Comments on: Leverage your brand, don’t differentiate from it

By: Lara Scott

Lara Scott — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 01:43:06 +0000

Agree Mac, it is really more of a starter article than anything else, which is where I see a lot of the Australian real estate industry are at in terms of incorporating social media strategies into their marketing mix (with the general exception of the commentators on this site).

A site dedicated to Social Media Governance (http://socialmediagovernance.com/) which includes a database of policies from across a board range of industries (primaily US) will offer more comprehensive reading.
http://bit.ly/6tjP22

Cheers
Lara

By: Pete Richards

Pete Richards — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 05:10:59 +0000

Rachel, glad to hear that you had second thoughts on this.

Mac, your points are at the core of the issue I think. Firstly, anyone who’s selling a property through your brand is, in part, paying to leverage from your brand and it’s identity, recall power etc (as well as the IP and skill of the agent).

I do think that a lot of agents concede a “special design” for a board or advert to their vendors, thinking that they are giving them a “win”. What you say is correct, in doing so they’re damaging the campaign.

By: Mac

Mac — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 01:07:04 +0000

Lara,

That Kodak article wasn’t much really. There is just a lot of guff about Youtube, Twitter, Facebook etc
I think the main thing to get out of it is on page 10 about how to refer to your relationship with your employer. And the last sentence below really sums it up. (I think the , ‘The Kodak Business Conduct Guide’ is what would be much more interesting. Do you have access to it?
viz:
…be upfront and explain that you work for Kodak (your employer’s name);
however, if you aren

By: Mac

Mac — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 00:34:12 +0000

Yes, Rachael. I have seen so many strong, well-known brands change their style on development boards. And these then just become more non-descript boards (with a bunch of phone numbers on the bottom). I have always wondered whether the developers have requested it. However, my experience suggest that part of the reason the agency is being used in the first place is because of the strength of their brand. It’s the agency that washes that value away thinking they will ‘give’ the developer some of their ‘power’ when in fact they are doing themselves and their client a grave misservice!
Stick with your brand. Be proud of it and don’t let anyone mess with it; (unless it really does need some graphic attention Look at Coca Cola, Kraft, Cadbury, Toyota …. the value and meaning is in the service and product.

Rgds,
Mac

By: Rachael Lord

Rachael Lord — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 22:57:13 +0000

Interesting post – we were just going to change our colours for a signboard for a development. After reading this – we are sticking to our brand!

By: Lara Scott

Lara Scott — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 08:07:07 +0000

Sorry bad link info above. Have a bitly instead.

http://bit.ly/5lgP0w

By: Lara Scott

Lara Scott — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 08:01:25 +0000

Oh yes I am here there and everywhere. So true re: online reputation management and good to hear you are working on a policy as McGrath have worked so hard in the past to establish the brand would be shame to see it undone with a simple Google search on an agent’s name with potentially harmful results as blog posts/comments, twitter accounts and facebook profiles rank highly in search engines.

I don’t know that many companies are looking at protocols yet as the uptake rate of social media is relatively low in AU but it is something I am keenly interested in following locally.

Kodak Eastman have worked up a document for their employees which is being suggested in social media circles as an excellent corporate policy model. Might be a great additional resource for your documentation.

http://www.kodak.com/US/…/aboutKodak/…/Kodak_SocialMediaTips_Aug14.pdf

Cheers

By: Glenn Batten

Glenn Batten — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 03:49:25 +0000

Great Post Pete!

It’s no secret that some of the most successful businesses in our industry are also those with the brands that are controlled and regulated.

By: Pete Richards

Pete Richards — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 03:43:38 +0000

Hi Lara! Fancy seeing you on here! I think the answer’s yes, most definitely. Too many companies neglect their brand online and tolerate errors and faux pas in the online world that they wouldn’t dream of tolerating in print format, and that’s a real shame.

Social media in particular is a minefield for real estate agents. Often they try to use their personal accounts on facebook/twitter etc as a business tool, with disastrous results. All companies (in all sectors) should have policies and guidelines on this. We’re working on a directional document at the moment.

By: Lara Scott

Lara Scott — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 02:15:03 +0000

Great first article Pete and it is an interesting dilemma not only within the real estate industry. I have worked on healthcare industry product launches where millions of $ have been spent on developing global brand guidelines, style guides and templates to have local product managers and ad agencies completely ignore them to ‘inject their own flavour’. Insanity.

The issue within real estate is the amount of agent movement between brands. Most agents are effectively entrepreneurs running their own SME and so want to develop their own identity within the franchise or business. However, changing a font, colour or executed corporate identity is not the way to do it.

There are many outlets for personal profiling and community-building on-line. The question is: Do you develop a protocol/guide for the way these are used by agents too?