RICS Brand Book

BUILDING A MAJOR GLOBAL BRANDAND YOUR PART IN IT

RICS’ BRAND BOOK

rics.org

02 Introduction

04 A unique opportunity

07 A piece of history

08 So what is a brand?

10 Some examples

12 Why be a brand?

14 RICS’ brand

20 Delivering the brand

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Across every vista of our world, from the placeswe live and work, to the places we travel to andvisit, RICS accredited professionals have beeninstrumental in their creation and maintenance.

Welcome to the world of RICS.

This book is designed to provide a clear insightinto RICS’ brand and how we can all play ourpart in living and communicating it.

02 Your brand book

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RICS – Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors – is the biggestorganisation of its kind in the world. As such it represents theleading qualification when it comes to professional recognitionin land, property and construction. Currently RICS membersoperate out of 146 countries, supported by an extensive networkof regional offices located in every continent around the world.

Our members offer the very best advice on a surprisinglydiverse range of land, property, construction and relatedenvironmental issues.

From the skyscrapers of New York, Hong Kong, Shanghai andLondon’s Dockland area; to works of art, transport systems andcivil engineering, the rain forests of the Amazon, the Great BarrierReef and the Masai Mara in Kenya, you’ll find RICS membersplaying their part in shaping our world.

A UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY

The global property market – a remarkableopportunity to set, maintain and regulate thehighest professional standards.

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04 Your brand book

We are the only organisation in the world that hasthe potential to be the mark and voice of propertyprofessionalism worldwide. Yet few people have aclear view of what we do or know what we standfor, so there's work to be done.

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RICS can trace its history right back to 1792 when theSurveyors’ Club was formed in England. Although thefoundations of the current modern organisation reallystarted to take shape in 1868 when 20 surveyors met attheWestminster Palace Hotel where, under the chairmanshipof John Clutton, the Surveyors’ Institution was founded.

It was incorporated by Royal Charter (pictured opposite)in the UK in 1881, placing on it the responsibility to helpset, maintain and regulate standards within the propertyprofession, all to the public advantage.

Now, looking to the future, RICS has a unique opportunity,building on its history and working with its members, to bethe global voice advancing standards and professionalism inthe world’s property markets.

1792 Surveyors’ Club formed

1868 Surveyors’ Institution founded

1881 Incorporated by Royal Charter

1946 ‘Royal’ title granted to becomethe Royal Institution ofChartered Surveyors. Coatof arms and motto adopted:There is measure in all things

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An extract from RICS’ Royal Charter, incorporated in 1881:

The objects of the Institution shall be to secure the advancementand facilitate the acquisition of that knowledge which constitutes theprofession of a surveyor, namely, the arts, sciences and practice of:

a. determining the value of all descriptions of landed and houseproperty and of the various interests therein and advising on directand indirect investment therein;

b. managing and developing estates and other business concernedwith the management of landed property;

c. securing the optimal use of land and its associated resources tomeet social and economic needs;

d. surveying the fabric of buildings and their services and advising ontheir condition, maintenance, alteration, improvement and design;

e. measuring and delineating the physical features of the Earth;f. managing, developing and surveying mineral property;g. determining the economic use of resources of the construction

industry, and the financial appraisal, management andmeasurement of construction work;

h. selling (whether by auction or otherwise) buying or letting, as anagent, real or personal property or any interest therein and tomaintain and promote the usefulness of the profession to thepublic advantage.

Put simply, a brand is a set of expectations in the mindof everyone we come into contact with.

An organisation with a strong brand has a clear visionat its core – which influences every single facet of thebusiness from the inside out.

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This model describes the dynamic that generateshigh performance in an organisation and its relationshipto the use of the brand.

SO WHAT IS A BRAND?

or a colour, or a design, or an advertising campaign or a sloganor sign-off line. Although all of these are important.

The graphic elements that make up our visual identity helppeople to recognise which brand they are looking at, aidingrapid recognition, but they are not the actual brand itself.This is more to do with what we stand for as an organisation,how we behave and our corporate personality.

08 Your brand book

There are many misconceptions aboutwhat a brand is. So perhaps it is easiestto say what a brand isn’t.

A brand is…

Make people smile Robin Hood Tools forcreative minds

Wire free world

We too have a unique story to tell about what makesus special. We hope this book will guide and inspireyou to tell our story in all that you do.

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To help appreciate the role the core brand vision canplay in an organisation just take a look at these otherwell-known brands and their internal brand propositions.In each example, it has been applied in a single-mindedway, ensuring that most of us can appreciate whattheir brands stand for and what to expect.

You’ll also notice that each of the following sentencesare not slogans and do not appear on their advertising.Each one is a shared internal vision which drives theirbusinesses and provides a single-minded focus.We at RICS have to do the same thing to enable us tobecome the brand leader in the property profession.

SOME EXAMPLES

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The importance of meeting expectationsExpectations of quality, ethics, or good service are importantfor a brand – no more so in such an important arena as theproperty sector. The higher these expectations, as a rule, thegreater the margin – which is important for our members andwhy RICS members are often able to attract higher fees thantheir competitors. This in turn ensures that more and moreof the world’s property professionals will want to join RICS,which makes us stronger and more influential.

Brand reputation and recognition can be a powerful selling tool,embodying values or emotions that are globally universal.Brands define the relationships between an organisation and itsconstituents – in our case our members and other stakeholdergroups like employers, governments and other bodies.

Brands also find it easier to attract the best talent, which meanswe will also benefit from enhanced intellectual capital and so willour members.

All of this helps to create a powerful and harmonious‘virtuous circle’, which benefits everyone.

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These days it isn’t enough just to exist. To survive,grow and flourish you have to be a brand.

So we already have all the right credentials to be the pre-eminentorganisation of our kind in every country around the world, ineach and every sector of the property market. We have the rightculture and attitude, we have a clear vision, and we have acapable and ambitious team. But we also need to ensure that wecommunicate a single-minded vision of what we are, to everyonewe and our members deal with, to ensure that we optimise ourposition and our credibility in every corner of the planet.

In other words we need to build a major global brand; weneed to become the undisputed brand leader in our sector –raising the status of the property profession, which will helpestablish consistent standards around the world, which will helpthose people and organisations that need the very best advicewhen it comes to property.

“Branding is a natural, instinctivehuman creation. A way of makinga complicated world simpler. With abrand, you get a symbol, a cue – youknow what you’re getting, you knowwhat to expect.” Niall Fitzgerald, Unilever

WHY BE A BRAND?

Why be a brand leader?Brand leaders endure. They stand the test of time. They areinnovative. Instead of being reactive they set the pace andlead the way. They set the benchmarks when it comes toquality and best practice.

The brand definition processTo clearly define RICS’ brand, we carried out a brand audit toidentify and corroborate current perceptions and expectations.This took the form of a series of brand definition workshopsto which a large number of employees, from every part of theorganisation, were invited.

To capture the output from these workshops, we used whatis known as a brand framework. There are various brandframeworks we can use – in our case we used a brandthumbprint. This is essentially just a series of rings that enablesus to hold all of the values that make up our organisation andthat makes RICS’ brand unique.

The core is the most important element of all – it’s our sharedinternal vision which drives all our businesses including DRS,RICS Books, BCIS and isurv. The core provides us with ourown single-minded focus.

Why build a brand framework?

To make the invisible

VISIBLEin everything we do

Core

What we do: The key things that RICS does, expressed in short factual statements.

Benefits: What are the benefits?

Values: What does the organisation hold to be important and what drives its behaviour?

Personalities: If RICS were a person what identifiable and discriminating characteristics

would it have?

Core: A concise phrase defining what drives the organisation, what’s its core purpose.

Personality

Values

Benefits

What we do

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RICS’ BRAND

14 Your brand book

As you can see, brands are valuable assets. To beable to build RICS into the global brand leader in theproperty profession we all need to understand whatRICS’ brand stands for and your part in helping tobuild it around the world.

“RICS is the only international organisationthat brings together professionals from allthe spheres of the property sector, andtherefore guarantees qualification, fairnessand capability.”Philippe Winssinger FRICS, DTZ Winssinger Tie Leung, Brussels, Belgium

Personality

Values*

– Passionate when it comes to setting and promoting standards– Constantly innovating to improve our service– Driven to do things better

*We are continuing to work on our values so look out for more on this on @ne.

Personality

– Warm in our dealings with those we serve and each other– Firm in applying standards but not at the expense of common sense– Intellectually able– Responsive to the needs of others, both within and without the Institution

Core

Core proposition

Advancing standards and professionalism

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Values

The one thing it is safe to say is that everyone who works atRICS has a view about what RICS is, what it does and whatit stands for. We captured these views through staff workshopsand, whilst there were many views, they were consistent.

This gave us the ideal foundation on which to build a clear,compelling and engaging brand proposition and enabled usto create our own brand thumbprint.

RICS’ BRAND

Our thumbprint

Benefits

What we do

– Set and maintain high quality qualifications and standards– Promote RICS and the profession to build influence, credibility and profile– Provide best advice to members, governments, NGOs, decision-makers– Recruit and retain members– Support and provide and sell products and services to members,

non-members and other customers– Regulate members in a way that enhances professional regulation– Promote careers in surveying to develop membership

and in so doing we seek to serve and protect the public interest.

Benefits

ConsumerGeneral Public– Reassurance– Free information and advice– Redress

Businesses– Commercial advantage

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What we do

Members– Status– Commercial advantage– Keep in the know and up to speed– Profile– Work easier, faster, better

Government and other Bodies– Expertise– Objectivity– Convenience

Whilst we are high status we aren’t flashy and gratuitous likeLamborghini. Equally, whilst we have a modern, straight-forwardoutlook, we aren’t like Smart Car or Mini either. If we were a carwe would be more like Mercedes-Benz.

Here are a few examples of some well known brands that weare like or not like to help give you a clear indication of the typeof organisation we are – modern and highly professional.

They should help you to judge whether something that seemsappropriate – be it your everyday behaviour, attitudes,relationships or day to day communications – is actually‘on brand’.

If you don’t feel that Mercedes, HSBC or Waitrose would act ina specific way, then the chances are that RICS shouldn’t beeither. All of these brands, like us, have a long heritage but haveevolved over time to remain constantly relevant to their markets.

WHAT RICS IS LIKE AS A BRAND

RICS’ qualification ensuresand confers the most eliteprofessional standardsand status. This said,we are friendly, openand approachable andnot stuffy, old fashionedor stuck in the past.

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We aren’t like

Smart CarEggSwatchWalmartLidlEasy Jet

We are like

MercedesHSBCOmegaJohn LewisWaitroseEmirates

We aren’t like

LamborghiniRothschildCartierHarrodsFortnum & MasonAvolus Private Jets

How we behave

Our

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DELIVERING THE BRAND

20 Your brand book

All of us have contributed to RICS’ achievements andsuccess to date and we are the foundation for the nextchapter in our history.

To be a global brand leader we must act like one. We mustbe true to all elements of our brand as detailed in this book,particularly our core proposition of advancing standardsand professionalism.

By clarifying who we are and what we do, this book is justone step to help us on our way.

There are other ways we can all deliver the brand and thevalues it represents and you’ll be hearing about theseseparately:

Our core purpose: Brand Book

The way we look and feel: Visual identityand style guidelines

How we behave: There will be more work over the comingmonths on the behaviours and actions that help bring thebrand to life. Look out for updates and examples on @ne.

The ideas in this book are just the beginning, now it’syour turn…

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rics.org

Advancing standards in land, property and construction.

RICS is the world’s leading qualification when it comes to professional standards in land,property and construction.

In a world where more and more people, governments, banks and commercial organisationsdemand greater certainty of professional standards and ethics, attaining RICS status is therecognised mark of property professionalism.

Over 100 000 property professionals working in the major established and emergingeconomies of the world have already recognised the importance of securing RICS status bybecoming members.

RICS is an independent professional body originally established in the UK by Royal Charter.Since 1868, RICS has been committed to setting and upholding the highest standards ofexcellence and integrity – providing impartial, authoritative advice on key issues affectingbusinesses and society.

RICS is a regulator of both its individual members and firms enabling it tomaintain the higheststandards and providing the basis for unparalleled client confidence in the sector.

RICS has a worldwide network. For further information simply contact the relevant RICS officeor our Contact Centre.

Europe(excludingUnited Kingdom)Rue Ducale 671000 BrusselsBelgium

t +32 2 733 10 19f +32 2 742 97 [email protected]

AsiaRoom 1804Hopewell Centre183 Queen’s Road EastWanchaiHong Kong

t +852 2537 7117f +852 2537 [email protected]

Americas60 East 42nd StreetSuite 2918New York,NY 10165USA

t +1 212 847 7400f +1 212 847 [email protected]

OceaniaSuite 2, Level 161 Castlereagh StreetSydneyNSW 2000Australia


United KingdomParliament SquareLondon SW1P 3ADUnited Kingdom

t +44 (0)870 333 1600f +44 (0)20 7334 [email protected]

AfricaPO Box 3400Witkoppen 2068South Africa


Middle EastOffice F07, Block 11Dubai Knowledge VillageDubaiUnited Arab Emirates


India48 & 49 Centrum PlazaSector RoadSector 53Gurgaon – 122002India


RICS HQ

Parliament Square

London SW1P 3AD

United Kingdom

Worldwide media enquiries:

e [email protected]

Contact Centre:

e [email protected]

t +44 (0)870 333 1600

f +44 (0)20 7334 3811

RICS Brand Book

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