Shannon Edens
615-483-5360
shannon@shannonedens.com

Thank you for considering my resume for the position of Brand Architect. I’m a graphic designer and marketing professional with more than 10 years of experience building and promoting brands for premium real estate brokerages and luxury architecture firms. As a creative, I’m driven by the balance of the creative process and hands-on execution. I am passionate about real estate design and creating impactful brand experiences that drive business growth through effective marketing.

Over the past decade, I have helped an independent real estate brokerage grow from 3 to 60+ agents, leading branding and marketing initiatives, including the launch of their luxury sub-brand. I also oversee branding and marketing for a high-end architecture firm specializing in $15M–$50M coastal residences, creating premium collateral that reflect its elevated positioning. Additionally, I have worked with a range of premium real estate brokers and property developments, delivering sophisticated branding and marketing solutions tailored to high-end markets.

After years of freelance branding and marketing projects, I am excited to transition into a full-time role where I can contribute to a single team, collaborate more closely, and drive long-term brand growth.

Below I’ve highlighted a few select work samples tailored specifically to your needs. I am happy to provide more work examples at your request.

Market Research & Analysis

By uncovering insights into the local real estate market, you can align your projects, messaging, and sales tactics with genuine market needs. This research guides architectural and design choices, branding, and marketing strategies to ensure each project is positioned to attract the right buyers.

    • Market Analysis: Analyze the demand for various types of homes, amenities, and neighborhood features within the target area.

    • Competitive Audit: Identify your competitors, and how they position their products and brand. Combined with an internal SWOT analysis this helps to identify the white space for your products and brand.

    • Target Audience Profile(s): Create a detailed Target Audience Profile by developing personas that reflect your audience’s demographics, life stage, and design preferences, while also uncovering their wants, needs, motivations, and behaviors to guide more effective communication and design decisions.

    • Unique Selling Proposition (USP): Identify the unique features and advantages of the property, such as location, amenities, home designs, sustainability features, etc., to differentiate it from competitors. This is combined with a Target Audience Profile to develop a Unique Selling Proposition (USP)

  • Soft data is essentially the opinions, impressions, and observations of consumers and people in the housing industry. Hard Data is the numerical and statistical data on the industry and surrounding housing markets. Ideally both hard and soft data are collected simultaneously to lend context to each other. The most common means of collecting data are:

    • Surveys, focus groups, interviews and conversations with prospects, buyers and agents

    • Contact forms and sign-up forms on the development’s website.

    • Social media interactions

    • Agent and client feedback from open houses and events

    • Researching third-party data, such as industry articles, reports, studies, etc., 

    • Analyzing our marketing plan metrics

  • I provide reports and updates concerning research findings and marketing metrics. I also consult with the sales team about messaging, strategy, and tactics to ensure sales and marketing are aligned.

Marketing Plans and Execution

A clearly defined marketing plan provides the essential foundation, guidelines, and steps to achieve your objectives. This is usually broken into multiple segments, starting with a main plan that provides a top-level outline of the goals, objectives, strategies, and tactics (GOST), and overarching message. From there, sub-plans address the specific tactics, and messages within those channels. 

For example, your main marketing plan may include monthly Open House Events as a general tactic. Then the sub-plan for Open House Events will detail specific items such as the budget, messaging for social media posts and email invites, any creative needs (social media graphics, email invite templates, flyers, posters, signage, etc.), as well as establish timelines and assign tasks to personnel.

    • Print and OOH advertising

    • Press and public relations

    • Open houses and events

    • Sales center presence

    • Signage

    • Print collateral

    • Website – Information, lead capture, data collection

    • Email – To capture, welcome, and nurture leads

    • Organic Social – To maintain visibility and build community

    • Targeted Paid Social – To expand reach and drive high-intent traffic

    • Website – To provide information, convert interest, capture leads, and collect data effectively

  • Effective project management ensures everything is done on time and on budget. We coordinate timelines, budgets, sub-contractors/vendors, and production schedules.

    • Utilize analytics tools to track key performance indicators (KPIs) to such as social engagement, website traffic, lead generation and conversion, and tour scheduling volume to assess the effectiveness of the marketing efforts and make data-driven decisions for optimization. 

    • Gather feedback from agents, buyers and prospects throughout the sales process to identify areas for improvement and refine marketing strategies accordingly.

Branding and Graphic Design

A cohesive brand and well-designed materials are essential for effectively marketing a development. Strong branding establishes a consistent style across all campaigns, reinforces pride of ownership, and clarifies brand positioning. This foundation ensures the marketing team can communicate clearly and create impactful, unified messaging.

  • Logo and identity design

  • Brand standards and guidelines to ensure the proper execution of the brand

  • Core collateral, such as websites, flyers, booklets, brochures, social media graphics, signs, advertising, etc.

Select Clients and Employment

  • Island Architects is an architecture and design firm that specializes in luxury coastal homes. I oversee all the marketing efforts and manage the various marketing partners and vendors, with a focus on the high end market as most of their homes are in the $20-50m range. Everything we do, from advertising to collateral, is premium and the highest quality. This includes, collateral printed on the best paper stocks, hand-made letterpress business cards, branded apparel using premium products, and advertising in luxury publications and PGA tournaments.

    • Brand Strategy and Planning

    • Graphic Design

    • Website Design

    • Digital Strategy 

  • ICON Realty Group is an independent real estate firm based in Richmond, VA. I assist in all aspects of marketing, design and brand development, having worked with them since their beginning in a modest office with 3 agents. Through the work we have done, they have now grown to more than 60 agents becoming one of the fastest growing firms in Richmond. ICON has since added a commercial division and a luxury sub-brand, ICON Elite.

    • Brand Strategy and Planning

    • Marketing Strategy and Coordination

    • Graphic Design

  • I was the staff graphic designer and marketing coordinator, responsible for providing marketing support for the brokerage, and more than 100 agents. I oversaw the design of all company marketing, as well as property marketing for many of the agents.  

  • I was the staff graphic designer and marking coordinator at a premium Chicago brokerage, responsible for meeting the marketing and design needs for nearly 50 agents. I was the first person to fill the marketing role as Prairie Shore, so much of my work was foundational. I oversaw the launch of a new website which increased lead generation significantly, and revised the design of the print ads, property marketing collateral, and company signs.

Select Property Developments

Branding, Graphic Design, Marketing

Highland Grove - Richmond, VA

North Hills - Richmond, VA

The Mills at Beckstoffers - Richmond, VA

Branding, Graphic Design

Kiawah Farms - Johns Island, SC

Ocean Palms - Kiawah Island, SC

The Racquet Club - Evanston, IL

Orrington Square - Evanston, IL

The Janis - Evanston, IL

1319 Maple - Evanston, IL