Since its founding in 2012, national real estate investment firm LV Collective has expanded the business to include student housing and multifamily assets in excess of $6 billion. It recently announced the launch of its fully integrated property management platform, formally bringing operations in-house as part of its next phase of growth.
Chief marketing officer (CMO) Kendall Guinn oversees LV Collective’s go-to market strategy, including all corporate and property marketing. Guinn shares how the firm is evolving its marketing strategy to meet changing renter expectations.
As CMO, how are you redefining multifamily marketing in an increasingly digital-first leasing environment?
Multifamily marketing became much more digital-first as a result of COVID, as renters grew comfortable discovering and evaluating communities online. But what we’re seeing now is a full-circle shift back toward real-world interaction. People want to experience brands in person, and the communities that create opportunities for that kind of engagement ultimately stand out.
At LV Collective, we focus on creating what we call “energy per square foot,” our shorthand for how much life a building holds. That means activating spaces early—through pre-leasing events, brand partnerships, and concepts like our coffee concept, Daydreamer, that bring both residents and the broader neighborhood into the building. Those moments allow people to interact with and experience the brand before they sign a lease.
Interestingly, those real-world activations also fuel the digital side of the strategy. Events, creator partnerships, and community programming generate authentic content that travels across social platforms and give prospective residents a window into what life in the building actually feels like. In that way, digital-first leasing doesn’t replace in-person experience—it amplifies it.
What major shifts in renter expectations are most influencing marketing strategy today—and how is technology helping teams keep up?
Luxury renters aren’t just looking for an apartment; they’re looking for a lifestyle. That shift requires more than differentiated marketing; it requires product, design, operations, and marketing to evolve together. Again, at LV Collective, we talk a lot about “energy per square foot.” It’s about designing spaces that foster activation, connection, and daily rituals, so the community feels vibrant, social, and activated.
At Paseo, we leaned fully into that philosophy by building a wellness ecosystem into the property itself, from group workout classes to recovery amenities. The marketing then tells that story. Instead of focusing on floor plans first, we partnered with wellness and lifestyle creators who could authentically show how Paseo’s spaces fit into their daily routines.
Technology and social platforms make it possible for renters to experience that energy digitally before they ever step on site.
What marketing technologies or platforms are delivering the strongest return on investment (ROI) for multifamily operators right now?
The marketing technologies delivering the strongest ROI right now are the ones that help operators tell better stories and remove friction from the prospect journey.
Social and short-form video platforms have become incredibly effective because they allow communities to show lifestyle and activated amenities in a way that feels authentic. Instead of relying on polished photos of empty spaces or static floor plans, teams can share real moments—how residents use coworking spaces, fitness areas, or social environments—which resonate far more with today’s renters.
At the same time, customer relationship management and marketing automation tools help reduce friction by delivering the right information to prospects at the right moment in their journey. Rather than relying on manual follow-up, these systems allow marketing teams to nurture interest, answer common questions, and educate renters about the community and its lifestyle in a more scalable way. When strong storytelling is paired with that kind of seamless information flow, the result is a much more efficient marketing engine.
How can marketing teams better align with operations to ensure the resident experience matches the brand promise online?
One of the challenges in multifamily is that marketing is often treated as a corporate function that sits separate from the day-to-day life of the property. But the brand promise can’t live only in marketing—it has to be the lived experience inside the building. That means marketing teams need to stay deeply connected to what’s actually happening on-site so the story being told online reflects what prospects and residents experience every day.
At LV Collective, we think about marketing as a support function for the property rather than a separate department. Our marketing, leasing, and operations teams work in close partnership, with constant communication and shared expectations around the resident experience. By regularly sharing insights from tours, resident interactions, and amenity usage, we’re able to combine qualitative feedback with real data and continuously refine programming, services, and messaging so the experience stays aligned with what residents actually value.
Social media continues to evolve quickly. How is your team rethinking platform strategy, content formats, and engagement to reach today’s renters more effectively?
Social media today requires a much more experimental mindset. Teams need to publish more content, test different formats, and see what resonates. Not every post will take off, but the goal is to learn quickly and identify the ideas that truly connect. Once we see something performing organically, we double down and amplify it with paid spend so we can scale the content that’s already working.
What we consistently see is that the content that travels the furthest is the content that actually provides value to the audience—either by educating them or by showing real lifestyle moments. Increasingly, that storytelling comes from residents and creators themselves. User-generated content and partnerships with lifestyle and wellness influencers allow us to show the community through a first-person lens rather than a brand perspective, which makes the content far more relatable.
Trends can be powerful when they align with the brand, but chasing trends purely for views often feels inauthentic, and renters are quick to recognize when something isn’t genuine. Ultimately, success on social media today isn’t about follower counts; it’s about creating content that people actually want to engage with.
What’s a recent LV Collective marketing campaign that stands out?
One campaign that stands out is the Creator Program we launched at Paseo, our newest living concept on Rainey Street in downtown Austin, Texas. We curated local lifestyle, wellness, and fitness creators whose audiences closely aligned with our target residents, intentionally selecting individuals with different followings to broaden our reach. These were creators who already share their daily routines online, from workouts and recovery to coffee runs, meal prep, and GRWM [get ready with me]content, so we knew the building would naturally become part of their storytelling.
Rather than a traditional influencer campaign with a few sponsored posts, we invited them to be part of the community early, even before the building opened, through hard-hat tours, events, and ultimately living in the building. That allowed them to document the experience from a first-person perspective as the property came to life and begin building credibility and momentum well before lease-up.
The result is authentic lifestyle storytelling and meaningful social proof. These creators didn’t just promote the building online; they became part of the fabric of the community, bringing energy to events, telling their stories on social, connecting with residents, and helping shape the culture of the building from day one.
What’s one trend you’re loving right now—whether in design, food, or digital culture—that inspires your creative thinking?
One trend that’s really inspiring my creative thinking right now is how many brands are using coffee as a platform for experiential brand activation. You’re seeing fashion and lifestyle brands create coffee concepts as a way to bring their brand into a physical space—whether it’s Ralph Lauren’s Ralph’s Coffee, Coach cafés, or Capital One’s cafés. Coffee has become a natural gathering point where brands can create real-world experiences around their identity.
That thinking has been part of LV Collective’s approach from the beginning with our Daydreamer Coffee concept, which we integrate into all of our communities. What’s been especially exciting recently is how other brands want to collaborate within those spaces. We’ve hosted activations with beauty and lifestyle brands like DIBS Beauty, Dairy Boy, Sundae Body, and Mara, turning the coffee shop into a platform for pop-ups and partnerships.
Those collaborations activate the building, bring new people into the space, and create moments that feel culturally relevant to our residents. It’s a reminder that great spaces don’t just serve residents—they become part of the broader creative and social ecosystem of the neighborhood.