We're known best for doing things differently. Thank you for recognizing us, Jude Chiy!
My favorite part of NAA was seeing GoldOller Real Estate Investments set up a booth - an unusual move for an apartment operator and manager. But if you want to build an apartment brand, these are the "unusual" things you have to do. Industry transformations take decades to happen. But when they happen, it almost always feels like they happened over night. One day, no apartment communities have websites and then suddenly everyone has a website. One day, no apartment communities have gyms and then seemingly overnight, every community proudly lists their State-of-The-Art Fitness Center. One day, no apartment communities use revenue management, and then one day, the industry's largest operators are accused of overdoing revenue management... But in the in-between phase of industry transformation, (if you pay attention), you can notice the signs of the transformation happening. I talk a lot about how the apartment operators that will win in the future are the ones that start building their brands today. And my confidence in this grows each day as I notice the sometimes imperceptible signs of brand building by apartment operators... - The small but growing trend of operators naming all their communities the same - The faster adoption of branded resident apps - Giants like Greystar hiring hotel industry veterans and loyalty experts. Or more recently, GoldOller Real Estate Investments making a statement at NAA with one of the most impressive brand activations, outshining almost all the suppliers that traditionally rule the NAA Tradeshow Floor. Kudos to Maddie Grussendorf and her team for giving a masterclass on one way apartment operators can start the brand building journey.
