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WHY Ambush Marketing is Gobbling Up The Hottest Real Estate on The Planet!

tide pools

Recently, we met with a new client. As we discussed various housing options, she mentioned a home that she had found online and fallen in love with. She couldn't remember the website, but was sure that it was one of the websites advertised on TV. We started listing off sites we knew, hoping to jolt her memory. Finally we googled a term close to what she thought the website was named

Imagine our surprise when she clicked a site on google and said, "Yes, this is it!" It was the website for our LOCAL REAL ESTATE BOARD; they don't advertise on TV. But, she did not associate the site with Realtors®. It was simply a site where she went to look for listings and had found a home that she loved!

Well, this is good news and bad news for agents and more importantly for their MLS systems. The good news was she was on a Realtor site®. The bad news...well, that's obvious. While our buyer may be an anomaly, it is a jarring indication that real estate agents and the sites they frequent will not necessarily be connected in the minds of tommorow's consumers when it comes to the buying or selling of real estate.

It would be a mistake for us to ignore the fact that in the minds of a significant number of folks...homes can be found just about any place. In fact, when she indicated that she had located the site...we turned to each other and said..."Well, that's us!" What was left unsaid was..."Wow, that's obviously not important to her!"

spider's web

Tonight, I picked up a Business Week article entitled "Ambush in Beijing." Amid all the clamour surrounding the Olympic torch and the outcry for Tibetan independence, stories like this get buried in the mix. This tale was not about a political ambush, but rather an economic one.

In what could easily be termed the Marketing Mecca of the Millennium, the Olympics in China represent an unprecedented opportunity to reach billions of people. That's why corporate sponsors like Coca-Cola, McDonald's and Samsung have not hesitated to fork out as much as 100 million each to be official global sponsors of the Beijing Olympic Games.

It's also why...according to Business Week, dozens of other companies with less rigidly formal ties have opted to create another kind of campaign. Instead of linking to the official games, these corporations have created lucrative financial agreements with Olympic athletes...the reason why the games exist in the first place. These measures are gaining traction. That is...many people are presuming that they are official sponsors and are more favorably disposed to doing business with them. It's Ambush Marketing at its' best!

I am struck by an uncanny comparison to the real estate marketplace today. While Beijing organizers have taken action against many Chinese corporations for illegal use of official logos, they have been unable to effectively reign in image associations which the athletes themselves allow.

It's not unlike the current state of affairs in which MLS systems fought for years to prevent listing information from being disseminated then found themselves outwitted by Ambush marketers like Zillow or Trulia who skillfully changed the very nature of the real estate conversation.

These companies have taken their incentives directly to the buying and selling public and presented an attractive service proposition to encourage listing and buying homes with their aid. The listing which was the fulcrum of the transaction when secured by the listing agent became a pendulum to be swung towards the most attractive information aggregator. The official sponsor, the MLS, found itself competing with sites that offered incredibly rich data gathering/sharing experiences garnered in significant measure from the listing data it created.

What agents and their MLS systems failed to understand was that the official endorsement of an MLS listing was only as valuable as the perception that this was the best method for buying or selling a home. When information was withheld, that was not difficult to argue. But today, with the wide dispersion of data, the waters are much murkier.

Most real estate consumers simply want the best possible real estate transaction "experience," something which the data centric model utilised by most agents has struggled to deliver. Like, my client, real estate consumers are more concerned about who delivers the "total package. They are less deeply vested in who owns the website where they find the listing because information is ubiquitous. A relevant, informative and interactive real estate experience is not!

This situation will continue to evolve and expand in the years ahead. The vital links in this system are the buyer and seller. The new systems for delivery will rise or fall on the basis of their ability to win the market share of each big or little piece of turf called home in a way which draws participants into engagement and thereby association.

Make no mistake about it, the hottest piece of real estate right now is not ocean front property or an expensive New York highrise condominium. Rather, it roams around daily taking in the sights and sounds of it's environment and microprocessing them into a zillion different opinions about what will influence the buying or selling decision. It is nuanced and fickle, opinionated and easily swayed. The hottest piece of real estate on the planet is mind share...it's physical address... the space between your two ears.

pictures courtesy of pdphoto.org

Lola Audu, CRS, GRI e-Pro ~ Audu Real Estate

Lola Audu, is the Designated Broker & Owner of Audu Real Estate. Our company specializes in helping people buy and sell homes in the greater Grand Rapids, West Michigan area. We've had the privilege of helping hundreds of clients succeed in their goals of purchasing and selling property including demonstrated success in the negotiation of Short Sale Transactions. You can contact us via e-mail @ info@auduhomes.com or by phone at 616-791-0511.

Posted by Lola Audu~Real Estate Broker/Owner Grand Rapids, Michigan Real Estate on 04/08/2008 09:48 PM

Comments (55)

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Originally posted at: Inspired Real Estate For Today: WHY Ambush Marketing is Gobbling Up The Hottest Real Estate on The Planet!

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55 Comments on WHY Ambush Marketing is Gobbling Up The Hottest Real Estate on The Planet!

APR

2008

He who controls the information controls the market. You are right the public absolutely does not care who they get the information from. There is nothing that builds loyalty until they get to the point where they want to see an actual house and decide to interact with an agent. At that point it will often be the first one they came across, because as you pointed out they have not paid any attention to whose site they were getting the information off of.

Very insightful as usual. The consumers have no idea how they get to a site -- or who "owns" the site as you point out. The consumer also is under the mistaken belief that "finding the house" is the end all and be all -- they don't understand the process or the value the Realtor (r) brings to the table.

Lola,

Great points. I give my clients our MLS address and they still go to Realtor.com, etc. I explain that our MLS is real time and the same info that I use just not the particulars for the REALSTORS but still they don't get it - we are www.lynchburgmls.com and it is our Lynchburg Association of REALTORS web site. I think it's so funny because the other web sites are not up to date and of course ours is real time. The clients want to prove that they know more than we do - frustrating because they are looking at their one type of property not at everything - so they love to one up us. I love it when I have to search by price and county because that's all they can remember or even use a picture - so how many McMansions can you tell apart?

Oh well all part of the game - and if it was easy everyone would do it!!!

Kathy

Hi Pam, Thanks for the comment. If we misunderstand the nature of the connection, we will continue to focus on the wrong thing. In this case most sites which are agent centric tend to be content focused. The effectiveness of that model is rapidly diminishing.

It is true the average consumer does not care where they get there information from. Their perception is their reality.

Hi Joan, Thanks for your comment. You know, I don't really think it matters that the consumer doesn't know who owns the site as much as the fact that increasingly there is a disconnect between real estate agents and the "real estate conversation"...which has always been about more than just listings. A home listing is an important data connection, but it's not the REASON people live in community. The industry has not done well in framing the content (our listing data) within this larger context.

Hi Kathy, Thanks for your comment. What you describe is something that every agent has probably encountered at least once. Most people don't even know what they don't know. Many times, websites are giving outdated information and people call to find out a home has been Sold! The MLS is an incredible resource, but it must retool if it expects to be deemed relevant to suit the inclinations of today's consumer.

I had one of these "wow" moments yesterday. I ran into a client who I had closed two weeks ago. I asked her how the move was, if she was able to find her way around, anything I could help with. She says she does have a question. Since I am affiliated with, insert large franchise name here, can I help them find out why a real estate deal on land they have in the Bahamas is held up. As that agent is with "big franchise". I tell her I am not associated with big franchise and she tells me, "But I found you on their web site."

With so many different sites out there, seems like there is a new one every day anymore, it's hard to determine how the consumer gets to you.

Ryan...in marketing, as is the case in much of life...perception creates reality. That does not bode particularly well for our industry.

JoEllen, Thanks for your comment. Overall, I think the cumulative effect of all of this is confusion. People find information all over the place and have no way of necessarily determining it's viability and true importance to them. As agents we have not consistently and clearly defined our value or unique service propositon. Our message has tended to be fragmented...so, increasingly, is the publics' response.

Lola,

This change is going to affect the way agents work. I tried to bring it up before, not succeeded though.

Many agents are trying to weather the slow market, and expect to come back to 2004-2005 market, it is very unlikely that it is going to happen this way. Agent may find themselves not as needed as before.

It is a major shift, and we are not ready for it. We may be talking about the value of the Realtor, but as you note, what is important is how the customers see it. With all the values, Realtors may end up preaching in the desert.

My biggest concern has always been that as our MLS information is disseminated to so many different sites, it is changed and ends up being far from the information we originally gathered and carefully prepared and entered into our MLS. And Realtor.com is one of the worst! Their system has listings that sold or were withdrawn, months ago! The public thinks they're getting actual MLS listings, but they're not. They're being misled. So when they finally think they've found a house they want to see, they're in for a rude awakening when it's nothing like what was listed on the site that was not really the MLS. They don't realize that they do not have direct access to the real information. They're just being misled.

Jon, Thanks for sharing your insights. I think you are right in your observation that many agents are thinking that we will "Go Back to the Future." Discussion of the market recovery is couched in terms reminiscent of the good old days. I don't think this will be the case either. This is more than just a challenging market...it's a paradigm shift. Since both are occurring simultaneously, the truth of this emerging reality remains temporarily obscured to many. Your statement about "preaching in the dessert" is striking. :)

Yep, Lisa...and think about it...if the listing is ALL you bring to the experience and you fail to do that efficiently, what have you revealed about your business model? That's one reason why a local MLS which understands the unique opportunity to provide local insight and analysis which a national aggregator cannot could actually prosper in times like this.

Holy Moly, what a GREAT post. I had to read it twice it was so well written. I remember a few years back when clients would call me and tell me they were searching the MLS last night and found a home they like. I made sure to always tell them that they were not searching the MLS and that only Realtors had access to the system. It has taken some education to get people to understand what they are really looking at, and I think it is starting to sink in.

Great post! Definitely makes you think about the future of our business. Like Sam Cooke sang, "a change gon' come." It's a matter of will we as an industry position ourselves to be ready.

Really great post. You are correct, consumers want information and we should give them as much as possible at all times.

You are right that the information we have in our head is valuable. That's good, because we as an industry are giving away so much information, it becomes a commodity. We have to bring other value to the transaction.

Nowadays, real estate information is everywhere just as you mentioned in your post (very good one by the way). Technology and information are changing constantly and Realtors have to keep up with it or they will fall behind. Maybe a buyer will not remember whose website they were on last week but they will never forget an agent's superb customer service.

What is really a funny (odd) development is that consumers believe they have so much information that can be easily found, and yet it may not be that credible. Another reason that working with a knowledgeable agent is beneficial in winnowing out the chaff (the misinformation) and zeroing in on real data for their clients.

Agents may end up becoming not the gatekeepers of information, but the traffic cops for directing information and stopping misinformation!

APR

2008

Thank you for the information. Consumers only care about their interests. That is all we need to know.

You're a very talented writer - I just subscribed. Look forward to more posts and digging into your archives.

Lola-I don't know why I bother to read my Real Estate magazine....you say things so much better, and they make sense :) another great piece, and one that I want to think about some....:) I have to think and then I will know to what extent I agree or not.....but regardless, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this.

Lola,

You are so right. it is great the consumers can find us via the web and our local MLS's. They don't seem to remember how they got there.

Wow, you nailed that one. Our MLS comes up high when a buyer puts in Search the Ann Arbor MLS, I'm on page 1 but they are higher. Wonderful perspective, Lola. Congratualtios on the feature.

The average consumer? No wonder the government gets away with whatever they want!

Lola,

I think you're "right on" with this article. Good information.

Lola,

Great article. I beleive that the easier it is for the consumer to get information, the more value a buyers rep will have. Buyers will need help buying a house not finding one.

It is inevitable that it will only get easier to find information on the Internet. In addition, as the non-Internet people phase out of this world, they will be replaced with Internet-savy people. This will ensure that the current trend continues.

Buyers will still need a buyers agent, an attorney, a mortgage, etc...But, there may be less use for a listing agent. This is probably why they are already dismissing the source.

Lola, yesterday we had our quarterly office meeting. During it the topic of "One system - one point of entry" came up. In a nutshell we are all trying to find ways for our collective multilist systems and boards to play in the sandbox nicely together and share information freely with one point of entry.

Why? Because the consumers are clearly finding information on their own, searching on their own and being successful at it.

Awesome article.

This is a great article, Lola, but I'm not sure I get what you mean.

Surely the point is not how they find you but the value they get when there. Isn't it true to say that the bulk of a realtor's business is from referrals? Aren't you a relationship business? Why, then, does it matter about all these sites with information on them? I would have thought that was a good thing - it gets a property publicized in the widest way possible thereby finding a buyer faster than the old method. Better that than the buyer stumbling around with a dozy realtor who doesn't understand the difference between what buyer says they want and what they really need... who doesn't show you listing becuase he or she doesn't get it?

A realtor's value picks up after the home has been seen. Is just getting buyers to a home the best use of a realtors expertise? In this regards, proliferating information sites that showcase homes would be a good thing, surely?

I want my realtor to negotiate for me, to keep the deal together, to keep track of the myriad of details and get the deal done. I'd love it if they knew the whole story on a home I'm looking at, but few will tell you even if they do. I'd love it if they were able to read my dreams and translate what I'm seeing in my mind's eye into an option on the ground. They're not mindreaders, I acknowledge, and that's a tall order... but I'm terrified of confiding in a realtor for fear they'll use my words to close me on an option my heart isn't connnected to.

But what do I know? I'm just an investor, stager and homeowner, who has bought and lived in 14 houses in my lifetime thus far...and long forgotten all the rentals in Manhattan!

Lola,

I'm certainly far from an expert on internet marketing but I have found one truth to be true. The consumers trolling the net in my market simply don't care who owns the site or what brand name is affiliated with the site. They want information and they want it now--not ten minutes from now and not two phone calls from now. The sites with the best data provided in a clean easy to use format will win the day.

I have three clients today from a simple site I created and they all loved using because it provided them with everything they wanted the instant they wanted it.

Tim

Fascinating and insightful as always. Coincidentally, some of my best buyers right now are not on our MLS notification systems but have elected to search on their own. These are intelligent people how know how to use the Internet to get the information they want. It has not diminished my role but it is truly a change in the way we have been handling listing searches.

Lola, As usual very insightful and so true. As you bring out, this comes down to the individual MLS's fighting over who owns the information. And we've heard the cases for both sides of this argument. But you are so right, the buyer doesn't care where they get their information from, they just want it. Nor does the seller care, they just want that information out there for the buyer to gather. I don't have a problem with it. Let them find the information and then let me be the facilitator. Congrats on the feature. Well deserved.

I find that clients who announce they found their 'dream home' online and often mistaken. When researched, the properties are often no longer available or they are misrepresented.

Congratulations on the feature, Lola. Well deserved. I have increasingly found that consumers are finding homes all over the place but don't necessairily reall where, whose site it is, where the information comes from, etc. Nor do they really seem to care, as long as they find what they need. Makessense to me.

Many don't have any loyalty to any one site but are using multiple ones. Now that may be because the sites do not all have the same information, which raises questions about the usefulness. It does make one think about how to best advise folks intheri searching, as well as to ensure they can get what they want from our sites.

Jeff

Lola- very poignant post- but as you pointed out manufacturers like Coca Cola offer many different flavors to appeal to a broader scope of their market. Same will apply to Real Estate and Marketing. With So many sites on the Internet, over time saturation could confuse buyers. Ultimately she ended up in your office and that's what it is all about.

Wow, bam....very insightful. Yes, there is a battle going on to conquer the mind of consumers. There are so many web companies wanting to be the authority and have listings on their site. Some competition is good, but this is overkill. Sometimes too much choice can hurt the consumer ....and us. Like it or not, Realtor.com competes with each of us. What all those websites can't do is give personal service and that's where we have the upper hand. Those websites can't transact the deal.

I agree with Jeff. Clients are all over the place and whoever makes it the easiest to search, save searches, and not harass them seem to be the ones my clients like the best.

Seriously, source is inconsequential. As long as they get what they want. I think the shift is coming though. People will make purchases based on more than simple aesthetic, price and "keeping up with the Jones'". It has to change - the planet won't be able to tolerate anything less.

Thank you for this blog - it was a good one!

Lola: We always try to track where our calls are coming from. I answer the majority of the incoming calls myself and have found that, most often, if the consumer is calling from a web-site, they don't know what web site, unless they are still on it. Most don't care about what site they were on, they just know what they found. What we try to educate them on is the fact that, although listing information is available all over the web, we have access to the most up to date and detailed information. We never know where folks are gonna find us, so we just try to be everywhere. You never know where someone might look.

I'm sure that was definitely a surprise. But I can honestly say, I get confused what site I am on when I am online searching for things.

Lola...

Mind Share? Should I be concerned? :)

Sounds a bit like Time Share and not to mention the fact you are making up phrases.

I am so totally impressed :)

P.S. Got your e and I agree :)

TLW...ROAR!

I stopped asking buyer callers which site they saw the listing on because they almost always said Realtor.com.

I have no presence on Realtor.com. They ran into one of my web sites and found my IDX site.

The public do not understand how these things work.

KIND OF MAKES ME FEEL STUPID TO BE PAYING THE RIDICULOUS MLS FEES THE BOARD CHARGES.

I don't want to say the money makes the world goes around, but the longer I am in business world, the more I am finding it's true, at least on a corporate level. The players are becoming money commodity and products for corporations to push products. I have been playing around with facebook lately, and I am finding it's the same thing. The new "Page" feature is really another way, or even the Apps, are ways for advertisers to push more products in a more subtle way.

I recently set up a Page myself: http://tinyurl.com/3jryvf. (Figure I should push mine as well :D ) and I am interested in finding out how viral this can be for small businesses vs. big corporation names where they have the viral audience in place already on FB.

Cheers,

Cindy

APR

2008

The consumer today is super intelligent, more informed, enlightened, and willing to search for the information they need to make their decisions. If industry people would approach their customers this way that might increase their attraction of these new consumers(buyers & sellers)

Keenan

Great post! A lot to digest in there.

1st Part- This is why I strongly believe that you should have your listings on as many websties as you think it makes sense to be on. Consumers look at a minimum of 5 different sites when searching online and the chances that they remember the exact site that made them take action is slim. We all know that repetition in advertising works and this applies online too. Sometimes it isn't about a specific site working, it is about the consumer seeing your listing over and over no matter what site they are on, and eventually one of them will make them click.

2nd Part- Many Zillow needs to start sending tshirts and hats out to Realtors that say "sponsored by Zillow". Wait, that is what your broker does... guess that is out. It is amazing how much money is spent to promote a 75 cent can of pop. You have to sell a lot of pop to re coop that campaign!

3rd Part- Couldn't agree more that listing information is ubiquitous. From an online perspective, this means sites have to build a business model or a consumer magnet off of something more than listing information (enter blogs or zestimates). From a human perspective, you are exactly right that you need to use what's between your ears to differentiate yourself. This is what will make you memorable and will deliver 'the total package'.

Another great post!

APR

2008

You bring up very interesting points.

APR

2008

Hi Lola...Great presentation written to be comprehended and right on target. Well worth the gold star!

Bravo!

Kathleen

Thank you all for the comments, insights and engaged discussion. I took some time to enjoy a Spring vacation, but I'm glad to see that this post caused many of us to think about the systems that we utilise everyday with a different perspective.

I have looked at your site and will be linking to you from Alanson, Grand Rapids, Grandville, Hastings, Holland, Hudsonville, Shelbyville, Wyoming, MI. (And I have made a list of all the others who posted here and will review their sites for inclusion.) I have been building REindex.com, The Site Engine for 8 years. My goal is to address the issues you write about.

Happy Listing and Selling!

APR

2008

If a website pretty much contains the same information as every other website out there, then there is no reason for someone to remember it. You just have another site with listings. Sites that are able to offer something unique will get remembered.

Lola, great post! I particularly like your closing line about the hottest real estate market on the planet - so true!

APR

2008

You are correct in saying consumers don't care where the information comes from. We spend so much on our web sites and so often they have no idea where they were............

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Address: 3659 Alpine NW, Suite 102, Grand Rapids, MI, 49321

Office Phone: (616) 791-0511

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