When we met Sowerbys they were winning.

An established, highly-respected independent Estate Agency, deeply rooted in Norfolk, selling aspirational homes and enjoying a protracted period of enviable organic growth, they were making hay whilst the sun shined – but they were far from content.

Because in order to keep growing they needed their brand to expand.

To go beyond a local reputation and into an articulation of their story that was compelling no matter where you met them – and that went beyond what the competition could reasonably hope to replicate.

From the outset our process was rooted in collaboration with the Sowerbys team, establishing the brand narrative and strategy in partnership, and going through creative development with each team pushing the other to get to the best possible outcome.

It was a process that started by us learning about Sowerbys.

We learned how Max Sowerby opened his first office in Burnham Market to be the kind of estate agent he felt the local area deserved – an agent who championed the community, who put principle before profit, and who sold homes by helping buyers fall in love with the Norfolk way of life.

We learned that when Lloyd joined him they “set out to create a place that everybody wants to be – staff and customers included.” That they only hire people who we’d want to do business with themselves – people who are confident enough to tell the truth without gloss, driven by service and united by a shared belief in putting customers interests at the heart of every recommendation.

We saw an incredible story – and that there had never been a better time to tell it.

Because the pandemic has focussed people’s minds on the kind of life we want. A life where we connect with our community, our history, our environment, our families. Where we make work work for us, and where distance isn’t a limit but an advantage. Where we have the space and the time to focus on what truly matters.  And where a new home isn’t the conclusion of that search for better – it’s just the beginning.

We saw that a Sowerbys home now is what it has always been – a place that propels you into a new way of life.  A place you deserve.

This narrative drove the logic of the visual identity. A brand that’s deeply rooted in the region and it’s history, it’s communities and it’s stories – a brand that calls you to follow the path, see what’s on the other side of the fence, discover a new way of being at home.

We balanced old and new, updating the key brand assets and palette to refine and modernize them, whilst also working with a local illustrator to establish a set of ‘flourish’ assets inspired by ancient maps of the region.

Working with the Sowewbys team we pushed their unique brand of storytelling across their collateral and marketing touchpoints, and re-art-directed the imagery of the brand to focus on new paths, long views, unique nooks and crannies – all evocative of a story yet to be discovered.

And we packaged that brand – it’s story, it’s values, it’s way of showing up in the world – for the next generation of the Sowerbys team to make their own, as they embark on the next phase of their journey.

And we’re super proud to have been part of it.