Reem Akkad Design is an award-winning, full-service design studio specializing in commercial and luxury residential interiors. Known for fusing old and new, classic and contemporary, the firm creates complex, multi-layered spaces that reflect each client’s unique definition of luxury.
With plans to expand the digital presence and elevate the brand’s verbal identity, the designer engaged Blended Collective to help define the brand’s strategic foundation, ensuring alignment across messaging, positioning, and future marketing efforts.
CHALLENGE
As Reem Akkad Design prepared to expand its digital presence and evolve its brand, there was a clear need to establish a cohesive strategic foundation. While the firm was widely recognized for its refined aesthetic
and award-winning work, with no formalized messaging or articulated differentiators, the challenge was to define her brand positioning and personality in a way that resonated with her existing audience and attracted new opportunities.
SOLUTION
Over the course of several in-depth working sessions, Blended Collective led Reem and her team through a series of guided brand exercises and strategic conversations:
- Brand Foundations: We began by exploring the firm’s short- and long-term goals, target audiences across residential and commercial sectors, and Reem’s personal and professional identity. We asked Reem and her junior designer to build a visual mood board and update her messaging to support the brand narrative we would shape together.
- Audience Segmentation: We guided Reem in refining her target personas, breaking them down into more specific groups to better reflect the range of her client base and their distinct needs and lifestyles.
- Brand Differentiators: Through discussion and feedback, we identified early differentiators, such as the brand’s “East meets West” philosophy and its client-inspired approach to collaboration, that would inform tone, story, and positioning.
- Language Development: To inform the brand’s future messaging, we conducted an exercise asking personal and professional contacts to describe Reem’s work in three words. We used these responses to identify language patterns and develop a foundational brand vocabulary.
- Brand Pillars and Messaging Themes: From these insights, we co-developed a set of brand pillars—luxury, transformation, and innovation—and supporting language that clearly communicates the brand’s value and emotional impact. Together, we outlined messaging that could be carried through the website, bio, about section, and design philosophy.
“Working with Lydia was a game-changer for our studio. She helped us dig deep to figure out the essence of our brand and helped us find the language to express it with confidence. Her process was thoughtful, collaborative, and tailored specifically to our firm’s personality and goals. We walked away with a brand that truly reflects who we are and speaks directly to the clients we want to attract. Since then, our communication—across our website, marketing, and showroom—feels more cohesive and compelling. Lydia helped bring our brand to life in a way that feels true to us.”
Sydney Herm, Senior Interior Designer, Reem Akkad Design
RESULTS
With a clarified strategic foundation and verbal identity in place, Reem Akkad Design is positioned to express a distinctive point of view that reflects its East-meets-West aesthetic, brand pillars, and elevated design philosophy. The insights and messaging developed through Blended Collective’s strategy sessions continue to shape the firm’s communication approach across audiences and touchpoints. In 2024, the brand expanded its physical presence with the opening of its flagship showroom, House of Reem, in Birmingham, Michigan—a space designed to bring the firm’s layered, luxurious design sensibility to life.