The only national past-time more iconically American than football is the pursuit of homeownership. After that, convenience comes to mind, which may explain Rocket Companies' campaign to unify its entire brand — and the country — under one banner.
“We are rethinking how we go to market and connect with consumers and mortgage professionals because we have those lofty goals,” Rocket Pro General Manager Dan Sogorka told NMP in an interview following this morning's unveiling of a new visual identity and renamed brands. The former Sagent executive was hired in September to establish an end-to-end technology vision and grow Rocket’s Third Party Origination (TPO) channel.
Effective immediately, Rocket Pro TPO has been renamed Rocket Pro in an effort to reflect the company’s “commitment to supporting mortgage professionals nationwide.” Amrock, which provides title, settlement, and appraisal services, will be changed to Rocket Close. Amrock Title Insurance Company has relaunched as Rocket Title Insurance Company.
Rocket also unveiled “a bold refresh” to its brand identity, to include a reimagined logo, wordmark, typeface and color palette, designed “to position Rocket as one of the most inclusive brands in America.” These efforts are geared toward “creating an influential end-to-end homeownership experience,” per the announcement.
Rocket introduced two bespoke typefaces to ensure a cohesive visual language across all touchpoints, from digital products to printed materials. Both typefaces honor Nick Gilbert, the late son of Rocket founder Dan Gilbert.
“Rocket will reveal the next step in its brand transformation with a Super Bowl campaign, demonstrating how homeownership has the power to unite the nation — instilling a deep sense of pride and belonging,” the press release reads. The Super Bowl is scheduled to be played on February 9, 2025, in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Inclusivity, accessibility, and authenticity characterize Rocket’s push for brand dominance as the mortgage industry consolidates among the industry’s top lenders. And yet, accessing homeownership has perhaps never been more challenging than it is today, especially for first-time homebuyers, given rapid increases in home prices, elevated mortgage rates, low inventory, and skyrocketing insurance premiums.
Not to be daunted, the updated marketing materials shared with NMP have Rocket leaning into its self-described mission to become “America’s homeownership company.”
“Homeownership is a fundamental building block of the American Dream,” said Jonathan Mildenhall, Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) of Rocket Companies, in today’s announcement. Chairman of the marketing consultancy he co-founded in 2018, TwentyFirstCenturyBrand, Mildenhall was named Rocket Companies’ inaugural CMO in January 2024, one year ago, with the goal of centralizing the company’s marketing strategy and unifying brand identity.
“This refreshed identity celebrates the humanity and diversity of the homeownership journey, redefining what it truly means to own a home in today’s America,” Mildenhall added. “Owning a home creates identity, security, safety and purpose, not to mention the most proven asset class in terms of building generational wealth,” Mildenhall said in the press release.
An end-to-end homeownership experience is one thing, but an affordable homeownership experience is another. Could it be that what American consumers want more than anything isn’t another app to download, but a lower monthly payment? What does it “truly” mean to own a home in today’s America?
“In this environment,” Sogorka responded, “when you look at the data, more people feel like homeownership is out of reach. More people feel like they’ll never be able to own a home. We want to change that with education and outreach to educate people as to the steps they need to take to own a home, and that it is attainable versus what they may see or hear on TV or in the media.”
“The more friction we can remove from the process, the better, faster, and cheaper we can be at doing it, the more people we can help, and the more we can put back into our products and services and our partners,” Sogorka added, explaining that the brand refresh will help Rocket's broker partners conduct better business in a couple of key ways.
“The rebrand of the name to Rocket Pro is just cleaner and really focuses on the professional, our partner, so it will make them feel more supported by Rocket,” he said.
Within the broader market, he explained, “you have consumers get more comfortable with the Rocket brand, especially not associating it with a traditional call-center brand, but more boots on the ground, in the neighborhood with their broker partners.”
“So, when a broker says, ‘Hey, I work with Rocket,’” Sogorka continues, “the consumer says, ‘Wow, I really like the way they talked about homeownership,’ and, ‘I really liked this ad and it really spoke to me and made me feel comfortable and like I was heard and understood.’ That’s the advantage that we can bring from a Rocket perspective because we invest so much in marketing and we’ve done all this hard work on our brand identity.”
