Can Real Estate Companies be Branded?

Hey everyone,
I wanted to talk about our upcoming case about branding a real estate company and relate it to an article I read in the September 18th issue of Brandweek on page 6, “Real Estate Companies Ready for Their Close-Up”. The case we have to read for Tuesday is about a real estate company that deals with owning and managing property that wants to differentiate their company by adding brand value to its name. They work on finding out what their customers needs are with focus groups and surveys, and try to figure out what the best way is to brand their company.
The article in Brandweek is how one real estate company, One Scottsdale, managed to accomplish a luxurious brand for themselves. As Marshal Cohen, Chief industry analyst with the NPD group, quoted in the article says “real estate developers are realizing they must market themselves as brands.”
Coming from a family of real estate developers, it would be weird to see my father’s company as a branded one. Real estate never seemed to me as something differentiated like a household brand. However, One Scottsdale has a different idea about it, which surprised me about the industry as a whole. By sponsoring fashion shows, they added a fashion-focused sense to their company, allowing for upscale, and luxury outlook on their property. “Playing up the fashion connection is about finding an immediate point of connection with the buyer as something that distinguishes the property in the market place”. I think this is a very creative way for a simple company to excite their customers about they are selling to you – not only property and management, but also fashion and high class status.
I really like their entire idea, and excites me to maybe one day brand my father’s company into something as creative and exciting as theirs.

Sandra Sanieoff

Brandweek, Vol. XLVII NO 33, September 18, 2006