CLIENT
EKE Rakennus is a Finnish family-owned company with a long history of developing residential buildings and neighbourhoods in the Helsinki region. Throughout its history, the company has sought to challenge conventional thinking about housing, with a particular focus on creating humane environments that support people’s wellbeing and sense of community.
As expectations around housing were changing, EKE wanted to ensure that its history as a pioneer would not remain just that: history. Co-founders was invited to help the company explore what future relevance and thought leadership could mean for the next decade.
CHALLENGE
EKE had built much of its success by seeing possibilities in housing before they became mainstream. Community, services and human-centred living had been part of its thinking long before they became widely discussed themes in residential development.
The challenge was therefore not simply to update the company’s brand. It was to look beyond current market conventions and understand what people would value in living environments in the decade ahead and where EKE could lead rather than follow.
The central question became:
What could pioneering housing mean for the next generation of residents?
PROCESS
We began by examining EKE’s existing position from several perspectives. We analysed the changing operating environment, competitors and customer needs, explored the company’s history and distinctive strengths, and conducted focus groups with consumers and housing experts.
Together with EKE’s leadership team, we used these perspectives to challenge existing assumptions about housing and identify areas where the company’s heritage and emerging customer needs could meet.
The work resulted in a renewed strategic direction built around EKE’s purpose and a deeper understanding of future residents. We then translated this thinking into future-oriented housing concepts, making the strategy tangible through new possibilities for how people could live, connect and experience community.
WHAT CHANGED
EKE gained a clearer strategic foundation for maintaining its position as a pioneer in a changing housing market.
The renewed brand strategy connected the company’s purpose and heritage with emerging expectations around housing, while the future-oriented concepts translated that direction into tangible possibilities for residential development.
Together, they created a platform for EKE to move from responding to changing housing needs towards actively imagining what better living could become.
