How much is … raising your profile?

There are many ways for registered social landlords to let people know what they're up to – and it needn't cost anything like the £1m the National Housing Federation spent on rebranding the sector.

In-house publications spread the word, and they don't have to be expensive. Staff at Pennine Housing 2000 put together newsletters and handbills for tenants, distributed at an estate agent-style office in the town centre. "It's very easy with desktop publishing stuff these days," explains chief executive Dave Procter. "You have a standard design, a standard logo and just agree on the layout. It's not hard to make something that looks good, and with a colour photocopier, they only cost a few pence each."

The NHF's rebranding initiative is limited to English organisations, but Charter Housing, which is based in south Wales, has found another method to raise awareness by approaching its annual report in a different way. "A lot of money is spent producing the reports, but they're only seen by corporate clients and people who already know about the organisation. We thought it was more important to reach a general audience – why not use the money to raise awareness?" explains Conor Rooney, Charter's marketing officer.

He arranged for an eight-page insert in the local paper. The benefits have been twofold: the association's profile has been raised, and the brochure attracted new employees and board members.

"I avoided putting the logo and name on the first page, because if people saw it was a housing association they might have thought it wasn't relevant to them and just chucked it in the bin. I also put things under short, punchy headings to sex it up a bit," says Rooney. He used a combination of tenants and models for photos. "We didn't want to use real children, so we got models from a casting agency, aspiring actors who were only too happy to have their faces shown."

Advertising in the local press can draw a wider audience to your board and tenants' group meetings, as Pennine has found, but there are other ways to get your name in the papers. Procter says briefing local press about the association's latest projects has helped to get its name known about town, and the only cost is staff time.

Events for tenants and staff are a good way to attract press photographers. To coincide with the Golden Jubilee, Pennine held a tea dance for tenants who'd lived in its homes for 50 years. They were given a hand-painted plate and local papers featured pictures of the event. The Harrison & Potter Trust, based in Leeds, held an open day where the lord mayor of Leeds planted a commemorative tree.

There are also more corporate ways to spread your message. Pennine has twice been the main sponsor of a local job fair, which provided a high-profile platform for its logo. "We had loads of employers there and 2000 people came through the doors," says Proctor. "It was relatively inexpensive, and the second time round it cost even less because it was more successful."

Pennine and the Harrison & Potter Trust both use public relations companies to send out press releases and liaise with the media in search of column inches, but Procter warns that any campaign must fit in with the overall activity of the organisation.

"You've got to decide what you need and when, don't just hire someone to 'do PR'," he says. "It's getting the right thing at the right time."

Of course, there are practical things you can do to reinforce your image locally for no extra cash. For instance, when Pennine moved into a new building, it chose window frames in the same colour as the dominant tint in its logo. A deal to replace the association's vehicle fleet also included painting its logo on the new stock's sides. "It doesn't cost us anything. It's about the way you do things," says Procter.