Engel & Völkers

One of the greatest challenges in digital branding is the need for continuous adaptation to changing customer needs and technological innovations while still keeping a distinctive brand identity. The strategic positioning of well-established brands in the highly competitive digital environment needs to be designed for the long term whilst meeting the approach for an agile holistic implementation. As a global brand and leading platform for real estate agents, Engel & Völkers faces the challenge of constant brand evolution while maintaining its core identity and values. With more than 16,500 people operating under the brand and a market presence in more than 30 countries on five continents, Engel & Völkers strives for consistent global brand recognition.

With these premises, the brand management experts at Engel & Völkers pursued the mission to refine the brand digital first and scalable to support the company’s growth while reflecting premium positioning – celebrating the strong heritage of the brand and refining it for the digital environment. The project was dedicated to creating a living design system and the infrastructure for distributing the new assets, which are proprietary to Engel & Völkers. With a scalable architecture, a bespoke typeface and high flexibility in the layout system as well as a new brand platform the company is now enabling its network to create a coherent and advanced experience for all the clients worldwide.

The brand refinement has been implemented in an intensive two-year development process, partnering with the renowned international design agency Saffron and the typeface design studio Dalton Maag.

“How engel & völkers drives global growth and network enablement with brand management technology”

• The most significant changes to the brand include modifications to the logo and the creation of a custom typeface. The iconic villa at ‘414 Elbchaussee’ in Hamburg, the façade of which formed an integral part of the brand logo in the past, has been adapted and detached from the traditional wordmark.

• A special typography has been developed for the wordmark, which reflects the unique premium character of Engel & Völkers with its modern simplicity – as well as being optimized in both the digital and analogue environments.

• For local touchpoint application the design system as well as the guidelines for a coherent brand presence in the digital environments like social media as well as property shops, outdoor activities, print and merchandise are accessible for the Engel & Völkers network the new brand portal. In the future, licence partners will make.

For an efficient global implementation, Engel & Völkers opted for a platform solution with a centralized brand hub. After an elaborated analysis of potential scenarios and providers, the brand management experts at the Engel & Völkers headquarters decided to go with an integrated solution, which ensures a consistent UI / UX and smootless implementation for the global network. As brand management technology is a key component of Engel & Völkers’ success to empower local content creators within the network, the brand portal functions as the single source of truth. With a digitaland mobile-first approach, the aim is to further establish a global brand positioning which truly stands out in the rapidly-evolving and highly competitive digital landscape. The advanced design system allows Engel & Völkers to upgrade all its digital touchpoints to state-of-the-art technology, providing an exceptional user experience for all customers and agents. For digital brand governance, the brand management experts from the headquarters can track the performance and review the adaption through the licence partners and agents on an international scale.

The benefits that result from the brand management technology include improved asset creation efficiency as well as reduced agency spend. Through the enablement of brand driven growth on a scalable level and within a holistic framework. With high quality standards in branding and the operating model for the real estate agents, Engel & Völkers strives to provide its clients with the finest possible service. The new branding reflects this approach and marks a special milestone in the company history and legacy.