When I first moved to Washington state, I went on a quest to find a Mexican restaurant that had decent chips and salsa. It seems like it would be an easy thing to find, but, alas, it took me almost two years to find a place that I liked where the chips didn't have too much salt on them or the salsa wasn't just large chunks of vegetables without any "sauce" factor to it.. Now that I've found that restaurant, I don't stray too far unless I'm outvoted on Mexican dining options. Deciding dinner with friends IS a democracy, after all.
Last night while dining with our friends, Mike, amature philosopher and observer of the human condition, pointed out something about the economy. "No matter how bad it's gotten, they still give you free chips and salsa," he said. 
It's true. In a year of record cut backs and trimming of any fat that's visible, there are some icons that, if we're smart, we don't touch. Sometimes it's something as small as chips and salsa.. This place hadn't changed the chips it was using to something cheaper, or the salsa to a less pricey brand (possibly because there were no cheaper options and I just like low grade chips and dip!), and it never stopped giving free refills on the basket. And it didn't raise the price on the rest of the food to compensate for losses this last year either.
Ask yourself what little things are iconic about your property? What do you have/do/provide that others in your area don't? If your answer dances in the realm of, "I don't know," maybe this is a good time to think about what YOU can do to create iconic ideas. Whether it's the way you welcome a resident, the way your maintenance team works with residents in their homes, or even the cookies we put out or the drinks we offer.
Iconic means it's remembered, it stands out and it's recognized. It doesn't have to be big, it doesn't have to be flashy, and it doesn't have to be expensive. It can be as simple as chips and salsa.