I was reading the news online earlier this week and saw a story about the renaming of the Sears Tower in Chicago. As of Thursday, the tallest building in North America will be known as Willis Tower, after the third largest insurance broker, which has leased 140,000 square feet of space in the landmark property. All I could think of when I first heard the new name was Gary Coleman's character on Different Strokes saying "What you talking about Willis?"
But as I thought more about it, what stood out to me was "How the heck are they going to get people to call it by its new name?" Sears Tower is 36 years old. I remember when it opened because it was then the tallest building in the world. In Chicago, it is an architectural icon. People don't respond well to changing ideas or impressions of things that become familiar to them. Decades later, the MetLife building in New York is still referred to by long time residents as The Pan Am Building... And Pan Am, the global airline, hasn't flown in nearly 2 decades! ValuJet Airlines' reputation became so tainted by their safety issues related to a crash in the Florida Everglades that they had to change their name to Air Tran to lure fliers back! And Ford discontinued their Edsel line because even though they changed so much of what was unappealing about the original design of the car, the first impression of the brand was so strongly negative that they could not shake that image.
This brings me to my point... In real estate, we work to build name recognition and visibility for ourselves and our businesses. We build our reputations through our marketing, our networking, our branding and how we treat others, not only our clients, but our colleagues as well. We have so many opportunities to build our reputation and, if we are successful, the impression we make and leave will not only be positive, but will also be a long lasting and lingering one.
Branding is more than logos, websites, ads and pay-per-click campaigns. It is the experience, treatment and impression that clients and prospective clients walk away with after encountering those marketing campaign elements or their interaction with you. As a former marketing director, one of the first things that needs to take place when creating a brand is a definition of what the brand is and what it stands for. The rest of marketing is about bringing that defined experience and impression to your audience.
Failure to define your brand (and remember, you are your brand and its ambassador in many cases) can lead to a lasting impression that is different than you would have hoped for. You do have a choice in how people react when they hear someone mention that you are their REALTOR®... They can say something like "Wow, I hear that _______ is an outstanding agent... his/her professional reputation is outstanding and I hear he/she is such a nice person." Or they can say "What you talking about, Willis?"
The choice is yours... and remember, just like the Sears Tower, once you are easily identifiable and have an established reputation, it's not easy to get people to change their minds about you!
Comments(8)