Climbing to New Heights
Climb Real Estate Rebrand
2018–2019
The Objective
Reposition Climb from an entry-level real estate company in San Francisco’s SOMA neighborhood to a multiregional real estate company representing luxury markets as well as existing markets; promote the perception that Climb is a cutting-edge real estate company that participates in and understands the communities that it represents.
Existing Materials
The Story
Born in San Francisco.
Raised in Silicon Valley.
Climb Real Estate was founded in San Francisco’s Potrero Hill neighborhood in 2010 and quickly took off as a disruptive indie brokerage with a millennial, Silicon Valley tech clientele.
The brand sky-rocketed, becoming the fastest-growing real estate agency in the San Francisco Bay Area. Climb opened several offices throughout the Bay Area with outposts in San Francisco’s Mission Bay neighborhood, Oakland, Walnut Creek, San Jose, and Campbell, in addition to its mobile Airstream office that acted as a neighborhood pop-up and made appearances at Burning Man. Climb’s identity and physical manifestation always reminded me of the iconic mid-century California Modern design that is so prevalent across the Bay Area.
In 2016, NRT — the largest residential real estate brokerage in the United States — acquired Climb Real Estate and began planning for a national expansion of the brand.
It became clear by 2018, when I joined Climb Real Estate as Creative Director, that a significant refresh was needed to appeal to luxury real estate markets outside of the Bay Area. With a parade of designers at the helms over the years, Climb’s identity had become disjointed, with mixed-up messaging and branding from multiple eras of the brokerage’s existence all in use. We went straight to work, looking to mid-century and luxury fashion advertorials and the classic Californian lifestyle, ensuring Climb would not lose its West Coast appeal for inspiration.
In early 2019, we launched our rebrand of Climb Real Estate to national acclaim, winning five awards from The Real Estate Marketing Awards.
Crafted for the Connected Generation.
Target Audience
Generation C, “the Connected Generation,” is defined by their behavior — digital behavior, by people who care deeply about creation, curation, connection, and community mindset. This consumer group defies classic demographics — age, socioeconomic status, urban or suburban, ethnicity, and geography.
Members can be 15 years old or 85 years old. What sets Gen C apart is connectivity, in its fullest sense.
Members are active and engaged in online communities, from familiar social networks to product review sites. They’re not just consuming content, they’re creating and curating it — living a fully immersed digital lifestyle — mobile-first, using the most popular apps to streamline their life and how they communicate.
For Climb, that’s good news. Our regional footprint is the globally recognized Gen C epicenter. And our client-centric approach, high-service orientation, and consistent focus on new technology platforms are what Gen C expects in their customer journey.
Brand Character
Aspirational: We work hard toward long-lasting, meaningful achievements, uniting style, social status, and sustainable values through a seamless brand experience.
Sophisticated: We apply worldly experience and cultural knowledge to communicate a refined aesthetic with clarity and precision.
Innovative: We pursue new ways to add constant value to the lives of our customers and agents.
Urban: We see city living as elegant, sexy, and trendsetting — balanced with edge and enhanced by reality.
Background and Challenges
Climb’s identity had been entrenched in San Francisco’s diverse high tech culture, which may not translate to other regions such as an upscale neighborhood in Los Angeles or New York City.
Climb is known for its young personnel and energetic character, which may not translate well to older luxury buyers and sellers.
Climb is known for using new technology and emerging trends to promote properties. This may be a positive for new demographics if used correctly.
The Print Collection
Climb’s new identity is bold, sexy, and elevated with contrasting and complementary Light (white) and Twilight (black) Marketing Capsules in a variety of automated print formats. This rebrand propelled Climb forward as Realogy looks to launch the brand as a national franchise in 2020.
