When two people work in perfect harmony with one another it can lead to a team that is twice as effective as the competition. Complimentary skills and shared knowledge, coupled with double the enthusiasm and drive. That is what encapsulates the working relationship between Kris Ericsson and Matthew Smith – founding partners of bespoke property business Smith & Ericsson.
Theirs is a senior partnership forged on resourceful positivity. Focused on listening, understanding and acting decisively. After a combined 20 years at Knight Frank and over 40 years as London estate agents – Matt and Kris noticed that estate agency had become less about relationships and more about a means of meeting KPIs and pointless targets. So in 2021, they set out to offer something different. But given the discerning nature of their clientele, and the calibre of the competition, they knew that every aspect of their brand needed to be right. Having seen how we’d helped other brands in their space, they asked us to help bring their vision to life.
"You can only launch a business once and we needed to make sure we got it right. As much as we tried, we couldn’t do it ourselves - it was clearly not good enough. It was crucial for us that we could find someone who would understand our joint collaboration as well as our individual personalities. Someone who could identify who and what we are as a brand. Luckily for us, Stuart understood this from the very beginning."
Matthew Smith, Founding Partner - Smith & Ericsson
The guys wanted to stand out and have a fresh look as far away from the corporate look as possible. Their goal was to create a cutting edge, socially savvy property brand that stood out across all tech platforms. What they didn’t know was how it should look, or how it should talk. To find the solution, we worked closely together – asking lots of questions, challenging the answers, analysing the areas of opportunity within the market landscape.
"It was my hope that we would find a partner to guide us in order to establish our brand. When we started this business, Matt and I were still exploring what we are and what we offer. With a lot of straight talking, sincere advice, Stuart challenged us in answering these questions - sometimes even against our own pre-determined judgements. And together we found our perfect branding."
Kris Ericsson, Founding Partner - Smith & Ericsson
Our working dynamic was fun but no nonsense. A lot of banter mixed with a mutual respect brought about by our collective insights and expertise. To get fully under the skin of what makes Smith & Ericsson so unique we had to embrace and encourage Matt and Kris’ individual personalities, and opinions, to shine through.
Born out of the duality of the two individuals coming together – and of the personal relationships they have with their clients, we shaped an identity around a highly stylised ‘conversational ampersand’. This not only became a distinctive icon for the brand, but also formed the basis of the verbal and visual identity – with different phrases forming around the ampersand.
"The thing I enjoyed the most was seeing the brand come alive with such ease after every discussion. How suddenly the ideas we discussed became tangible. The organic process was very satisfying and enjoyable."
Matthew Smith
But we also knew how important it was to capture the dynamic between Kris, Matt and their clients. Too many in the property sector take the easy route with generic stock imagery – so one extra ingredient was how we spent a day in some incredible properties shooting a suite of bespoke people imagery with leading lifestyle photographer Richard Moran.
"What we’re most proud of is how the design, messaging, personalisation, colour scheme all work together to capture us both perfectly within one brand. It has been incredibly well received by clients and colleagues. All of their comments have been exactly what we had in mind when brainstorming those initial ideas at the start of the project."
Kris Ericsson
But we also knew how important it was to capture the dynamic between Kris, Matt and their clients. Too many in the property sector take the easy route with generic stock imagery – so one extra ingredient was how we spent a day in some incredible properties shooting a suite of bespoke people imagery with leading lifestyle photographer Richard Moran.
The Smith & Ericsson brand is a perfect blend of premium, personal and dynamic. From digital brochures, social media templates and logo stings, through to email newsletters, brand films and a fully responsive website – it’s a multi-channel brand that flexes and adapts to all marketing channels. It is a brand borne out of a collective vision, and created in the most collaborative ways.