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The new mantra - "Personality Branding" - supported by leading research

Hmmm, I wonder if I can trademark the term? Because it really gets agents and brokers to pay attention and listen up. Well, folks, consider it trademarked..."Personality Branding"...what you as a real estate professional can do through one type of presentation more than any other. That's VIDEO! And not just any ole video...especially not the animated slide shows with simple musical accompaniment that sometimes pass themselves off as "video". I'm talking about professionally produced, high-quality, high-resolution property and personal videos that present the listing/marketing agent first-person...right there on camera...walking and talking and showing the property just like you would to a motivated buyer at an open house. "Personality Branding" (TM, ok?) should be the new marketing mantra...beyond "personal branding" which we all hear and read so much about. And Borrell Associates, one of the top national executive level research and forecasting firms in the online space, concludes in a recent report: "Video advertising may be one of the most attractive options to Realtors. Most agents spend as much time marketing themselves as they do advertising their inventory, and video advertising could be the perfect branding opportunity – less expensive than broadcast TV, but more effective than a color picture of themselves in a local homes magazine or the newspaper." So, you read it here first - "Personality Branding". It's the new wave that will provide lift and excitement to the agents who get it and do it. FYI - check out the new destination site where agents in Hampton Roads, Virginia, get it and do it - www.RexNet.tv - Internet Television for Real Estate. Technorati Profile

Posted by Norvell Rose on 06/11/2007 09:03 PM

Comments (8)

branding, personal branding, video, video tour, marketing, online marketing, advertising, promotion

8 Comments on The new mantra - "Personality Branding" - supported by leading research

JUN

2007

Nice; I checked it out. Wonder what one video on one house would cost? I have a house here in California I would LOVE to do it for right now!

JUN

2007

Greetings!

Thanks for the response to my post.

I will convey your inquiry to our DiRextor of Sales, Ethan Marten. He can fill in the blanks.

Best Regards,

Norvell Rose
www.rexnet.tv

Interesting stuff! Thanks for sharing it!

Dawn, you're welcome. Any further interest in exploring the possibilities of "Personality Branding" with "Progressive Video Engagement" (we're chock full of cute phrases!), please get in touch.

Norvell Rose
www.RexNet.tv

JUN

2007

One potential wrinkle - if an agent appears in the video, does that constitute branding? If so, then the video cannot be attached to the listing on most MLS systems throughout the country. They're VERY controlling and VERY picky when it comes to that sort of thing, which is why I've stayed away from it. (which I think is absurd, so don't get me started) Anybody have any experience successfully attaching a video WITH an agent on camera to an MLS listing? Or does that violate one of their archaic rules? Can you have an agent on camera without mentioning their name or company affiliation and get away with it?

If so, then do you create a video that is "personality branded" and just not bother with the MLS? Or do you make two versions of the video,

JUN

2007

Hi, Fred. Thanks for the post.

As you well know, the "issue" you cite is just one of many potential wrinkles. Many, if not most, MLS systems frown (wrinkle-producing frowns indeed!) on attaching or linking branded "anything" to their pristine listing data...in their controlled sytems. However, at the risk of sounding naively cavalier (I did go to the University of Virginia, if you get my reference), that doesn't really bother me. Here's why...

The days of MLS "protectionism" are limited, if not already over. No longer are the systems the sole, primary, necessary or even preferred source of direct listing info for online consumers. Agents, ok, but not consumers - not the buyers and sellers we're reaching out to. And www.RexNet.tv is a consumer-facing marketplace. We're much more concerned with what consumers want, than with what MLS's restrict.

In other words, our true value prop to the online world is a video-rich experience. A branded, highly visible, aggressively promoted video-rich experience. Agents, brokers, builders and developers can link to their Rex media from a wide and wonderful world of effective sources other than their MLS systems.

In a nutshell, that's why I'm not fretting (or frowning) over this "issue". We're alll about branding - "Personality Branding" (TM) - and while our personalized videos may not be directly available via the MLS database, we are available via so many other consumer-focused sources that the "wrinkle" doesn't put a crimp in our plans.

Thanks, Fred, for bringing this up, because it offered me the chance to explain another vital aspect of the vision for www.RexNet.tv!

Norvell Rose
Founder, CEO

Oh, I totally agree with that. Convincing agents of that is not as easy as it should be. (it's the same uphill battle as convincing sellers that even though their house doesn't appear in the local newspaper, it's getting more exposure elsewhere - it's ALWAYS been in the paper and that's where they THINK it should be. You can do those 'other things' too... just make sure it's in the local paper).

My argument here locally is that the virtual tours on the MLS are seen by agents (which is not a bad thing) and consumers who actually GO to the MLS's website, which I assume is not that many (consumers aren't aware of the MLS site really). The virtual tours from the MLS are NOT translated out to 3rd party IDX vendors, so they do not appear on ANY other agent's IDX sites. They also are not fed into corporate websites (such as Coldwell Banker) that get direct feeds from the MLS.

So there's really (in my opinion) very little lost by NOT having a virtual tour on MLS. However, old habits die hard, and it's not as easy to convince agents of that. I think there is far more benefit in the actual branding of the video itself as it will be seen in more places, but old habits die hard. It's a new world out there...

But in time, i'm sure.....

Hey, Fred.

We're on the same page, buddy. A brave new world?

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