HUSH Brandfolio

Brandfolio™

Revealing your brand from the inside out.

Founded in 2007, HUSH is the preeminent home developer in the greater Toronto area. HUSH is built on a strong foundation of challenging industry standards and delivering on best-in-class experiences for everyone who touches the brand.

HUSH Brandfolio™ TABLE OF CONTENTS Brand Platform 2 Brand Essence 4 Brand Positioning 8 Brand Promise 14 Brand Personality 20 HUSH: a new lexicon

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Brand Platform Successful sprinters understand the importance of a good start. It’s where big races are won and lost. And the same is true in business. That’s why a brand platform is important to your organization. It starts you cleanly out of the blocks by defining who you are and what you are about.

A brand platform puts your team members on the same page and provides a common jumping off point so there is stability within the company, how you deliver your product/services, and your communication to the outside world. A brand platform establishes consistency…which builds trust…which breeds success.

Many businesses fail to establish it. Without a clearly defined vision, common set of standards, and a company culture where everyone understands the offer and how it differentiates the organization, they lose traction…waste movement…miss handoffs…and fall behind.

With the Brandfolio™ you lead the field with your eye on a clear goal, you know what’s needed to reach it and, move with fluidness and a strong sense of teamwork. Measure decisions against what does and does not fit with your brand. Use the Brandfolio™ as a guideline to hire, promote internally, develop selling strategies, deliver effective marketing campaigns, and maintain a vibrant vision that strategically moves you forward.

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Brand Essence Brand essence refers to the core values and beliefs that motivate and inspire members of a business. It’s an inherent quality, like DNA, that begins with top leadership and resonates throughout the organization so it exists both individually and corporately. Like a fine wine has subtle qualities in taste, brand essence is the flavour of your organization.

Although intangible and hard to define, its reality is demonstrated by the common statement often made after an employee is dismissed: “She/He wasn’t a good fit for us.” Because of its shared nature, brand essence fosters a company culture that generates enthusiasm, unifies employees behind common goals, and mobilizes for greater productivity.

Brand Essence serves as a litmus test for all activities, transformation, and growth within a business. It guides your focus, informs your actions, and underlies your brand promise.

When all decisions are made with the brand essence in mind it ensures an organization is living its absolutely unique brand.

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HUSH

brand essence “Unsurpassed Standards” describes the values and the process by which HUSH develops all of its products and services.

“Unsurpassed Standards” can be used as a measure against which you can test the development of your products and services, your actions, and various concepts as you grow and develop the company and the business concepts that carry this name.

A more in-depth definition of “Unsurpassed Standards” is:

– When practiced produces the highest calibre products and services;

– When received feels reassuring and trustworthy;

– When experienced is uplifting;

– When presented feels deeply gratifying and humbling.

HUSH stands for unsurpassed standards.

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Brand Positioning Of the four elements in the brand platform, your brand position is the only one shared externally for public consumption. It’s typically a one or two sentence statement that clearly differentiates you from the competition by expressing your points of differentiation. It reaches beyond the standard marketing speak of quality, innovation, and service, which actually are the points of entry for any business.

Brand positioning is an important jumping off point that often mentions your industry or the product/service you offer. It inspires your marketing materials so they are consistent in what you say and how you say it. When properly employed, those materials will retain the quality and feel of your positioning statement.

In addition your positioning statement must be: • Relevant — to your organization and all stakeholders.

• Accurate — it reflects who you are.

• Defensible — there is proof to support your claim.

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HUSH

brand positioning This statement is the brand’s key message – it is the over-riding statement that sets HUSH apart from all that is not “HUSH”.

This statement should be understood by all employees and partners who represent the brand. Above all, it should be known and understood by all those working for the various HUSH companies – so that one coherent positioning statement is reflected throughout.

The HUSH brand is intelligent, inspires creativity and consistently delivers superior product and service.

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Basis for this positioning: HUSH is being built on a strong foundation of challenging “industry standards�, generally accepted practices and norms.

HUSH is a brand that will always be intelligent in its approach and never settle on established standards for the sake of it.

This focus on pushing beyond the boundaries inspires creativity and innovation that is reflected in how the company is organized, how partnerships are developed and how products and services are crafted and delivered.

This means, this focus on looking beyond boundaries, inspiring creativity lead to one place: superior product and service. This is the foundation that is being built today for the high calibre brand being born out of this focus – HUSH.

Positioning Scorecard: Is this positioning OWNABLE?

Yes, the leadership team at HUSH is totally committed to being intelligent, inspiring creativity and delivering superior product and service. This positioning is not about value, quality craftsmanship and innovation like all other companies in this category.

Is this positioning RELEVANT?

Yes, this positioning is relevant to all HUSH products and services, whether it is a tangible high-end home or intangible new home service program – these qualities and attributes focus on innovation are applicable and necessary to maintain the HUSH brand promise and essence.

Is this positioning CREDIBLE?

Yes, the founder has a laser focus on inspiring the development of the company from a foundation of intelligence, creativity and superior product and service.

Is this positioning DEFENSIBLE?

Yes, every aspect of HUSH lives by these principles, anyone challenging this positioning will not find a single part of the company not focused on being intelligent, creative and delivering superior product and service.

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Brand Promise The key ingredient to forming a lasting relationship—any relationship—is commitment.

That’s what the brand promise establishes with all your stakeholders. It’s related to your core values and how you want your organization to be experienced. It sets expectations, both internally and externally, and ties a knot that holds everyone together.

Internally, it establishes the goals for your team members, executive leaders, and stakeholders. It’s what you all aspire to—generally not specific to your industry, but inherent in your identity.

Externally, it sets expectations and allows customers to know where your business stands, as well as what they stand to gain through association with your brand. Your promise is not related to specific deliverables, but your overall approach. It’s how your brand satisfies expectations, gratifies desires, and fulfills needs.

Your brand promise is specific, and yet it’s the broadest claim you can make that is readily substantiated and therefore believed. It binds you to your customers and gains their loyalty in return—which further strengthens the relationship.

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HUSH

brand promise This promise is succinct and clearly aligns with our positioning:

Positioning: Intelligence + Creativity + Superior Product (the means)

delivers on the Promise: best-in-class experiences

HUSH customers experience: worry-free service, high calibre product, quality, innovation and so on.

HUSH partners and vendors experience: payments on time, aspiring to new standards, challenging the status quo

HUSH employees’ experience: Independence, being a change agent, a shared vision, innovation, inspiration

HUSH promises best-in-class experiences.

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Brand Personality Your organization is made up of individuals with distinct personalities. Collectively, they also form a personality on an organizational level. Brand personality is this sum of individual qualities that create a distinct impression of the brand, both through its communications and in the actual experience of interacting with the brand. It’s validated by the organization’s culture and values, the intrinsic quality of service, and the customer’s perceptions.

Consider, for example, if you described yourself as…

Worldly, exciting, and fun or

Meaningful, approachable and skilled Each suggests unique images. How they are presented will involve differences in colour palette, designs—even the language and voice you speak. Brand Personality creates a match between who you are on the inside with how you present yourself to the outside. It is embedded with these three elements:

• Core — Values and beliefs that are inherent in the company culture.

• Aspirational — What you constantly strive for.

• Subtle — Supports and enhances the other two.

Brand personality inspires a way of living for your team. It’s reflected in your culture, values, quality of service, customer perceptions, and unique identity within the marketplace. Keeping it ensures that you stay true to your own identity while distinguishing yourself from others in the market.

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HUSH

brand personality The HUSH brand personality is the sum of the individual qualities that create a distinct impression of the brand, both through its communications and in the actual experience of interacting with the brand. This personality is validated by the company’s culture and values, the intrinsic quality of service, and the customer’s perceptions.

Together, these qualities shape the look, feel and sound of HUSH brand communications. When creating HUSH communications or experiences, review them against the personality attributes detailed in this document.

Strive to understand and work with these qualities in spirit, not just by the letter. When you do so, then you support a clear, consistent perception of the HUSH brand. You also help to make the brand easy to recognize — and clearly distinct from all that is not “HUSH”.

Smart Engaging Imaginative Confident Serene 22

HUSH

smart “HUSH helped us make smart decisions about our home. It wasn’t just about saving dollars per square foot; actually, it wasn’t about that at all.

It was about doing the best thing for my family and meeting our needs in a way that satisfied our dreams. HUSH has a discerning attitude and they were perceptive when it came to our needs.

They are sharp and resourceful and a pleasure to build a home with.”

– HUSH Meadowvale customer

smart we are

Perceptive, resourceful, innovative, savvy

we are not

careless, inadequate, brazen, ludicrous, ignorant, stupid

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HUSH

smart To exhibit this trait: We should be perceptive and empathetic, resourceful, innovative and savvy. Never accept “standard industry practice� as the only solution and draw on your experiences to inform your decisions, be sharp, think of ways to develop a new approach or methodology.

1.

When interacting with customers smart means to be perceptive and empathetic – understand the customer’s point of view and work to solve their problem with a solution they understand.

2.

When impacting design (of communities, homes, proucts or service packages) be resourceful, innovative and savvy. Don’t accept “standard industry practice” – develop an astute, brilliant and new approach that is uniquely HUSH.

3. When managing processes, day to day business, and projects draw on your experiences to inform your decisions and be sharp, think of ways your experience can inform a new approach or methodology this time around.

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HUSH

engaging “My wife wanted have a say in the interior layout of our new home. I wanted to encourage her to work with the builder but I’ve heard horror stories about changes and I was nervous – what would happen?

Would the project be delayed for months on end?

My wife actually had some great suggestions that I loved, so we made the call. What a pleasant surprise. The in-house design team at HUSH really engaged in a meaningful conversation with us.

They listened, and learned what our vision was and responded with great support and more new ideas.

It was a very motivating experience for both of us, we can’t wait to move in!”

– HUSH customer

engaging we are

considerate, diligent, conscientious respect

we are not

indifferent, discouraging, short-sighted, disassociated

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HUSH

engaging To exhibit this trait: We should be considerate and diligent and strive to have a conscious respect for all elements of your work. Foster and incite interactions, new ideas and approach. Have a thirst for engaging in art forms, design, products and services from other industries and in other parts of the your life.

1.

Be considerate and diligent in your approach to work. This combination of qualities ensures that you let outside forces influence your work while still maintaining the high standards of excellence demanded by the HUSH brand.

2.

Strive to have a conscious respect for all elements of your work – interactions with customers, design statements, home layouts, community master planning – show respect for the inhabitant, the environment, the community – be conscious of the decisions you make, don’t get stuck in a repetitive pattern – be aware of what you are doing.

3. Foster and incite interactions, new ideas and approaches. Have a thirst for engaging in art forms, design work, products and services from other industries and other parts of your life. Be open to how these experiences can inform our work at HUSH. Engage with your life, with your environment and the com30 munity that surrounds you.

HUSH

imaginative “I thought it was just one of those add-on handyman type services. You know where they come in and help you unpack, take your empty boxes and help you assemble some furniture and hang a few pictures? It wasn’t that at all. I mean it was that – the basic stuff but HUSH did so much more.

They worked with me to lay out all the artwork in every room on the floor before we starting hanging it. I made a ton of changes by doing the planning with the team first. And get this – to thank us for signing up for their services, they are sending caterers to our home next weekend to treat us to a gourmet meal in our new house.

What a great treat!”

– HUSH New Home Services Customer

imaginative

we are

inspired, creative, progressive

we are not

mindless, uncreative, conventional, mainstream

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HUSH

imaginative To exhibit this trait:

1.

Begin with the end in mind and then find a way of getting there that is inspired and creative.

2.

Be progressive in your work and your attitude. Don’t accept industry norms; challenge the norms to find a way that is better for the customer.

3. Stimulate conversation, brainstorming and idea generation.

Talk to colleagues in other departments or parts of the company about your challenges and listen to theirs. Use your varied backgrounds to come up with prolific ideas.

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HUSH

confident “Our HUSH Concierge, who is helping us along this path is great. She is experienced and competent. This is clear as she’s helped us tremendously with a number of key decisions. She is engaging and funny and exudes this quiet confidence that puts us at ease right away. Come to think of it so does the house we’ve been using as a model for our new home. Inherent in everything from the layouts to the finishing details is a sense of pride and quiet confidence. This is the first time we’ve felt this kind of peace of mind when purchasing a new home.”

– potential buyer, HUSH Meadowvale

confident

we are

self-reliant, at ease, composed

we are not

inept, incapable, powerless, ineffective

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HUSH

confident To exhibit this trait:

1.

Have confidence in yourself, be self reliant, this will allow you to be at ease and cool under stress.

2.

Live in the present, see things as they are, this will help you to face on-the-job anxieties and fears with harmony and composure.

3. Avoid taking life too seriously, laugh at yourself now and then, it will help you to communicate with others more effectively and instil a sense of “being in good hands� with your clients.

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HUSH

serene “I couldn’t believe it, it was a freak accident, you rarely see those on a well-managed site like HUSH’s site. The entire pallet of marble that was to be installed that day cracked – almost every tile, it was unbelievable. I don’t know how he did it but the on-site manager kept his cool.

He immediately called into his office and I think they got a bunch of people in the office working on the problem. There was no fighting on the phone trying to lay blame or anything. I guess they’ll deal with how the accident happened later.

In that moment they were fixing the immediate problem. I wish every site had this kind of attitude.

I’m not half as stressed working on HUSH sites as I am anywhere else in the city.”

– on-site trade

serene

we are

composed, proactive, responsive, calm

we are not

distressed, argumentative, defensive, frenzied

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HUSH

serene To exhibit this trait:

1.

Maintain your composure at all times with your peers and with customers, great solutions for immediate and annoying problems come out of taking control of the situation by controlling your reactions and being engaging and imaginative – rather than reactive and out of control.

2.

Listen and respond with an empathetic attitude. Strive to create a sense of belonging for customers, their needs and for your peers. This will create an environment that calms and reassures rather than one that consistently ignites fear.

3. Focus on smooth transitions, project flow, and communications. Don’t allow conflicting priorities to burden the project or process, work through these conflicts with the end in mind.

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The Cautionary Words LUXURY Instead of ‘luxury’ be: elite, noble, splendid, magnificent, stately, high calibre, refined, fine, superb

CREATIVE Instead of ‘creative’ be: ingenious, smart, new

INNOVATIVE Instead of ‘innovative’ be: original, inventive, resourceful

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The new HUSH lexicon in use: Noble presence Splendid detailing Magnificent architecture Stately environment High calibre finishes Superb layouts Refined approach Elite service Inventive design solutions Resourceful customer sales Smart approach 46

Brand at-a-glance

brand essence

the underlying truth

HUSH stands for unsurpassed standards.

brand positioning

unique differentiation

The HUSH brand is intelligent, inspires creativity and consistently delivers superior product and service.

brand promise

the commitment

HUSH promises best-in-class experiences.

brand personality

the way you do it

perceptive, resourceful, innovative, savvy SMART wewe are: are not: careless, inadequate, brazen, ludicrous, ignorant, stupid considerate, diligent, conscientious respect ENGAGING wewe are: are not: indifferent, discouraging, short-sighted, disassociated inspired, creative, progressive IMAGINATIVE wewe are: are not: mindless, uncreative, conventional, mainstream self-reliant, at ease, composed CONFIDENT wewe are: are not: inept, incapable, powerless, ineffective composed, proactive, responsive, calm are not: distressed, argumentative, defensive, frenzied SERENE wewe are:

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