Back in 2019, I partnered with Young America Realty, Bloomington-Normal's largest property management company, to help them navigate their rebranding efforts. It was a consulting experience in my career that I'll never forget, and one that I'm grateful to have been a part of. Young America has a long and proud history in our city, and they wanted their rebrand campaign to remain true to that history while looking toward the future.
With any long history comes tradition, a status quo, a sense of normal. People gravitate to familiar and resist change. The team at Young America had the unique challenge of updating their business without alienating those who'd been along with them for the journey. I had the privilege of working with Andy Netzer, the President of YA Realty, to cast a vision for the future that would remain true to their roots while paving the way for business in the 2020s and beyond.
I wish I could say there was a one-size-fits-all, replicable solution to Young America's challenge, but sometimes the biggest need is consistency. I worked with Andy and his team for 24 months, helping them take their beautiful new branding and communicate it internally and externally. Along the way, their team defined and developed some new core values, made strategic shifts, and began implementing the changes we'd outlined. The YA team also utilized a progressive web app built by Cybernautic, who developed a progressive web app that is now used by students and staff alike, to great success.
