ABOUT

Working with Kent’s largest independent landlord to deliver a suite of marketing materials, both on and offline.

Creating places where people want to live:
mhs homes is the largest independent landlord in Kent. They own and manage more than 8500 homes in Medway, Maidstone and Dartford, offering affordable rent and shared ownership to people who need them most. Their mission is to help create community, create places where people want to live and create enjoyment.

We started work with the team at mhs back in 2013 when we were awarded the contract to redevelop their website. We have gone on to create email templates, job campaigns, new branding and graphics for their fleet of vehicles, a printed Service Plan and their Annual Report video.

Life on the road:
The old mhs vans have been a familiar sight across Kent with the pinecone of their logo being used on the side. But it was time for something new. The refresh coincided with the introduction of the mhs create values, meaning a change of direction for the creative.

An illustrative approach was taken to represent the messages displayed on each van and this style has been carried through to other customer facing marketing materials. The design was an opportunity to let people know what mhs homes actually do and to engage with the wider community while on the road.

A plan of action:
The Service Plan is given to all mhs employees and shows them the strategic objectives that the company has set for the coming year. We were tasked with creating an easy to follow booklet that looked good and was clear to understand.

Key branding elements were used throughout, and to make what could be a simple A5 booklet into something a bit more special, we added a custom green saddle stitch and matt laminate cover to give it a nice textured feel when you pick it up.

An Annual Report with a difference:
Every year mhs homes creates an Annual Report to show everyone how they have done over the past year. Always looking for new ways to represent their reports, mhs asked us to create a video for their 2016/17 version. Using a mix of video footage, animation, photos and infographics we created a two minute film that illustrates the targets, achievements and statistics of the past year in a fun, informative and engaging way.

Choosing a video to represent their Annual Report allowed them to share it across their social channels and website allowing it reach a wider audience.

Lifting their online profile:
The website was built responsively on the Umbraco CMS and also integrates with multiple third party systems to allow for real-time reporting by their users. It delivers integration with their personal account details and the security considerations related to this. From their user focus-groups, all the way up to the directors of the organisation, the website was very well received and had glowing feedback.

We continue to support the team at mhs and have recently redesigned the homepage to keep the site fresh and simplify the user experience. In additional to this we have created an eMarketing tool for the marketing team which has helped with regular communication to their customers and staff.