So, the iPad has finally landed!

And to refer back to the title of my post back in April, has it come crashing down to Earth like a huge white elephant, or elegantly applauded in as yet another Apple master stroke?

Before I answer that I’ll come clean and admit that I got one on the day they launched.

The Good

1- They are an extremely good presentation tool. Visually everything just comes to life on the screen. Keynote (Apple’s version of PowerPoint) can do some wonderful things and smart Australian companies will be working on some presentations for this tool and rolling them out to their sales force as I write this. If (like real estate agents) you’re presenting one-to-one, or one-to-two, there’s no better tool.

2 – The size “just works”. I was struggling to see where it would fit in the market if you already had a small laptop and an iPhone, but as soon as I saw one I instantly got it. The size is perfect. It’s not (as I feared) just a laptop without a keyboard. It’s small and slim enough to be a genuinely different product.

3 – As with all Apple products, it’s intuitive. It’s interesting that many of Apple’s products don’t even come with an instruction manual.

4 – It’s not all about fancy games and funky Apps. This thing has got some business grunt. Apps I downloaded on day one included; Pages, Numbers and Keynote (Apple’s version of Microsoft’s Word, XL and PowerPoint), as well as PDF Viewer, GoToMeeting and an App called DocsAnywhere, which enables you to sync the documents on your PC or MAC with your iPad, via iTunes.

5 – For the iPhone owners amongst you, some of the features you already know and love just work much better on the bigger version.

6 – It’s fast, particularly in WiFi mode, but it seems pretty slick in 3G as well.

7 – Battery life, the Achilles heel of the iPhone, thankfully the iPad doesn’t suffer the same problem.

The Bad

1 – You can only do one thing at a time and can’t jump around from one application (or program) to another like you can in Windows. If you want to quickly dive out of “something” to do “something else” for a few seconds, you can’t without closing the program you’re in.

2 – You have to get the WiFi/3G version. If you get the cheaper WiFi only version you’re wasting your money, as the device will not be anywhere near as mobile as you need it to be. Think iPod Touch (WiFi only) versus iPhone (WiFi/3G), there’s just no comparison.

3 – Touch screen keyboards are just not that great.

So, the verdict? For this industry I think they’re a great investment for an agent, assuming that you (or your business) is prepared to work hard to create the tools that will make the iPad really blossom.

A win for Apple I think.

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Just as RealEstate.com.au complete the launch of a new web design News Limited are putting the final strokes on a strategy to strike back and one of the weapons of choice in the fight will be a video and website called “For What It’s Worth”. This tussle between the two giants for the real estate advertising revenue has all the drama of a soap opera and our current story is reminiscent of the Empire Strikes Back, the second movie released in the Star Wars franchise.

The Star Wars movie saga  featured the Jedi, who use the Force for good, and the Sith, who use the dark side for evil in an attempt to take over the galaxy.  In the original Star Wars movie the Sith had control of the Galactic Empire. Believing themselves invincible they built the Deathstar to literally crush any opposition still remaining to their absolute domination of the Galaxy. The upstart Rebel Alliance did not have the firepower of the almighty Empire but what they lacked in firepower they made up for with cunning and skill to win the first round in the saga.

The real estate advertising market plays the part of the Galaxy that everyone is fighting for in this story and who can better fill the shoes of the Galactic Empire than Newspaper Advertising.  Up to 10 years ago there was only print as an option for agents to use and the Newspapers ruled the Galaxy with no fear at all. Then along came the internet and from that sprang the Real Estate Portals who are playing the part of the Rebel Alliance. In comparison to the traditional media organisations the portals were comparatively light and nimble and who took the fight to their lumbering foe in guerrilla fashion.

It did not take too long before the Rebel Alliance started making inroads against the Galactic Empire and the war was on.  The battle raged and in the process the Rebel Alliance destroyed the Deathstar and in the process showed the Galaxy that the Empire was able to be defeated.

In the past few years we have Newspapers losing their aura of invincibility for the Real Estate advertising dollars to the new boys on the block  the Real Estate Portals who are fighting way above their weight class.  However just when the portals were getting comfortable with their gains the Empire Strikes Back!

The movie second Star Wars movie,  The Empire Strikes Back starts with Galactic Empire recovering from recent defeats in the original installment and attempting to drive the Rebel Alliance forces back out of the Galaxy and recover what they consider is rightfully theirs.

News Limited are about to launch a fight back against the real estate portals claim on their galaxy, the real estate advertising dollars. Apparently one of the first strikes might be News Limited to stop the realestate.com.au branding on their property pages unless they start coughing up some serious dollars which REA are not prepared to do.

Another strike which is due for release very soon is the “For What It’s Worth” campaign which focuses on promoting print advertising to property sellers. The centre of the campaign is an 18 minute video that attempts to pass itself off as an independent advice to sellers on using print advertising when selling their house.  At a recent launch we were only allowed to preview just a short clip from the video which should be out very soon.

The premise of the video is that 5 or 6 experts discuss the advantages of using print from their perspective through an evidence based presentation.

The four key points the video highlights will be :

1. Choose a good marketing agent (in contrast to a transactional agent)
2. Combine Print and Online marketing
3. Invest 1% of the value of your property in marketing
4. Improve your styling and presentation for best results

There is an analyst from RPData who I presume will come up with statistics to show that houses will sell for more if they are advertised in print.  There is also a property stylist and Tom Panos from News Limited fills one of these expert slots himself.  Another one or two of the slots are to include real life vendors who provides a testimonial on how print worked for him when selling.  There is not a real estate agent in sight apparently and overall the production values on the video appears very high from what we were allowed to see.

News Limited will be providing all of their clients with the dvd’s to provide seller clients as part of a physical pre-listing kit. Of course many agents are skipping the traditional printed pre listing kit and are choosing to deliver digital versions and News Limited is finalising a website now that will feature the video that agents can provide vendors as part of a digital pre listing kit. There will probably be the typical brochures and like to hand out at listing presentations and open houses.

The message that was sold as part of the “show” and I assume will feature heavily on the video itself when we get to see it is:  that of course an agent has to advertise your property on the internet, that’s only natural and to be expected but only the very best agents use print advertising as an additional option and  they are able to leverage the print ads to achieve a premium price by as much as 10% because of the increased competition that a print campaign will create.  With print advertising you get to sell your house For What It’s Worth!

Given the short video that I have seen I actually think the concept works and has a great potential and it seemed to be well received by most agents. The fact that it uses video and the internet to push a print message is of course slightly hypocritical but I think overall it will be a positive move.

It might win them a few battles and keep them in the war a little longer but can the “For What It’s Worth” campaign kick the pesky rebels out of the Galaxy….. not by a long shot.

Any Star Wars fans out there know that by the end of the Empire Strikes Back movie the Rebel Alliance have kicked the Galactic Empires butt once again. In fact once the Empire recovers from that shellacking there is still a third movie in the original Star Wars trilogy called Return of the Jedi to be played out yet where the Rebel Alliance turns up the pressure, the Galactic Empire falls and the Emperor is killed.

These tactics might extend the life of print as an option for property advertising but I fear nothing can save it from the inevitable.

If print is still successful for you and is a valid option that you offer owners then you are probably going to love the For What It’s Worth campaign especially if you are an auction orientated agent. It has the potential to be a great tool to get VPA for print advertising. It wont be the saviour of the Newspaper Advertising for real estate agents that News Limited would like to hope for but it will make a difference and give you a great tool to add to your kit.

Of course to all the Star Wars fans out there I have to ask you to ignore any other Star Wars facts that do quite not fit this story however if you can come up with any other connections between the two sagas then share away!

For instance.. who plays the part of the Emperor… Rupert?

What about this… Darth Vader fathered Luke Skywalker who went on to destroy the empire which is just like News Limited and Fairfax spawning Realestate.com.au and Domain.com.au who then go on to threaten (and ultimately destroy) their cash cow.

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Firstly, I have to confess that I’m in love with the Apple brand. The iPod is one of the best consumer inventions in memory and, from a person that used to feel pretty cool in my teens using a yellow, waterproof Sony Walkman (yes, I pre-date the Sony “Disc”man) it’s amazing how quickly I became reliant on my iPod. I took it everywhere and looked forward to a morning run so I could use it.

As you can imagine, the iPhone blew my mind, and continues to amaze me almost every day. I break into a cold sweat if I forget my iPhone. The iPod and BlackBerry are now gathering dust in the spare room, waiting until I get around to putting them on eBay.

I’m now seriously considering buying a MAC for home. Why? I have no idea. As a marketer I’ve just been sucked into the vortex, and I just want one. Every time I switch on my PC at home I’m secretly hoping that it’s broken so I can justify the new purchase to my fiancée (who I know secretly wants one as well).

So, to the eagerly awaited Australian launch of the iPad. Apple’s website is positioning this product as “A magical and revolutionary product at an unbelievable price.” I’m a little sceptical.

Really good marketers are masters at finding a gap in a market and creating a product or a service that exploits that gap and fills the void. Exceptional marketers take that one step further and develop a product or service to fill a void that doesn’t even exist, and then create the gap via clever marketing. Before you know it, nobody can understand how they lived without what you’ve invented.

However, in launching the iPad I wonder if Apple has just got a little carried away. As one of the most powerful brands on the planet are they forcing a product onto us that we just don’t need at all?
Apple is telling us that you can conveniently; surf the web, watch videos, download and use apps, flick through photos, manage your diary and emails. All of these things you can do on your MacBook and iPhone. I struggle to see why you would buy this product if you already have the iPhone, and particularly if you also own a MacBook (Apple speak for a laptop).

Will this product revolutionise the way that we consume information and, in turn, how we do business in the real estate sector?

Here are some ideas on how the product “could” be used:

1. Listing Presentations. Laptops can be a little intimidating in the lounge room, some agents suggest that they can create a barrier between the prospective vendor and the agent. Maybe a touch screen tablet will soften that a little.

2. Property Searches. Some of our offices have MACS in reception, enabling the public to drop in and browse our website. The novelty of using iPads could work well.

3. Capturing Information at Open Homes. With the right software (that plugs directly into you database) it would be pretty handy to record not just buyer details, but buyer feedback on an iPad during open homes.

I’m still a sceptic, but I’ll let you know when I’ve bought one (which will probably be early May by the way).

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Following from Charlie’s great little article yesterday I want to turn your attention to the so called ‘glossy wars’ being run across Australia.

Over the past few weeks I have been receiving emails about a ‘heated’ war between Antony Catalano (MMP Holdings) and Fairfax’s Real Estate Print Guides. You can read a great little article on Crikey here and also The Age article here.

It seems some of eastern Melbourne’s agents including Jellis Craig, and Kay & Burton, are defecting from Fairfax Media’s Melbourne Weekly Real Estate Guide to a new publication being led by Antony Catalano (MMP Holdings) and some law firms with some the local agents taking a stake in the publication.

Now where do I start?

Yesterday’s article by Charlie pointed to a percentage of agents that claim that vendors are somewhat begging to be included in print publications. I call this segment of the market ‘truth stretchers’ or maybe ‘agents with interests in print publications’ is a better phrase. Seriously? Vendors are knocking on agents doors to advertise in print? Surely you jest!

Print Advertising

Print Advertising is a barrier market these days. Convincing a vendor to shell out thousands of dollars for a one day advert that only competing agents look at (a little harsh yes), is hardly a good advertising investment for your vendors. The barrier market I refer to is at about $700,000, this means very few people with properties for sale under this figure would look at a print campaign, hence the ‘barrier market’. This barrier is rising by the year and in a few years print publications and interested agents will only survive on the multi million dollar vendors.

This is not to say print advertising is dead, it will survive in exclusive pockets of Australia, but to middle Australia and below, it is finished!

MMP Holdings

But wait! Why have MMP Holdings and others invested in real estate print media? You only need to read Charlie’s article from yesterday to understand why – dumb money! For some reason real estate agents in Australia are still infatuated with print media and whilst print advertising is in decline it is still a very lucrative market.

Going up against Fairfax is a tough deal and one that may play out for years. The problem for MMP Holdings is that incumbent newspapers will not give up their market share without a long costly fight and most of these publications cannot stand the heat or successfully sell back to the newspapers within a few years.

MMP Holdings will have  need to make an impact fast. Having a group of agents owning a share of the publication is not the smartest move either. We have seen how far that will get you with competing agents in the past – especially if this is disclosed to competing agents.

The biggest problem faced by MMP Holdings aside from money is infrastructure. Fairfax have so many other perks it can offer agents with zero real costs that it will make competing in the long term difficult. Remember Fairfax are combining their print and online divisions, so offering bonuses on the web for ‘loyal’ agents can make life difficult for MMP Holdings.

Funny Money

Something tells me everyone involved in this is playing with other peoples money. There are hundreds of opportunities out there to make money, why would you spend millions of dollars on an industry that will most surely die a slow and painful death?

All over Australia new glossy print companies are going up against incumbents like Fairfax and every time I read an article on this subject I just think why? Are agents that dumb that they will just continue to throw money at something that offers little value for money?

Maybe I am a web snob, but these glossy wars get a little boring after a while.

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Disclosure upfront – for over 10 years now I’ve been running a niche real estate portal and web development business. During that time, I’ve often pondered how much money was being collectively wasted on real estate print advertising. I believe that figure (in Australia alone) is now over $1 billion.

According to IBIS World Research (July 2009), real estate advertising will this year (2009/2010) reach $1.56 billion in Australia. That makes it the second largest advertising sector after fast food ($3.3bn), and is greater than auto industry ($997m), banks ($966m) and supermarkets ($774m). Now, every time I turn on the TV these days (which admittedly, is less and less) ads for burgers, cars, banks and supermarkets abound. The 4 great necessities of life I suppose. I’d imagine these guys to be spending big time.

I’d always known real estate would be spending lots too, but to see them firmly in second place (above the other named high ad spenders)?

Moreover, when you consider the fact that 55% of all property enquiry now comes from online advertising (Macquarie Bank, Real Estate Report, Nov 09) then there is something seriously wrong.

If we take the 55% as an average across the country – most of my clients tell me it’s more like 70 or 80% – then at least $850m should be spent on online advertising. However, the best guesstimate I can make is it’s actually $240m. (Frost & Sullivan’s 2008-2012 Report suggested 15% of total real estate ad spending is online). If realestate.com.au takes in $150m or so, Domain $50m and the table scraps are being picked up by the rest ($40m), this also suggests a $240mn total.

So if 55% (or more) enquiries are coming from less than 20% of the spending, where is the other 80%+ of spending going? I think we all know the answer to that one – print.

Now I know that advertising is not only about selling, it’s also about branding, differentiating and getting new listings (in the case of real estate), but how can the remaining $1.3 billion be justified if it is not creating the business enquiry of a spend one quarter of its size? (I’d also argue that branding and the rest can be done online too.)

When posed the question, most real estate agents tell me it’s because their sellers expect print ads. Even if told it is a waste. Perhaps the sellers need educating. Perhaps some agents also like to see their name in lights (well, the local rag made from dead trees anyway) and it’s a competitive forces (“they advertise all over it, so we have to be there”). How much business would be lost if they (collectively, or even unilaterally) halved their print spend? How much money would be saved?

Yes, the print spend is falling (slowly, but inexorably). However, more than a decade into the new economy I can only see justification for maybe an equal split of offline and online ad spend – say $250m each or so on each – and that still leaves a $1 billion dollar black hole.

Please excuse me while I go and have a quiet sob in a darkened room.

Photo credit: the Torus Black Hole, NASA 2003

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