Using the Workplace to Shape Perception
When a group of 50 CFOs lost their space for a networking event, Paul Short, Office Managing Partner of leading global accounting firm RSM, saw an opportunity. Newly located in brand-new, resort-like Spectrum Terrace, RSM’s hosting the prominent group was brand-building gold.
“Our workplace prioritizes collaboration, connectivity and wellness, which delivers a strong statement about who we are and how we conduct business,” Short says. “We love any opportunity to bring our industry peers to the campus and are now planning grand open houses for our clients, targets and prospects.”
Although employees are the primary beneficiaries of a premium office and location, they aren’t the only audience. Perceptions of a company by current clients, potential clients, prospective employees and the greater public are impacted as well. Highly amenitized, premium offices in prime locations are a powerful tool for communicating a company’s success, values and culture.
Even with the shift to hybrid work, a physical presence is a critical differentiator. It’s a big reason more companies aren’t just rethinking their offices, but moving into higher-end spaces.
Rents in top-tier office buildings grew by 4.8% in 2022 — as they fell for buildings with less prestige, according to JLL. This flight to quality comes as organizations seek out the best spaces to lure workers back to the office and boost their brand, prioritizing financially stable ownership with the balance sheet and liquidity to ensure ongoing excellence for the lease duration.
Here are five ways your workplace can influence your brand’s perception.
1. Boost Brand Recognition
Building-top signage can offer exposure to more than 100,000 people per day and even make a brand an iconic part of a city skyline. Look for buildings that offer bold signage opportunities with visibility along major thoroughfares, near retail centers and at prominent intersections.
2. Enhance Credibility
A prestigious location in a coveted neighborhood with proximity to Fortune 500 companies conveys that you are well-established. For small and medium-sized companies, that credibility can be priceless, earning the confidence of prospective clients by leveraging the halo effect of adjacent global powerhouses.
3. Shape First Impressions
Grand lobby spaces with soaring glass, premium interior finishes and impressive architecture project success even
before prospective talent and clients walk through your
office doors. Design-forward seating areas and connected
amenity spaces bring the lobby to life, helping visitors
perceive your brand as energetic and forward-thinking.
4. Engage Clients
Dynamic settings are essential for actively engaging clients and customers. From indoor-outdoor event
spaces with connected dining to open air meeting rooms, high-end workplaces offer settings for client interaction that a computer screen can’t compete with.
5. Deliver an Outsized Sense of Scale
Flexible space can provide access to the prestige of a high-end campus while eliminating up-front costs when companies are not ready to commit to long-term leases or thousands of square feet of space. Unlike co-working offices, Flex+ space is private, customized and indistinguishable to visitors from other workspaces in the same building, while preserving the ability to scale when it’s time.
