How Union Home Mortgage’s audio logo leads in a crowded market
Housing Crunch
Competition is fierce for mortgage lenders in today’s pandemic housing boom. Both buyers and mortgage lenders are competing for every house. The challenge for any lender is to stand out in a cluttered market.
Union Home Mortgage (UHM) is a leader in the market with their fifty years of heritage and national footprint. Their specialized approach blends personalized service with modern technology for exceptional customer satisfaction. They have a strong footprint nationally, but continue to grow into new regions where there is low awareness.
Our goal was to help UHM stand out as an established lender and to bring to life their points of differences in innovative technology and customer service with an audio logo.
Sonic Solution
An audio logo offered UHM a single solution to create distinction over their competition and grow awareness with consumers. The modern design of UHM’s audio logo evokes their technological innovation and leadership in the industry. The catchy melody and spoken brand name strengthen the brands memorability and affinity. Used consistently throughout all consumer touchpoints, the audio logo creates a brand icon that ties together all advertising efforts for the greatest impact.
"As a brand that is continuing to grow and enter new markets, it was important to us to solidify all of our brand attributes. While we have strong brand attributes visually, we also wanted something audible, so when a consumer heard it they'd say, ‘That’s Union Home Mortgage.’ Our audio logo balances the forward-thinking, technology driven aspect of our business with the warmth that our Partners provide to their customers. We’re excited to see where this brand asset takes us.”
Cindy Flynn - Chief Marketing and Communication's Officer - UHM
Meaningful Design
Union Home Mortgage Promises Kept
Union Home Mortgage
The sound of the audio logo needed to evoke the brand’s value of personal service and their growth strategy of innovative leadership. The audio logo has a warmth of character while still sounding modern and technological. The voiceover and melody are welcoming and soft while the harmony and rhythm have a strong sense of forward movement and electronic texture.
The audio logo follows established best practices. The five note melody represents the syllables in Union Home Mortgage. The brand name is spoken in time with the melody reinforcing its memorability and attribution.
The audio logo has a modern two part design for the most versatility and flexibility. The opening melody memorializes the brand name while the second part sets off the tagline, Promises Kept. For repetition, the two parts can be used to bookend advertisements with the brand name at the beginning and the full brand name and tagline at the end. For shorter sponsorships, the brand name alone can be used. Instrumental versions of both the melody and tagline were produced for future use in the UHM mobile app.
Performance
The audio logo is being released in a series of TV and radio advertisements across eight new and existing U.S. markets. Usage will spread to include all consumer touchpoints including social media and event promotions. Over time the audio logo, just as the visual logo, will become synonymous with the brand identity. As familiarity grows, so too will the emotional response, strengthening the bond between the consumer and brand. As one of a select few lenders with an audio brand, UHM will be top of mind when buyers are looking to refinance or purchase a home.
Comments