND DEVELOPMENT
L = Strategic Creative Director
PROJECT BACKGROUND
Salom Investments, a second-generation commercial real estate investment and management firm had experienced transformative growth, but their evolved property and service offering had never been formally captured and went widely unknown, even among their existing tenants. They didn’t have a cohesive brand or a digital presence that showcased who they are and what they have to offer.
In order to amplify both awareness and legitimacy in today’s marketplace, Salom Investments needed a brand foundation — a cohesive strategic direction and identity — that would eventually be used to build a competitively essential digital marketing presence. Their new brand needed to:
• Separate them from the loud voices dominating the local commercial real estate market.
• Break through the “you’re the enemy” mindset and connect with deeper tenant needs.
• Capture the unique DNA that drives Salom Investments.
They asked my company, A Land Beyond, for help.
THE RESEARCH + INSPIRATION
We became intimately familiar with the commercial real estate industry, examined Salom Investments’ business inside and out, and explored the needs driving tenant decisions. Through this research, we discovered that tenants, no matter who they are, are not searching for a landlord. They’re searching for a location. Physical location, above all factors, is what drives their search. But not all location philosophies are the same and location needs go much deeper than an address.
While other well-known commercial real estate firms wear their expansionist hats proudly, Salom Investments has stayed out of construction altogether. Instead of fueling the explosion of El Paso’s outer edges, they’ve chosen to purchase and retrofit properties in established neighborhoods and districts for renewed use. Their real estate philosophy is anchored in renewal, not expansion because they fundamentally believe in keeping core aspects of the city they love alive. With that belief, comes a deep commitment to the preservation of El Paso’s heritage. Salom investments is the embodiment of borderismo. They are incredibly passionate about seeing culture — whether a mural or a one-of-a-kind restaurant — come to life at their properties.
And as for their target tenants — American dream seekers, El Paso entrepreneurs, curators of culture, regents of rebirth — their location search does not start with service, but service is where it ends. Once they find the right visibility, customers, aesthetics, price, etc., their needs shift deeper to service. Tenants need: personalization, not a corporate, one-size-fits-all approach; empathy, a heartfelt response to a global pandemic; and advocacy, an in-the-know arm of support. They need someone who sees their vision, and Salom Investments really does. Like many of their tenants, Salom Investments is American immigrant–owned and family-run, and has worked incredibly hard to turn their dream into a reality. They see their own family story in the pursuits of their tenants, which results in a more human, familial, and tailored service offering. To them, their tenants are unique businesses with individual needs, and Salom Investments accommodate them accordingly. They genuinely care about the tenants they serve and the community they share.
Through this heart that guides their location philosophy and familial empathy that underpins their personalized services, Salom Investments offers their tenants a special combination not easy to come by — bespoke support straight from the owner, a canvas for their own creation and a chance to enrich the neighborhood they love. We identified that Salom Investments had a strategic brand opportunity to lean into the way they celebrate both the life of their locations and the unique businesses that make up their character.
BRAND IDENTITY
Heart, family and border heritage is intrinsic to Salom Investments. It’s what fuels their location philosophy and service mentality. This DNA along with their unique offering to tenants — bespoke support straight from the owner, a canvas for their own creation and a chance to enrich the neighborhood they love — is what we rooted our creative ideation in. We knew these elements had to manifest themselves in the unique brand identity of Salom Investments.
We also knew that their identity had to be consumer-centric and deliver a human connection. It could not fall into the industry norm of “we” and “us” branding that drowns most real estate companies in tone-deafness and mediocrity. So, we developed a brand identity that flips the focus onto the customer and highlights their visionary potential partnered with Salom Investments.
“OUR SITE. YOUR VISION.” became the tagline and brand direction. While it may seem to be just a few simple words, the weight of each is considered and mighty. The creative play in the words “site,” “sight” and “vision” make it memorable and relevant to the industry. There is a nice marriage of function and feeling with the literal reference to real estate (site) and emotional connection to support shown in realizing a dream (vision). The use of “our” and “your” emphasizes a personal, human approach, not found within more bureaucratic companies. They also emphasize that this is about a personal relationship between landlord and tenant, where you will work meaningfully together, one-on-one, to ensure your greatest potential for success.
Through this anthemic brand mantra, Salom Investments declares that they have a space for you to make your own canvas for creation and design your own opportunity to enrich the community. With these simple words, they show their belief that the success of their tenants’ vision is a part of Salom Investments’ greater mission — keeping core aspects of the community alive and amplifying the potential of the community they love.
The same considerations were then carried through the rest of the brand as the logo, voice and style were developed.
Logo Symbolism: The Salom Investments logo was highly inspired by the tagline, which was developed first. The icon was designed to represent the initials S and I. Together those shapes combine to create the symbols of an eye and location — visually symbolizing “vision” and “site”. The typefaces chosen reflect Salom Investments’ strength, pride and modernity.
The community Salom Investments serves is bilingual and binational, so we chose to make both English and Spanish versions of the tagline prominent elements of the brand.
Color Palette: The brand’s color palette was inspired by the El Paso community Salom Investments serves. Bold, bright, friendly and modern, they evoke a sense of positivity and strength, while giving a nod to a unique multicultural and binational presence seen in local art, murals, buildings and overall culture. These tones are bold so as to represent progress, yet nuanced so as to be reminiscent of a local heritage Salon Investments desires to preserve.
Brand voice: The Salom Investments’ brand voice was created to sound trustworthy, approachable, inspiring and conversational. The brand’s authority is conveyed through a tone of heightened industry expertise and compassion for audience needs and desires. Language is tailored to emanate pride in the community and possibilities to come. A sample can be seen below.
“At Salom investments, we believe a tailored approach that suits the needs of individuals and their personal business goals is paramount for success — not simply the success of our company or yours. We believe the success of our entire community depends on it.
We’re passionate about this city and the people within it. Acting as an instrument that fuels El Paso’s thriving potential is the purpose you’ll find at the heart of Salom Investments. That’s what drives us to work for you — to work with you — to bring your aspiration to life.
We provide the site. You apply your vision. Together, we’ll build something meaningful that will impact our community for good.”
Typography: The fonts Gotham and Alternate Gothic were thoughtfully chosen to reflect Salom Investments’ strength, pride and modernity.
Photography: We decided on a bright and candid photo style to emphasize trustworthiness, approachability, cultural inspiration and industry expertise. A more natural and less corporate style is used to reinforce the personal approach that is unique to Salom Investments.
Each of these elements is an integral building block of the Salom Investments brand expression. Yet, the core purpose “Our site. Your vision.” also has the potential to be further applied within the business of the brand it belongs to in a deeply meaningful and impactful way.