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A Space To Thrive

Project Details
What does it take to help students truly thrive? Not just to study harder or sleep better – but socially, academically, emotionally. That’s the question Student accommodation provider Abodus set out to answer.
sector
Student accommodation
Services
B2C Strategy, Brand Identity, Website
82%
active user growth year‑on‑year since Feb 2024
150%
organic search sessions growth vs Feb–Aug 2024
3
categories shortlisted at the 2025 RESI Awards for Abodus

Easy to use, easy to love

Student accommodation is a busy category, working in yearly cycles that make it all too easy to become repetitive. Abodus Student Living had an opportunity to stand for something more in a sector that’s not always known for personality. Together, we set out to transform the brand into something warmer and easier to use, made with intention and care.

Importantly, it had to resonate with students, who want community, personality, and ease. It had to reassure parents, who care about security, wellbeing, and trust. And it had to give investors confidence in both the experience and the returns. That’s quite a wide range of needs, across an even wider range of platforms and people.

So how could a brand carry all that weight?

ABOVE
A module-based design kept the huge number of locations easy to manage.

Focusing our thinking

We started by running collaborative brand and strategy workshops to unpick what makes Abodus tick – the belief that every student deserves a safe, comfortable, inspiring home, the ability to implement technology for better experiences, and the values of care, community, and change. Then we went straight to the people who matter most: the students. Through focus groups and honest conversations, we learned what makes them feel at home, what makes them feel safe, and what makes them feel they belong. Their insights shaped the brand’s tone, look, and feel, making sure it speaks as much to late night kitchen chats as it does to big life decisions.

With more than twenty locations to bring under one roof, we built a modular web system that could flex with the brand. It was designed to carry the warmth of a welcome, the clarity of useful information, and the efficiency of smart tech.

Bringing it to life

The brand’s inherent warmth is most brought out through the ‘Bode’ character, born from the negative space in the brand mark. Bode became a unifying illustration at the heart of our icon system, serving both as Abodus’ helpful chatbot and as a joyful presence. Functional when it needs to be and fun where it can be, Abodus Student Living feels alive and genuine, bringing together students, parents and investors within a brand that invites you in and gives you reasons to stay.

“
The relationship we built with Something Familiar was key to the success of this project. They brought strategic thinking, creativity and a genuine sense of partnership, always pushing for the best outcome and solving challenges before they became problems.
Sam Smith
Head of UK & International Sales & Marketing
Abodus Student Living
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