March 11, 2025 • 23 mins
Episode Summary
In this insightful episode of PropTech Pulse, hosted by Jake Hamilton, welcomes Marc Davison, co-founder of 1000watt and a 25-year veteran of the real estate industry. Davison shares his expert perspective on the science of branding in real estate, distinguishing between true branding and simple marketing tactics. The conversation explores common branding mistakes, highlights companies that excel at brand building, and offers practical advice on creating meaningful connections with clients beyond transactions.
Topics Covered
- The fundamental difference between branding and marketing
- Common branding mistakes in real estate
- Examples of successful real estate brands
- The importance of customer-centric storytelling
- Technology's role in brand enhancement
- Creating "reasons to believe" through actions and content
- Strategies for standing out in a competitive marketplace
Key Quotes
- "Branding is the action you take as a company to create some kind of emotional connection with your audience."
- "You can't say something that you are and then not have any activated proof that that exists in the world."
- "There are very few brands in real estate, really. Most of them think they're brands. But if you were to say to somebody, 'What do they do besides sell real estate?' no one would be able to answer that."
- "What a brand does... is it tells the stories of the success of its clientele—the hero's journey. The customer is the hero."
- "If there's no room for me to see myself within your story, brand is not happening."
- "It's not that you have tech, but it's the ingenious ways in which you can use your tech to blow somebody away."
About Marc Davison
Marc Davison is a co-founder of 1000watt, a creative agency dedicated to helping real estate companies build meaningful brands. With over 25 years of experience in the industry, Davison has worked with numerous brokerages, MLSs, and technology companies to develop and refine their brand strategies. His expertise lies in helping organizations move beyond surface-level marketing to create authentic emotional connections with their audiences.
Highlighted Real Estate Brands
- Slifer Smith & Frampton (Colorado)
- Hawaii Life
- Michael Saunders & Company (Sarasota, Florida)
https://www.lwolf.com/podcast
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_02 (00:00):
From the entrepreneur's desk to the
industry from the lines and intoreal world operations.
SPEAKER_03 (00:06):
I'm Aaron Cardell, joined by Kyle Hunter and Jake
Hamilton.
And we're here to take the pulseof real estate technology in
just 20 minutes.
SPEAKER_02 (00:13):
All right.
Well, want to welcome everyoneto this episode of Prop Tech
Pulse.
We're here with Mark Davison,one of the founders of Thousand
Watt Real Estate Vet.
He's been in the space for over25 years and brings a ton of
value to brokerages, techproviders, really everyone in
the industry through theinsights he brings to brand, to
(00:36):
marketing, and to reallydelivering on the experience
that we all look for as bothreal estate brokers and agents
and then tech companies as well.
So, Mark, it's it's great tohave you on the show.
Yeah, thank you, Jay.
Happy to be here.
Awesome.
Well, we're super excited.
Mark has helped Lone Wolf withour rebrand.
Super excited to unveil newcolors, new logo as we launch
(00:59):
into this next generation ofreal estate.
And as part of that, we justwanted to bring Mark to our
listeners, to our customers, uh,to share some of the insights he
has on real estate branding andon the experience as a whole.
So, Mark, really excited to getyour perspective.
Um, you know, in the time you'vebeen in the real estate space,
branding has evolvedsignificantly.
(01:21):
What are the biggest changesyou've seen in how real estate
branding has changed and howreal estate brands connect with
their consumers?
SPEAKER_00 (01:31):
Oh boy, you're just throwing me right into the deep
end, huh?
Absolutely.
That's that's what we do.
Uh okay.
Um well, I think fundamentallybranding has not changed.
Um I I'm a big advocate for umwhat I would call the science of
(01:52):
branding.
It's a science.
Um because when you think aboutwhat branding actually is, it it
is the action you take as acompany to create some kind of
emotional connection with youraudience.
So somewhere in the transmissionof information, you're radiating
(02:14):
out and creating a connectivity.
That's what branding is, yourbranding, or like it's like
we're talking right now, it'sthe same thing.
Companies communicate throughthis thing we call branding, but
it's communication.
Um, and if people on the otherend pick up on it and feel
something from it, uh then thenbrand happens.
(02:36):
Um and uh so it's kind of achemical, it's a there's a
chemical reaction there.
So branding as a thing has beena consistent reality for you
know for eons.
Um it's it's uh I think theancient Egyptians were the first
(02:57):
culture to invent the idea oflike literally branding their
livestock.
In other words, saying thislivestock is ours by putting a
mark on it.
Well, brands do the same thing.
It's saying these customers areours and we are theirs through
this transmission of branding.
So that has not changed at all.
(03:18):
What has changed in real estate,I think, has been a um maybe a
slightly deeper layer ofunderstanding that branding is
something more than just puttinga lot of like yard signs around
and having people recognize youruh you're now.
Oh, oh, there's broker A.
I see there's signs everywhere.
(03:38):
People used to think that thatwas branding.
That's not branding, that's justname recognition and it's
marketing.
So I think what's changed is toa degree, there's a slightly
deeper layer of understandingaround what I just said and how
to actually do branding beyondjust like making signs or
(04:00):
putting flyers.
In other words, branding issomething deeper than just
marketing.
SPEAKER_02 (04:06):
Yeah, that's that's great.
I really love the point there onbranding being that first
defining part of therelationship between you and a
customer, and a customer andyou.
Um and it's this area that'sfraught with ways that you can
stand out, ways that you canappeal to different consumers,
different profiles, uh,different people who might come
(04:28):
to your business.
But it's also this area whereyou can make meaningful missteps
and mistakes that tarnish yourbrand and reputation.
What are some of those mistakesand some of the pitfalls that
you see agents and brokers fallinto that you you'd advise
people, hey, watch out for this.
What's most important whenthey're thinking about those
(04:49):
components?
SPEAKER_00 (04:50):
Oh, okay.
I'm gonna have to wheel out a55-gallon drum of a list.
All right, I'm gonna stop in noparticular order, but this is
hitting me most importantly.
The first mistake you make ishaving somebody running your
marketing department who doesn'tknow what branding is.
So I we got very lucky with likethis project with Lone Wolf
(05:12):
because Lisa knows what brandingis.
Like her and I share the sameunderstanding, which is the
understanding that every brandagency or every brand person at
a company understands that it'sit's a scientific, chemical
thing, and companies have toactually do things to manifest
branding.
(05:32):
The biggest mistake I see isthat there are people at the
helm of marketing departmentswho think marketing is branding,
uh, and who think that brandingis just recognition.
Um, and that's all they know.
And so, if that's all they know,then everything you're
attempting to do to manifestthat emotional connection with
(05:55):
the world, it's not going tohappen.
You're not creating any of it.
And and that cascades into allthe other things then that go
wrong, which is inconsistenteverything.
Um, so I'll give you an example.
I ran into this just the otherday.
Uh, we sent a new client aquestionnaire to fill out, and
(06:19):
they fill out all thesequestions that I'm asking them
about their brand.
In other words, I'm trying todig into the personality of the
company, and I see all theseanswers, and then I go to look
for proof to substantiatewhatever they've told me.
I can't find a single aspect ofproof.
So, like one of the questionswas um, what do you do besides,
(06:43):
you know, what if you were toanswer the question, what is it
that you do?
But you can't say we help peoplebuy and sell real estate.
Um their response was, well, wehelp people um navigate and find
themselves, find that they'refind themselves within the
community that's right for them.
(07:05):
Okay, that's a great answer.
So I go to their website,there's not a single stitch of
information at all about thecommunity.
So this is the this isillustrative of like you can't
say something that you are andthen not have any activated
proof that that exists in theworld.
So if you say you're into X,then everybody should see it,
(07:25):
feel it, there should be proof,or we call like reasons to
believe.
Real estate is very good aboutbroadcasting lots of good
sounding sound bites.
But then when you go to try tofind living proof of that, uh
it's not there.
So, you know, the the uh thesyndrome of like best kept
(07:48):
secret.
Like we're such a great company.
How come nobody knows about usor no knows what we do?
It's like because you don't tellanybody, it's not evident.
Uh and um I think that back toyour first question, what's
starting to happen is people arestarting to realize that they
(08:08):
need to manifest their value inways that become a little a lot
more evident to the world.
SPEAKER_01 (08:17):
Um and there's somebody in real estate that's
doing a really good job of thatright now.
SPEAKER_00 (08:26):
Oh, Lisa, that's a fantastic question.
And I want to think about that.
I mean, my first response wouldalways be to go to like a client
we've worked with.
Yeah, because A, I'm aware ofwhat they're doing intimately,
so I can speak to it.
Plus, like they came here tohelp us to help them do that.
Right.
Okay.
(08:50):
Well, I think about you guys.
Like, do you remember after wegot done with the logo work?
We began working on all of thisdocumentation, and and this was
your agenda.
We have to create living,breathing reasons to believe.
So to work through all the copyto make sure that like all the
great things that we do as acompany, it's very evident to
(09:11):
the people who come and readdifferent things.
Um, there's a brokerage inColorado, uh, Slifer Smith and
Frampton, who are extraordinarycommunicators of their value
proposition.
Uh, Hawaii Life is probably um,I'm gonna say something
controversial because I'm youknow, I can't help myself, but
(09:35):
it's it's also truthful.
There are very few brands inreal estate, really.
Most of them think they'rebrands, but like if you were to
say to somebody, well, what dothey do besides sell real
estate?
No one would be able to answerthat.
And uh, if you were to asksomebody, what does Nike do
besides selling shoes, there'dbe an answer to that.
(09:57):
Um, or what does Apple representin the world beyond devices?
You'd be able to answer that.
But there are some brokeragesthat when you look at their
logo, hear their name, youconjure up bigger, different
stories above and beyond theutility or their functionality.
Um and uh so Hawaii Life is anabsolute uh brand of perfection
(10:23):
in my mind.
Um, they represent somethingbigger than buying and selling
real estate.
Uh Michael Saunders in inSarasota, Florida, an awesome
company that is uh um known formore than just the utility.
So yeah, um I think there aresome tech companies.
(10:46):
Uh I mean, obviously you guys,uh, and I'm not just saying
that, but you know, we did thework, so we know that like Lone
Wolf is a brand.
Um people tie, so how how do Iapply that to you guys?
If I were to say to somebody,what does Lone Wolf do?
They say, well, they provide alot of technology.
Um, if I were to say to them,well, what do they do for you?
(11:08):
Like describe the relationshipor the benefit.
Uh, because we've done thatwork, we've asked people.
And what they go into, itdoesn't mention the technology.
It mentions, oh, you know, theymake us more successful, they
make us more organized.
Now they're starting to speak interms of like what we call brand
talk.
(11:29):
Um, so yeah, you know, um, Idon't know any real estate
agents who are brands, exceptthat they all think that they're
brands, but you know, they'renot they're they're they're
well-known images, you know,they're known in the community,
but they're not brands yet.
Um, what's that, Lisa?
SPEAKER_01 (11:47):
I was thinking like that's a good question, like as
a marketer, right?
To ask yourself going in, like,what how do I get beyond
utility?
How am I?
I think those are the questionsyou asked me when we started the
right getting beyond, oh, wesell tech or we have software.
Like, what is that beyond?
What is it helping?
And I think people if people askthemselves that question, you
get to the heart of your brand.
(12:08):
But it it is a lot of time spentasking those questions and
digging deeper and peeling awaythat onion, and then also to
figure out you know the reasonsto believe.
So the most important part ofbranding is you can't just say
you're something, you actuallyhave to be something and act as
something, right?
So unless you know what that isand how to get everyone on the
(12:30):
board for that, it the colorsand all of that won't matter.
SPEAKER_00 (12:33):
So I think that's no.
I mean, you can say you're abrand.
Everybody's the right toidentify any way they want.
Uh and so you want to be a youwant to say you're a brand, go
ahead.
Uh the thing is, there's novalue there unless other people
can say that.
Right.
And if other people can say, oh,well, yeah, they're definitely a
(12:54):
brand, and here's why they're abrand, and and their their
reason is beyond.
Uh, you know, I've had theseconversations, you know,
intimate ones with individuallike agents, and they go, well,
we're a brand.
What's what's the brand basedon, well, we're like, we do a
great job.
It's like, but you're supposedto do a great job.
(13:15):
That's your job to do a greatjob.
Uh you don't build brand arounddoing your job.
It's you have to, you know, thelocal coffee shop who makes good
coffee is just a local coffeeshop that makes good coffee.
They're not a brand.
Um, and and so like we couldspend hours and hours like
delving into the triggers thatuh now I think it's possible for
(13:36):
some agents to, but they have toget beyond themselves.
And this is important for allcompanies.
You can't be a brand if all youever talk about is yourself.
There was uh, you know, JosephCampbell wrote a book called The
Hero's Journey, and then DonaldMiller took that and created
Story Brand.
And I think if you've readeither one of them, what you, or
(14:00):
if you read both, you realizethat like the job of a of a job
of a company or a job of abusiness is to uh create
products, put products out inthe world, uh, keep perfecting
those products, making it betterso people continue to buy them
over and over again and build agood reputation.
(14:21):
That's what a business does.
What a brand does, above andbeyond that, is it tells the
stories of success of itsclientele, it's the hero's
journey.
The customer is the hero.
So if all your marketing, allyour storytelling centers around
how great you are and howwonderful you look on a here's
(14:42):
my picture here, and here's mypicture there, you're not
branding.
You're putting your image out tothe world.
Um, but if there's no room forme to see myself within your
story, brand is not happening.
And um it is a sacred thingbecause if you could make it
happen and remote every where Ilive, there's really only one
(15:06):
way out into the world.
I'm way remote.
So when I head out into theworld, I eventually pass a
shopping center that has a bigstep band parked at the edge of
it with a real estate agent, abig picture of the agent with a
a basketball spinning on hisfinger.
(15:26):
Um that the belief is that he'sbranding as what a realtor that
spins a basketball.
Like, how does that benefit me?
Where am I in that storyline?
And until I can see myself inthat or in something else,
(15:47):
there's just I recognize thatthat's a popular thing, but
there's not like this thingcalled brand.
Um, but when there is, the valueof that is tenfold.
SPEAKER_02 (16:01):
Right.
It's really trying to figure outwhere am I driving a brand,
where am I driving an experiencefor my customer versus, where am
I driving familiarity andrecognition?
And I think those two are kindof a lot of what people get
confused on or do familiarityover a brand.
(16:22):
Um with that, I want to pivot alittle bit, Mark.
And you know, as agents listen,as people are thinking about
driving this brand and drivingan experience and something
that's more than just I sellreal estate, what are the ways
that they can bring togetherbranding and technology to
really drive that home, drivethat messaging and make it clear
(16:43):
out in the marketplace andreally clear who they are and
the value they provide?
SPEAKER_00 (16:50):
So if I understand the question is how how can
agents and brokers usetechnology to enhance brand?
Yes.
I have a feeling you want me tosay something here that I I
can't say.
Uh I want you to say exactlywhat you want to say.
(17:12):
I I I don't think technology isambient.
It's just ambient.
Um, it's really a conveniencething.
So uh sure, if if you as aservice provider are using a
technology to create moreconvenience, that's cool.
But like to my point earlier,that's expected.
(17:35):
Like, do you ever get into a cabwhen you just can't get the Uber
and you're sitting back theregoing, Really?
Like I have to tell you how toget to where I'm we're going, or
I gotta put my credit card in atthe end.
Like there's now thisexpectation that you should just
be able to get into any kind ofa you know a livery service and
just they know where to go, andyou arrive and you can get out
(17:58):
the door.
Um, so arguably the tech is nolonger like even Uber's brand,
you know, magic.
It's not that, it is immediacy.
Um and uh so I don't know, Ithink like it's important to
use, it's critical to usetechnology to run your business.
(18:21):
How do you leverage that?
I think the only way I couldreally think of is if you are a
brokerage and you are looking torecruit agents and you can bring
state-of-the-art technology as aservice provision to those
agents.
That's a that's powerful.
Um and um, but I think if you'relike an agent, you know, you're
(18:44):
you're expected to havetechnology, you're expected to
like have a text number, you'reexpected to respond to email,
you're all of it is expected.
I I think it's like we're pastthat point of there.
(19:15):
You know, that was a wow factorback then.
Now it's like, yeah, everybody'sgot that.
SPEAKER_02 (19:21):
Right.
There's no technology magicbullet at this point.
It's there, it supports you, itgives you time, but it's really
what experience can you provide?
How does it support what youprovide there?
Buying buying tech withouthaving the brand doesn't do it
all in one.
SPEAKER_00 (19:39):
No, but like, okay, so here's a hack.
It's it's not that you havetech, but it's the in ingenious
ways in which you can use yourtech to blow somebody away.
So, as an example, if I knewthat, like Lisa, if I were
coming to your home to do alisting presentation, you and
your husband want to sell yourhouse.
(20:00):
And I know that.
Um so it's Tuesday, and I'mgoing to be there on Thursday.
Uh, why wouldn't I use all thetechnology that I have at my
disposal to do things that bythe time I arrive at your house,
I already have your homecompletely set up to be
(20:20):
marketed.
I've already had a dronephotographer come out.
I've had a video person shoot onthe outside.
I've done all my researchinternally, and I've already
created the marketing flyer.
I've built the property website.
So when I sit down with you, Igo, hey, let me show you what I
just did.
You don't have to talk about,oh, I have all this great
technology.
(20:41):
Show it.
SPEAKER_01 (20:43):
That it goes back to the reasons to believe that we
earlier, right?
You're showing your brand,you're showing that connection,
and that'll go a lot further.
I like that a lot.
SPEAKER_00 (20:54):
So to your point, you're showing your brand.
If you showed up like that, youknow, like I don't know anybody
that does, I'm sure there are,but like to that last point you
said, now you're showing yourbrand.
That's when that's when if youdid that, I guarantee you a
seller will go, whoa, that howdid you do all that?
(21:14):
The minute you get how did youdo all that, now they're in now
they're you've piqued theircuriosity in a new way.
Uh nobody goes, oh, okay, Ithink your house is worth uh
eight million dollars.
Well, how do you figure thatout?
People know how agents do that.
They have a CMA, everybody knowswhat that is.
But like if you could do somethings that get people to really
(21:37):
wonder about how you did that,like now you become the a magic
person.
Um and the way you respond tothat.
So if it were me, I would say,hey, look, you know, I take
every listing appointmentseriously, and I know time is of
essence.
So in the couple of days that Ihad between now and then, I had
my team go out.
So now I'm saying, my team, nowI'm bigger than just me.
(22:01):
Uh, we did our research, we didour writing, we set everything
up because if you want to goforward, I'm ready to go right
now.
Um, and we can get your home.
Like, so now there's somethinggoing on that's bigger, uh,
that's bigger than justmarketing.
So, Jake, it's about it's aboutthe clever ways that you could
(22:23):
use the tech you have to dothings that like would really
impress people or that thingsthat no one else is doing.
SPEAKER_02 (22:30):
Absolutely.
Well, Mark, want to thank you somuch for joining our podcast
today.
Um, you know, love the insight,love how we talk about a brand
is it's not just some images anda cool logo.
That's a part of it, but it's avisual identity, it's a creative
expression of who you are andwhat you provide to a consumer
(22:51):
and how you drive thatrelationship forward.
Uh, and the insights youprovided, I think, are of great
value to our customers.
I know for us, through our ownrebrand process, working with
you, working with the team atThousand Watt was incredibly
valuable.
Uh, we're super fortunate tohave partners as great as you
all.
And thank you for taking thetime to join us today.
(23:11):
My pleasure, Jay.
Thank you.
SPEAKER_00 (23:12):
Thank you.
Lisa, great to see you again.
SPEAKER_01 (23:15):
Always a pleasure.
Thank you for everything you didfor us.
SPEAKER_03 (23:19):
That's our pulse for today.
Keep innovating, keepimplementing, and keep moving
real estate forward.
From the entrepreneur's desk to the
industry from the lines and intoreal world operations.
SPEAKER_03 (00:06):
I'm Aaron Cardell, joined by Kyle Hunter and Jake
Hamilton.
And we're here to take the pulseof real estate technology in
just 20 minutes.
SPEAKER_02 (00:13):
All right.
Well, want to welcome everyoneto this episode of Prop Tech
Pulse.
We're here with Mark Davison,one of the founders of Thousand
Watt Real Estate Vet.
He's been in the space for over25 years and brings a ton of
value to brokerages, techproviders, really everyone in
the industry through theinsights he brings to brand, to
(00:36):
marketing, and to reallydelivering on the experience
that we all look for as bothreal estate brokers and agents
and then tech companies as well.
So, Mark, it's it's great tohave you on the show.
Yeah, thank you, Jay.
Happy to be here.
Awesome.
Well, we're super excited.
Mark has helped Lone Wolf withour rebrand.
Super excited to unveil newcolors, new logo as we launch
(00:59):
into this next generation ofreal estate.
And as part of that, we justwanted to bring Mark to our
listeners, to our customers, uh,to share some of the insights he
has on real estate branding andon the experience as a whole.
So, Mark, really excited to getyour perspective.
Um, you know, in the time you'vebeen in the real estate space,
branding has evolvedsignificantly.
(01:21):
What are the biggest changesyou've seen in how real estate
branding has changed and howreal estate brands connect with
their consumers?
SPEAKER_00 (01:31):
Oh boy, you're just throwing me right into the deep
end, huh?
Absolutely.
That's that's what we do.
Uh okay.
Um well, I think fundamentallybranding has not changed.
Um I I'm a big advocate for umwhat I would call the science of
(01:52):
branding.
It's a science.
Um because when you think aboutwhat branding actually is, it it
is the action you take as acompany to create some kind of
emotional connection with youraudience.
So somewhere in the transmissionof information, you're radiating
(02:14):
out and creating a connectivity.
That's what branding is, yourbranding, or like it's like
we're talking right now, it'sthe same thing.
Companies communicate throughthis thing we call branding, but
it's communication.
Um, and if people on the otherend pick up on it and feel
something from it, uh then thenbrand happens.
(02:36):
Um and uh so it's kind of achemical, it's a there's a
chemical reaction there.
So branding as a thing has beena consistent reality for you
know for eons.
Um it's it's uh I think theancient Egyptians were the first
(02:57):
culture to invent the idea oflike literally branding their
livestock.
In other words, saying thislivestock is ours by putting a
mark on it.
Well, brands do the same thing.
It's saying these customers areours and we are theirs through
this transmission of branding.
So that has not changed at all.
(03:18):
What has changed in real estate,I think, has been a um maybe a
slightly deeper layer ofunderstanding that branding is
something more than just puttinga lot of like yard signs around
and having people recognize youruh you're now.
Oh, oh, there's broker A.
I see there's signs everywhere.
(03:38):
People used to think that thatwas branding.
That's not branding, that's justname recognition and it's
marketing.
So I think what's changed is toa degree, there's a slightly
deeper layer of understandingaround what I just said and how
to actually do branding beyondjust like making signs or
(04:00):
putting flyers.
In other words, branding issomething deeper than just
marketing.
SPEAKER_02 (04:06):
Yeah, that's that's great.
I really love the point there onbranding being that first
defining part of therelationship between you and a
customer, and a customer andyou.
Um and it's this area that'sfraught with ways that you can
stand out, ways that you canappeal to different consumers,
different profiles, uh,different people who might come
(04:28):
to your business.
But it's also this area whereyou can make meaningful missteps
and mistakes that tarnish yourbrand and reputation.
What are some of those mistakesand some of the pitfalls that
you see agents and brokers fallinto that you you'd advise
people, hey, watch out for this.
What's most important whenthey're thinking about those
(04:49):
components?
SPEAKER_00 (04:50):
Oh, okay.
I'm gonna have to wheel out a55-gallon drum of a list.
All right, I'm gonna stop in noparticular order, but this is
hitting me most importantly.
The first mistake you make ishaving somebody running your
marketing department who doesn'tknow what branding is.
So I we got very lucky with likethis project with Lone Wolf
(05:12):
because Lisa knows what brandingis.
Like her and I share the sameunderstanding, which is the
understanding that every brandagency or every brand person at
a company understands that it'sit's a scientific, chemical
thing, and companies have toactually do things to manifest
branding.
(05:32):
The biggest mistake I see isthat there are people at the
helm of marketing departmentswho think marketing is branding,
uh, and who think that brandingis just recognition.
Um, and that's all they know.
And so, if that's all they know,then everything you're
attempting to do to manifestthat emotional connection with
(05:55):
the world, it's not going tohappen.
You're not creating any of it.
And and that cascades into allthe other things then that go
wrong, which is inconsistenteverything.
Um, so I'll give you an example.
I ran into this just the otherday.
Uh, we sent a new client aquestionnaire to fill out, and
(06:19):
they fill out all thesequestions that I'm asking them
about their brand.
In other words, I'm trying todig into the personality of the
company, and I see all theseanswers, and then I go to look
for proof to substantiatewhatever they've told me.
I can't find a single aspect ofproof.
So, like one of the questionswas um, what do you do besides,
(06:43):
you know, what if you were toanswer the question, what is it
that you do?
But you can't say we help peoplebuy and sell real estate.
Um their response was, well, wehelp people um navigate and find
themselves, find that they'refind themselves within the
community that's right for them.
(07:05):
Okay, that's a great answer.
So I go to their website,there's not a single stitch of
information at all about thecommunity.
So this is the this isillustrative of like you can't
say something that you are andthen not have any activated
proof that that exists in theworld.
So if you say you're into X,then everybody should see it,
(07:25):
feel it, there should be proof,or we call like reasons to
believe.
Real estate is very good aboutbroadcasting lots of good
sounding sound bites.
But then when you go to try tofind living proof of that, uh
it's not there.
So, you know, the the uh thesyndrome of like best kept
(07:48):
secret.
Like we're such a great company.
How come nobody knows about usor no knows what we do?
It's like because you don't tellanybody, it's not evident.
Uh and um I think that back toyour first question, what's
starting to happen is people arestarting to realize that they
(08:08):
need to manifest their value inways that become a little a lot
more evident to the world.
SPEAKER_01 (08:17):
Um and there's somebody in real estate that's
doing a really good job of thatright now.
SPEAKER_00 (08:26):
Oh, Lisa, that's a fantastic question.
And I want to think about that.
I mean, my first response wouldalways be to go to like a client
we've worked with.
Yeah, because A, I'm aware ofwhat they're doing intimately,
so I can speak to it.
Plus, like they came here tohelp us to help them do that.
Right.
Okay.
(08:50):
Well, I think about you guys.
Like, do you remember after wegot done with the logo work?
We began working on all of thisdocumentation, and and this was
your agenda.
We have to create living,breathing reasons to believe.
So to work through all the copyto make sure that like all the
great things that we do as acompany, it's very evident to
(09:11):
the people who come and readdifferent things.
Um, there's a brokerage inColorado, uh, Slifer Smith and
Frampton, who are extraordinarycommunicators of their value
proposition.
Uh, Hawaii Life is probably um,I'm gonna say something
controversial because I'm youknow, I can't help myself, but
(09:35):
it's it's also truthful.
There are very few brands inreal estate, really.
Most of them think they'rebrands, but like if you were to
say to somebody, well, what dothey do besides sell real
estate?
No one would be able to answerthat.
And uh, if you were to asksomebody, what does Nike do
besides selling shoes, there'dbe an answer to that.
(09:57):
Um, or what does Apple representin the world beyond devices?
You'd be able to answer that.
But there are some brokeragesthat when you look at their
logo, hear their name, youconjure up bigger, different
stories above and beyond theutility or their functionality.
Um and uh so Hawaii Life is anabsolute uh brand of perfection
(10:23):
in my mind.
Um, they represent somethingbigger than buying and selling
real estate.
Uh Michael Saunders in inSarasota, Florida, an awesome
company that is uh um known formore than just the utility.
So yeah, um I think there aresome tech companies.
(10:46):
Uh I mean, obviously you guys,uh, and I'm not just saying
that, but you know, we did thework, so we know that like Lone
Wolf is a brand.
Um people tie, so how how do Iapply that to you guys?
If I were to say to somebody,what does Lone Wolf do?
They say, well, they provide alot of technology.
Um, if I were to say to them,well, what do they do for you?
(11:08):
Like describe the relationshipor the benefit.
Uh, because we've done thatwork, we've asked people.
And what they go into, itdoesn't mention the technology.
It mentions, oh, you know, theymake us more successful, they
make us more organized.
Now they're starting to speak interms of like what we call brand
talk.
(11:29):
Um, so yeah, you know, um, Idon't know any real estate
agents who are brands, exceptthat they all think that they're
brands, but you know, they'renot they're they're they're
well-known images, you know,they're known in the community,
but they're not brands yet.
Um, what's that, Lisa?
SPEAKER_01 (11:47):
I was thinking like that's a good question, like as
a marketer, right?
To ask yourself going in, like,what how do I get beyond
utility?
How am I?
I think those are the questionsyou asked me when we started the
right getting beyond, oh, wesell tech or we have software.
Like, what is that beyond?
What is it helping?
And I think people if people askthemselves that question, you
get to the heart of your brand.
(12:08):
But it it is a lot of time spentasking those questions and
digging deeper and peeling awaythat onion, and then also to
figure out you know the reasonsto believe.
So the most important part ofbranding is you can't just say
you're something, you actuallyhave to be something and act as
something, right?
So unless you know what that isand how to get everyone on the
(12:30):
board for that, it the colorsand all of that won't matter.
SPEAKER_00 (12:33):
So I think that's no.
I mean, you can say you're abrand.
Everybody's the right toidentify any way they want.
Uh and so you want to be a youwant to say you're a brand, go
ahead.
Uh the thing is, there's novalue there unless other people
can say that.
Right.
And if other people can say, oh,well, yeah, they're definitely a
(12:54):
brand, and here's why they're abrand, and and their their
reason is beyond.
Uh, you know, I've had theseconversations, you know,
intimate ones with individuallike agents, and they go, well,
we're a brand.
What's what's the brand basedon, well, we're like, we do a
great job.
It's like, but you're supposedto do a great job.
(13:15):
That's your job to do a greatjob.
Uh you don't build brand arounddoing your job.
It's you have to, you know, thelocal coffee shop who makes good
coffee is just a local coffeeshop that makes good coffee.
They're not a brand.
Um, and and so like we couldspend hours and hours like
delving into the triggers thatuh now I think it's possible for
(13:36):
some agents to, but they have toget beyond themselves.
And this is important for allcompanies.
You can't be a brand if all youever talk about is yourself.
There was uh, you know, JosephCampbell wrote a book called The
Hero's Journey, and then DonaldMiller took that and created
Story Brand.
And I think if you've readeither one of them, what you, or
(14:00):
if you read both, you realizethat like the job of a of a job
of a company or a job of abusiness is to uh create
products, put products out inthe world, uh, keep perfecting
those products, making it betterso people continue to buy them
over and over again and build agood reputation.
(14:21):
That's what a business does.
What a brand does, above andbeyond that, is it tells the
stories of success of itsclientele, it's the hero's
journey.
The customer is the hero.
So if all your marketing, allyour storytelling centers around
how great you are and howwonderful you look on a here's
(14:42):
my picture here, and here's mypicture there, you're not
branding.
You're putting your image out tothe world.
Um, but if there's no room forme to see myself within your
story, brand is not happening.
And um it is a sacred thingbecause if you could make it
happen and remote every where Ilive, there's really only one
(15:06):
way out into the world.
I'm way remote.
So when I head out into theworld, I eventually pass a
shopping center that has a bigstep band parked at the edge of
it with a real estate agent, abig picture of the agent with a
a basketball spinning on hisfinger.
(15:26):
Um that the belief is that he'sbranding as what a realtor that
spins a basketball.
Like, how does that benefit me?
Where am I in that storyline?
And until I can see myself inthat or in something else,
(15:47):
there's just I recognize thatthat's a popular thing, but
there's not like this thingcalled brand.
Um, but when there is, the valueof that is tenfold.
SPEAKER_02 (16:01):
Right.
It's really trying to figure outwhere am I driving a brand,
where am I driving an experiencefor my customer versus, where am
I driving familiarity andrecognition?
And I think those two are kindof a lot of what people get
confused on or do familiarityover a brand.
(16:22):
Um with that, I want to pivot alittle bit, Mark.
And you know, as agents listen,as people are thinking about
driving this brand and drivingan experience and something
that's more than just I sellreal estate, what are the ways
that they can bring togetherbranding and technology to
really drive that home, drivethat messaging and make it clear
(16:43):
out in the marketplace andreally clear who they are and
the value they provide?
SPEAKER_00 (16:50):
So if I understand the question is how how can
agents and brokers usetechnology to enhance brand?
Yes.
I have a feeling you want me tosay something here that I I
can't say.
Uh I want you to say exactlywhat you want to say.
(17:12):
I I I don't think technology isambient.
It's just ambient.
Um, it's really a conveniencething.
So uh sure, if if you as aservice provider are using a
technology to create moreconvenience, that's cool.
But like to my point earlier,that's expected.
(17:35):
Like, do you ever get into a cabwhen you just can't get the Uber
and you're sitting back theregoing, Really?
Like I have to tell you how toget to where I'm we're going, or
I gotta put my credit card in atthe end.
Like there's now thisexpectation that you should just
be able to get into any kind ofa you know a livery service and
just they know where to go, andyou arrive and you can get out
(17:58):
the door.
Um, so arguably the tech is nolonger like even Uber's brand,
you know, magic.
It's not that, it is immediacy.
Um and uh so I don't know, Ithink like it's important to
use, it's critical to usetechnology to run your business.
(18:21):
How do you leverage that?
I think the only way I couldreally think of is if you are a
brokerage and you are looking torecruit agents and you can bring
state-of-the-art technology as aservice provision to those
agents.
That's a that's powerful.
Um and um, but I think if you'relike an agent, you know, you're
(18:44):
you're expected to havetechnology, you're expected to
like have a text number, you'reexpected to respond to email,
you're all of it is expected.
I I think it's like we're pastthat point of there.
(19:15):
You know, that was a wow factorback then.
Now it's like, yeah, everybody'sgot that.
SPEAKER_02 (19:21):
Right.
There's no technology magicbullet at this point.
It's there, it supports you, itgives you time, but it's really
what experience can you provide?
How does it support what youprovide there?
Buying buying tech withouthaving the brand doesn't do it
all in one.
SPEAKER_00 (19:39):
No, but like, okay, so here's a hack.
It's it's not that you havetech, but it's the in ingenious
ways in which you can use yourtech to blow somebody away.
So, as an example, if I knewthat, like Lisa, if I were
coming to your home to do alisting presentation, you and
your husband want to sell yourhouse.
(20:00):
And I know that.
Um so it's Tuesday, and I'mgoing to be there on Thursday.
Uh, why wouldn't I use all thetechnology that I have at my
disposal to do things that bythe time I arrive at your house,
I already have your homecompletely set up to be
(20:20):
marketed.
I've already had a dronephotographer come out.
I've had a video person shoot onthe outside.
I've done all my researchinternally, and I've already
created the marketing flyer.
I've built the property website.
So when I sit down with you, Igo, hey, let me show you what I
just did.
You don't have to talk about,oh, I have all this great
technology.
(20:41):
Show it.
SPEAKER_01 (20:43):
That it goes back to the reasons to believe that we
earlier, right?
You're showing your brand,you're showing that connection,
and that'll go a lot further.
I like that a lot.
SPEAKER_00 (20:54):
So to your point, you're showing your brand.
If you showed up like that, youknow, like I don't know anybody
that does, I'm sure there are,but like to that last point you
said, now you're showing yourbrand.
That's when that's when if youdid that, I guarantee you a
seller will go, whoa, that howdid you do all that?
(21:14):
The minute you get how did youdo all that, now they're in now
they're you've piqued theircuriosity in a new way.
Uh nobody goes, oh, okay, Ithink your house is worth uh
eight million dollars.
Well, how do you figure thatout?
People know how agents do that.
They have a CMA, everybody knowswhat that is.
But like if you could do somethings that get people to really
(21:37):
wonder about how you did that,like now you become the a magic
person.
Um and the way you respond tothat.
So if it were me, I would say,hey, look, you know, I take
every listing appointmentseriously, and I know time is of
essence.
So in the couple of days that Ihad between now and then, I had
my team go out.
So now I'm saying, my team, nowI'm bigger than just me.
(22:01):
Uh, we did our research, we didour writing, we set everything
up because if you want to goforward, I'm ready to go right
now.
Um, and we can get your home.
Like, so now there's somethinggoing on that's bigger, uh,
that's bigger than justmarketing.
So, Jake, it's about it's aboutthe clever ways that you could
(22:23):
use the tech you have to dothings that like would really
impress people or that thingsthat no one else is doing.
SPEAKER_02 (22:30):
Absolutely.
Well, Mark, want to thank you somuch for joining our podcast
today.
Um, you know, love the insight,love how we talk about a brand
is it's not just some images anda cool logo.
That's a part of it, but it's avisual identity, it's a creative
expression of who you are andwhat you provide to a consumer
(22:51):
and how you drive thatrelationship forward.
Uh, and the insights youprovided, I think, are of great
value to our customers.
I know for us, through our ownrebrand process, working with
you, working with the team atThousand Watt was incredibly
valuable.
Uh, we're super fortunate tohave partners as great as you
all.
And thank you for taking thetime to join us today.
(23:11):
My pleasure, Jay.
Thank you.
SPEAKER_00 (23:12):
Thank you.
Lisa, great to see you again.
SPEAKER_01 (23:15):
Always a pleasure.
Thank you for everything you didfor us.
SPEAKER_03 (23:19):
That's our pulse for today.
Keep innovating, keepimplementing, and keep moving
real estate forward.
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