AdobeStar Properties
Reinventing a brand, elevating guest and owner expectations
Scope of Work: Brand Positioning. Marketing Strategy. Messaging Strategy. Brand Identity.
A disparate collection of vacation properties rebrands itself to become a suite of luxury destination rentals.
Brenits Creative worked with AdobeStar to help reposition the company from its former focus on weekend rentals to a broad selection of high-end properties tailored to wealthier, more discerning clientele.
PROJECT DETAILS
HOSPITALITY COMPANY REALIZES GROWTH WITH SHARPER FOCUS, MORE COHESIVE BRAND
AdobeStar Properties’ focus is on providing luxury vacation rentals for its guests who either visit or remote-work from Santa Fe. The company’s managed properties are an eclectic mix of homes, apartments, condos, and casitas – all with a focus on class and comfort and a memorable stay.
Renting casitas (small, self-contained homes or cottages) is actually rooted in the company’s history, as it was originally called AdobeStar Casitas when Brenits Creative first met the company. Back then (maybe add the founding year here?), its properties were a handful of bed and breakfast casita rentals with a small, devoted following.
AdobeStar realized the popular Santa Fe market offered almost unlimited growth opportunities, so it began the capital-intensive process of renovating existing properties for broader appeal.
At the same time, the company set out to find more individual owners who needed management services professionals to oversee the daily responsibilities of renting out and maintaining vacation properties.
Over time, the change from managing just several cottages to a growing collection of company-owned rentals propelled AdobeStar to change its business model. The top priority: moving from more garden-variety, short-term rentals – much of what you’d find on sites such as VRBO and HomeAway – to a large number of extended-use, high-end, luxury properties designed to appeal to vacationers and the many company executives and government officials who spend time in Santa Fe.
AdobeStar also wanted to strengthen its online presence, so travelers would come to not depend on the many online sites and their competitive (and sometimes unpredictable) rental experiences.
Dave Mansure, AdobeStar’s general manager, was tasked with the lion’s share of the growth-focused responsibilities, including branding and marketing to support the company’s new focus.
Dave realized he couldn’t tackle the work alone and contacted a long-time friend, Andy Brenits of Brenits Creative, for advice. Once we learned of the opportunity, we were excited to partner with AdobeStar and quickly came onboard.
The Brand Workshop, a Key First Step
Brenits Creative flew to Santa Fe and, for three days, met the people and toured the properties of AdobeStar Casitas. We explored the company’s newest acquisition in downtown Santa Fe, a former warehouse they planned to rehab, and soon realized the need for a cohesive approach that could represent the full set of AdobeStar’s properties and business focus areas.
Our team led a workshop where we walked Dave and a few company stakeholders through a thoughtful process that’s integral to the brand work we do.
We explored opportunities and obstacles for attracting more of the company’s ideal target audience – travelers who demand high-end luxury rental accommodations and a consistent, upscale experience.
The more we knew about AdobeStar’s target audience, including the aspects that would garner repeat business, the more we could help rebrand the company.
Back to Arizona, Back to Brand Work
Brenits Creative said goodbye to Dave and our new AdobeStar contacts and began the extensive brand development and messaging work back home.
Our lengthy discovery session in Santa Fe informed the new positioning and audience-focused content, as well as new visual identities for three distinct businesses – AdobeStar Properties, The Lincoln (the former warehouse) and the continuation of the AdobeStar Casitas brand.
We focused on crafting new website content and collateral. We created a significant amount of design work – e.g., window and outdoor signage, sales collateral and a graphics standard guide to help AdobeStar’s in-house team carry the new design elements into material they’d eventually create.
We developed a branding architecture framework for the company’s brands and sub-brands that could accommodate AdobeStar’s expected future growth.
Brenits Creative made recommendations for how best to communicate the company’s new messaging and imagery and user experience changes to improve AdobeStar’s existing website. We provided input on an ideal, consistent experience across guest interactions – from website reservations to room checkout.
Since our work concluded, we kept in touch with Dave and his team. We’re pleased to see AdobeStar’s footprint in Santa Fe grow and are excited to hear the customer and critical acclaim it’s receiving.
“Even with my industry experience, I knew I was in over my head. So what should you do in a situation like this? You call someone who knows more than you do: I called Brenits Creative.”
– Dave Mansure, General Manager, AdobeStar Properties
ADOBESTAR PROPERTIES REBRAND
The Key Takeaway
When we first met AdobeStar, its existing presence in the Santa Fe vacation rental market was impressive. When we learned of the company’s growth plans and opportunity areas, we excitedly partnered with them to help usher in the next phase of the company – one focused on higher-end consumers, the potential for more repeat business and more properties to oversee,
Today, thanks to new messaging, a stronger target audience connection and a more repeatable and memorable guest experience, AdobeStar has realized its goal of becoming more than just a collection of rental rooms and homes. Now, it’s a well-known hospitality brand welcoming high-end customers to luxury rental properties. It’s managing more homes and casitas for new owners, too, which brings the AdobeStar experience to even more Santa Fe vacationers.
“Brenits Creative was there with us at the beginning (of our rebrand journey), to not only help us relaunch but to re-educate me. I now better understand the meaning of marketing and brand management and, most of all, why it’s so important to be relentlessly consistent with our guest experience.”
– Dave Mansure, General Manager, AdobeStar Properties
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