Client: Linchpin Real Estate
Copywriting, Content Strategy, Branding
Overview
Amy Lee Tesauro and Catherine Willis of the Linchpin Real Estate Group had just separated from Keller Williams to start their own brokerage when they reached out. In terms of branding, all they had was a name, a logo, and their impeccable reputation. The latter had gotten them far, but they knew they needed a website and wanted to better define their brand. Mutti was brought in to provide content services for the new site.
Goals
Linchpin was mostly starting from scratch. They needed to articulate their brand and bring it to life, both in terms of design and messaging. They needed to communicate the five Ws—who, what, when, where, and why (as in why audiences should care). This last one gets at their brand positioning—what is unique and special about their brokerage.
Content goals included the following:
Bring the Linchpin brand to life through their new site
Communicate key messages important to their audiences
Make sure design and copy are aligned
Discovery
Due to time constraints, we recommended IdeaSpring for discovery and brand strategy. Their process involved interviews, competitive analysis, and a brainstorming workshop. They developed a creative brief, which Mutti used to write copy for the site. We also worked closely with Convoy who we recommended for the site design.
Approach
Using IdeaSpring’s brief, we were able to create an initial draft of the Linchpin website, which we reviewed live with Tesauro and Willis. During that extended conversation, we were able to fine-tune their brand voice even further. We landed on: not too sweet, not too soft.
Although Linchpin does help clients find their dream homes and form lasting friendships in the process, their brand persona is more like a trusted advisor who “tells it like it is” than a best friend who will pour over Pinterest boards. Their voice is more pragmatic, less emotional.
After a couple more rounds of in-person review–their profession keeps them on the move–we were able to finalize their site content.
Results
The final site checked all the boxes. It provided essential information about their business and gave their brand new life in the digital realm.
The tagline Mutti created, “Where you are, to where you want to be,” is a brand promise Linchpin can use to ground their other communications–an authentic expression of who they are and what they stand for.
