Customizing Spaces to Reflect Tenant Branding
Whether you’re moving into a retail or office space for the first time, or your company has grown out of your current space, when you move into a new property you want it to reflect your brand and its personality.
There are many ways to achieve this, from paint colors to signage and logos, as well as seemingly unnoticable details like lighting or hardware choices that will undoubtedly leave an impression your customer.
Table of Contents
What is Tenant Branding?
Changes in Branding
Leases
Tenant Improvements
Tenant Improvement Allowance
The ‘White Shell’
How You’ll Customize Your Space to Reflect Your Brand
Paint & Wall Coverings
Indoor Signage
Outdoor Signage
Lighting
Final Thoughts
What is Tenant Branding?
Branding is what identifies a company or product to consumers and other companies. Logos, colors, mascots, and other details that can be easily identified and attributed to a specific company or product is branding. The man sitting in a wood chair next to a wood barrel has been the Cracker Barrel logo for decades. The Amazon “smile” spanning the word from the “A” to the “Z” is an icon that even without the letters, people identify the “smile” quickly and easily.
Changes in Branding
Sometimes companies make changes to their branding. Colors typically stay the same, but logos and mascots get fresh looks or undergo other changes. Removing problematic or irrelevant images is another big reason companies rebrand. Making such changes takes time and extends not only to commercial and ad changes but also to physical locations.
Leases
When your company moves into a space, whether it’s a retail location in a strip mall, a stand-alone building, or an office in a massive office building, a lease is signed. The legal document outlines expectations of both the tenant and the property manager. Some of the items covered in the lease include the tenant’s ability to improve and customize the space to company needs, and the property manager’s role and contribution (tenant improvement allowance or labor provided) in improving the space to reflect tenant branding.
Tenant Improvements
Tenant improvements are the things that need to be done to make the space effective for the current tenant. Most tenant improvements include:
– Painting and wall coverings
– Flooring
– Lighting and ceiling fans
– Windows
– Doors and hardware
– Cabinets and countertops
– Plumbing and electrical systems
– Indoor and outdoor signage
Many of the items listed are for the tenant’s everyday operations and use of the space, like lighting, cabinets, and flooring. Other listed items, like paint and wall covering and indoor or outdoor signage help reflect company branding. A main color of the Realty Asset Advisors logo is red. While we don’t have a physical office location, company vehicles, signage at worksites, our letterhead, and other business tools emphasize this color.
Companies with physical locations use these tools and also add company colors and logos to walls and interior and exterior features like signage and even door handles. Keep in mind, there may be rules about uniformity for exterior door handles or signage to keep a certain look that attracts other tenants to a building.
Tenant Improvement Allowance
One of the things outlined in the lease will be the tenant improvement allowance (TI Allowance). This is an allocation of money provided by the landlord to assist in tenant build-outs (which often include the addition of branding to the space).
The TI allowance, along with your own budget, will dictate how and where you decide to make additions and changes.
The ‘White Shell’
When a tenant moves out, or when a space is new, it’s just a ‘white shell.’ This blank slate helps a new tenant imagine what the space can look like once they individualize it with their branding. Some parts of the shell include white walls, basic flooring, standard lighting fixtures, and more.
How You’ll Customize Your Space to Reflect Your Brand
Keeping in mind the limitations of your lease and your budget, it’s time to decide exactly what you’ll do to personalize the space and reflect your brand. Above we mentioned some typical tenant improvements, although you may not need to or be able to make changes.
Paint & Wall Coverings
A big part of company branding is colors, which is often reflected in choices like paint colors and other wall coverings and features, since these are two very noticeable things when a client enters a space.
Indoor Signage
Having a sign with your logo near the entrance of your space is a priority, not to remind customers of where they are, but to make a great first impression that lasts. Customers who walk into a ‘white shell’ with no color or signage aren’t likely to keep your business in mind the next time they need a product or service like yours.
Indoor signage is typically within the business itself, near a reception desk or other point of entry.
Outdoor Signage
This could mean outside the building, or outside your space on the building facade. The kind of signage you can use will be outlined in your lease. As discussed before, some properties want to keep a clean, uniform look and will only allow the name of your company in a certain color, while others will allow a custom sign that reflects your brand logo and colors.
“Outdoor signage” can also mean the signage you can have outside your space within a building like an indoor mall or office building. In large buildings such as these, your specific business may not be easily spotted from the entrance, meaning customers will have to venture further inside to find you. Having a sign outside your space will help direct customers to exactly where they need to go.
Lighting
You may not think of lighting when you think of branding. Lighting is a utility, used for illuminating a space for employees to work rather than make an impression for customers. Colored or other unique lighting creates a memorable glow and can reflect your brand in a way traditional stark ‘daylight’ LED fixtures can’t.
Final Thoughts
Customizing your space to suit your needs and reflect your brand doesn’t have to be a daunting task. The staff at Realty Asset Advisors can help you navigate the process from deciding what you want to do to reflect your brand to helping you execute the project.
Contact us today!
