Macdonald & Company

Macdonald & Co are the pioneers in real estate recruitment and they strive to be the go-to choice for anyone looking for a job in this sector.

Whilst the shape of their old logo has remained, the previous colours were dated and quite dull. There were also too many colours in the logo which cheapened the brand and confused their high-end image.

We started by tidying the logo and focusing on darker colours. By stripping back the colour palette, we were able to create a logo that is timeless and conveyed professionalism - a key pillar of the brand.

We moved over to an Aston green which is very similar to an old racing car green, which brings a vital sense of prestige and class to the brand.

It was key that we positioned the brand as the leading choice when it comes to real estate recruitment as they are the true experts in this field. Alongside the main logo, we built on the brand with multiple graphic elements.

We particularly focused on the angled shapes within the logo, representing that Macdonald & Co are at the cutting edge of what they do. They’re not just an old dog in the game, as they lead from the front and aren’t afraid to be bold and daring.

As the true experts, they are confident in their service offering and are more than comfortable being a little different. This notion is carried through the visuals and the brand identity as it demands attention and stands out from others in the industry.

With the angled shapes and jagged edges, it’s clear that they are leading from the front and are paving the way forward.

Macdonald & Company are a brand that works in global markets with multiple locations across the world. As such, it was important to communicate this reach through their brand identity.

Photography played a huge part in our visual approach to communicate both the global reach of the brand and also people, who are at the heart of the company.

We created a library of professional looking individuals working together to highlight the people-focus of the businesses and to help candidates and employers relate to the brand.

The second route involved city photography to communicate global reach. Instead of using city skyline images, we used birds eye view images of sprawling cities. This represents the global aspect, and showcases different viewpoints of where candidates would be day-to-day.

We have also utilised the logo within the photography as it weaves in and out of characters to represent Macdonald & Co being a key part of the recruitment process.

Macdonald & Company is part of the Prime People Group meaning consideration into the brand had to be taken throughout the entire Group which includes Command and Prime Insight.

With this in mind, we also tidied up these logos to ensure cohesion across both brands. Whilst it’s important for Command to have a sense of individualism, it needs to fit under the same visual umbrella to ensure alignment across the brand.

Alongside the brand overhaul, the Macdonald & Company website was a major part of the project.

Now that we had the style finalised, we had to make sure the angular shapes and the new professional look would be carried through to the site.

To really push the premium service which is at the core of the brand, we continued to use a lot of darker shades as these colours carry connotations of high value and quality.

The largest part of the website was making sure we made the site to function both efficiently and securely. Using structured research and planning, we created a user journey that suited both the user and what Macdonald & Company needed, allowing the site to communicate with multiple systems.

The problem with the recruitment sector is that it is flooded with software and lots of disconnected sources. However, the APIs we built allowed all of the software to talk to each other which is key.

For example, it allows their CRM (Bullhorn) system to post jobs to their website and other multiple websites. Also, when someone applies for a job via the website, it gets fed and updated automatically in bullhorn.

Prime can also setup email alerts for relevant job roles for maximum convenience.

By working closely with Macdonald & Company's Marketing Manager, we created a targeted content strategy that met several criteria. The key aim was to showcase their expertise, which required in-depth research to support the content with data and statistics.

The content also had to resonate with various audiences, including both employers and employees. Using keyword research, we developed a set of titles that appealed to both groups and tackled their pain points. We also had to consider their global audience who might not be familiar with specific phrases and terminology.

Through our partnership with Macdonald & Co, we created the right content that attracted the right type of audience, significantly reducing website bounce rate by 30% in just a 6 week period.

On top of this, we also increased keywords in page positions 1-3 by 20% which increases the likelihood of people clicking through to the content as they are positioned higher on the search results pages.

They now rank for long-tail valuable keywords, including, 'reasons for leaving job', 'property management interview questions and answers', and 'property recruitment jobs'. 50% of the most popular landing pages on the website are also blogs we have written with the sixth being a blog that already existed but was linked to multiple times, highlighting a strong internal linking structure.

The main goal for Macdonald & Co was to encourage people to upload their CV. Through the creation of a new website and by implementing a fresh content strategy, we increased conversions for this objective by 160%.