CAN A BRANDING SHIFT HELP A REAL ESTATE FIRM DURING A DOWNTURN?

In a slow market, everybody looks to drum up as much business as they can, and for some companies, that can mean the drastic change of overhauling the brand. But is this actually a good idea in the midst of economic turmoil? Our readers were almost split down the middle in their opinions. Slightly more (54%) believe a branding shift is unlikely to help a real estate firm during tough times. Forty-six percent of respondents think it can be helpful. Shaun Osher, founder and CEO of CORE Marketing, is in the minority, as he believes that, in certain circumstances, a company can benefit from shifting its branding. Here's what he has to say:

"Yes, a branding shift can help. A brand really says who you are as a company, and the brand represents the property almost as much as the property represents the brand. When markets go through cycles, certain segments of the markets are stronger than others, so if your brand resonates with the segment of the market that's strong, whether it's a downturn or an upturn, you'll obviously be successful. For example, if you have a luxury brand and the luxury segment is doing well, you're going to do well as a company. On the other hand, a brand that doesn't really connect to the luxury segment might try to reinvent themselves or perhaps strengthen that part of their brand to make the consumer feel that they're a luxury brand.

"Lately, a lot of the real estate companies have merged and grown bigger and bigger and it seems to me that the larger firms only have an interest in market share, not market quality. I think the future is with boutique firms who really want to capture a segment of the market instead of trying to be all things to everybody. There are very few companies who have that market share in a specific segment. A lot of these companies are just trying to be the 10,000-pound gorilla, but that doesn't give the company the cachet or appeal that it needs. If you have a company that has 10,000 agents, it might not be very appealing to the consumer, because they may not feel that they're getting the personal attention that they need.