A Brand Created by Our Very Own Supportive Community

Most startups nowadays are born out of passing thoughts, and most of them come with brilliance and determination. That’s how Acceler8 started in 2015 when four brilliant minds (our founders) gathered to build a workspace that’s bound to create a community not just in the Philippines, but also in other parts of the world—with nary a brand strategy and promotional plans.

The only objective back then was to look for clients to fill the space. The plan was to send out free passes and give them a first-hand experience of our services, and it didn’t take  long before people started showing up in our doorstep. Their fascination with our space, I guess, came from the quaintness of our location which is very typical for coworking spaces that capitalize on old buildings. In fact, some operators strategically invest in historical buildings such as abandoned churches, warehouses, etc. and convert them into creative workspaces, giving these old structures a second chance to shine.

In our case, we brought an old office space back to life with a chic SoHo-New York City inspired interiors, stripping away its conventional office set up with brick walls, modern furniture pieces, a speakeasy-style bar, an endless scent of freshly brewed coffee, and an awesome Spotify playlist–without compromising the aspects that make our space conducive for work. Hence, promoting our first center on social media was more or less effortless, thanks to its aesthetic.

A Community of Content Managers

In terms of digital promotions, frankly, we had our fair share of uncertainties when it comes to content marketing specifically for coworking spaces considering that we were still in the process of creating a brand persona for Acceler8 and we’re only working with a startup budget that was relatively enough to put the word out there. Despite that, we dauntlessly fired up our digital platforms with content that is relatable and straightforward while learning the ropes of content and digital marketing.

It wasn’t until we reached a certain number of clients before we realized that what we’re looking for was happening before our very eyes. We noticed that our coworkers are perfectly getting along and striking up conversations in every corner of our workspace. Thus, we collaborated with our coworkers to produce content about career & business advice, and industry insights that we captured using only our smartphones—the kind of content that’s also our audiences’ cup of tea. From there, we managed to increase our engagement rate and eventually, hitting high relevance scores too.

Our channels have somehow served as our archive of how everything evolved from just a simple coworking space to a community that formed an amazing synergy. Thanks to our Community Managers for curating events and throwing occasional surprise parties that definitely glued our members together.

Their synergy, or their friendship rather, is so amazing that a lot of them took it beyond the workspace with some of them climbing an active volcano or going out almost every night at some of our favorite nightspots.

They ?are? inseparable.

Taal Volcano

We also take part in some of the biggest music events in the WORLD since we noticed that somehow our community bonds over our amazing office playlist. Fete de la Musique or World Music Festival practically became a free pass for everyone in town to meet our community and experience our workspace—that we magically transform into a mini concert hall every freaking year.

Creating Real Connections

We figured that our brand messaging was to commit to providing our members’ priceless and lasting experiences that are genuine and raw, thus winding up with the tagline “Creating Real Connections,” providing business solutions that will help them grow through meaningful connections not just professionally, but also personally.

In fact, just a few months after launching the campaign, we caught the attention of one of the leading real-estate giants in the Philippines, Ayala Land Offices, sealing a successful partnership deal that gave us their full trust to manage their first flexible workspace, Clock In. In less than two months we were able to reach 100% occupancy rate amid producing their social media campaign entitled Begin With Us that further exemplified our Creating Real Connections campaign to Clock In’s coworking community.

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Strengthening Our Brand Further With UnionSPACE

It’s been a fortunate three years since we opened our first workspace and our dedication of just really making sure that everyone is getting the most out of their stay with us has definitely paid off—from a wandering startup to a more defined flexible workspace brand in Southeast Asia. Yes, we’ve expanded with UnionSPACE, a flexible workspace in Indonesia that’s slated to put-up coworking/co-living spaces throughout SEA by the year 2020. Since our brand consolidated with UnionSPACE, our members get global access to our spaces in SEA countries and our network where we can connect them to potential business partners and investors around the ?.

UnionSPACE launches its first co-living space in Thailand!

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Rockwell Expansion in 2019

This 2019, along with Phinma Properties, another leading real-estate developer in the Philippines, we’re opening another workspace located in Rockwell, Makati City, since we saw the increasing demand from people wanting to join us. We’re adding a touch of modernity to its aesthetics but will maintain our casual and approachable environment. An 800+ sqm workspace that boasts of a homey coworking space, study nooks, spacious conference rooms, and 24 fully-furnished private office space, the design team behind this brand new space made sure that every corner is plush and functional.

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And we’re exerting all these projects for our community. This may sound so cliche, but without our community, the Acceler8 brand is still probably floating like a balloon high up in the sky with no definite direction. We can’t thank everyone enough for the unwavering support and for being an exemplar of Acceler8’s brand promise which is to Create Real Connections.

We’ll see you next year! Happy New Year Everyone.

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