Know-How Exchange : Branding

Personally, I'm not a fan of Fig Tree because I don't have the same historical associations with the name as your team does. But that may not matter - because I'm not your target market. If the people you're targeting in your region "get it", then that's all that ultimately matters. Have you tried testing the name with your audience to find out what they "hear" when you tell them the name?

"Find Your Abundance" is too vague. It may be a tagline for a personal coach, an investor, etc.

Looking at your background info, I'd assume most of your competition has degrees (and if they don't - how does this matter to their clientele?) and experience (is your 5-years of experience that much of a differentiation in your area?). If you're all investors and want to serve other investors, then your background may be something special ("We're Realty Investors, Too!").

As a minimum, I'd include Toronto in your tagline (or even better, in your business name) - since that's something people will look for online. And if you're targeting young urban professionals, what does this group of people call themselves (and can you allude to them through your marketing imagery)?

What we think probably doesn't matter much. Neither does what you think.

What matters is what your target audience thinks, and what will communicate a compelling benefit for them.

WHY should someone in your target audience come to you for real estate guidance? What important and unique benefit do you deliver?

Your "value propositions" are not value propositions at all. They are descriptive features of your group. To each of them I would respond, "So what? How does your [education] benefit me?" (Insert the appropriate word.)

The name and tagline need to communicate an important benefit to your target audience -- a compelling reason why they should hire you. The "fig tree" reference may be OK, but your target audience is who you need to ask -- not us.

Remember, the goal is clear communication of the unique positioning benefit.

Jay and Michael bring up excellent points.

USP: I mentioned your USP in my previous reply, but didn't address it. Both Jay Hamilton-Roth and mGoodman nailed it - they aren't USPs at all. And the closest one, about investing in properties, is...well...more of a way to relate to your audience than a USP.

But you're on the right track. A USP doesn't have to be huge and obvious. It can be almost anything that separates you from the competition in the eyes of your client.

Your USP may be that you only show high-level urban properties. In that case, you already have it. Especially if you are the only agency in town (or your part of town) that specializes in this.

It can be the way you dress, how you can do everything online, the part of town you're in, your customer service, even the way you hold showings.

And the best way to find out what is most important to your audience is to ask them. Don't ask them straight up. Ask a few open-ended questions such as "What's the most frustrating part of buying real estate?" (this is best performed online with a survey app like SurveyMonkey.com, Google Drive, or via email).

Start with people/clients you already know. Don't lead them with too much info. Just tell them you need their help and would appreciate 5 minutes of their time to answer 1-3 questions.

Look for common frustrations. If it's the hassle of closing, then streamline it, perhaps online...and do it better and faster than anyone else -even offer couriers for when the Internet is down. Things like that.

You may be surprised. Your audience may tell you they can't stand agents who 'dress to the nines', or vice versa. Or notions like "I hate it when realtors assume that because I make 7 figures, I must want some uber modern and expensive home".

But you can still use a tagline similar to the ones I mentioned. You are still reaching out to the people you want to serve and offering "modern" "urban" "premier" properties/service.

Just be careful. The taglines that say "Urban Professionals" and "Urban Families" are very different. The "family" statement may deter "professionals", and vice versa.

As far as your name, it doesn't really matter unless you're too offensive or too goofy like "Real Boobs Real Estate" :)

The main thing I would look into regarding "fig trees" is the cultural and/or religious impact. Certain cultures may be either attracted to or offended by figs.

And don't sweat the "Toronto" thing too much. It's not a bad idea to have it in your tagline or your name. But as long as it is very, very apparent in your web copy and landing page headlines, you'll be fine.

"Positioning: We want to be the premier ‘professional’, ‘tech-savvy’, and ‘modern’ Real Estate brand to assist professionals with their prop acquisition needs in Toronto, ON, Canada."

This is not a positioning statement. It is the definition of a niche (or market category) with "X" number of competitors claiming top positionings in this same niche. A true 'positioning' would be a compelling differentiation that benefits the customers. For example, providing a suite of original-programmed exclusive online tools and configurators that help the customer would support and confirm a 'most advanced technology' positioning claim in this niche. Your competitors probably do not think about it this way. Advantage goes to you.

I like KSA's approach to building out your USPs.

And I like SteveTheMarketer's expansion on how custom software can swing more value in your favor as well.

As you can see, and like I previously mentioned, you can build a USP out of anything.

The important aspect is: "How does this benefit the client?". Like mgoodman proposed, Asking "So what" is a good method as well. Keep asking "So What" until you hit core value.

Brief example using a merchant who sells shorts:

- Our shorts are hand made and hand tailored. So what?

- This makes them fit better. So what?

- It makes your butt look hot. So what? (but this is still a good one)

- When your butt looks good, you feel better about yourself and people think you're attractive. Oh! OK.

It kinda goes back to the old marketing example that Colgate doesn't sell toothpaste, they sell self-esteem via a whiter smile.

As you can see, we are limited in what we can/will provide via a forum. It may beneficial to get a full-on branding consult from a marketing consultant (not a graphic designer - many designers offer "branding" services...not what you need right now.).

You would be wise to invest in someone to focus on your business and teach you how to do all this stuff. Yes, you can learn. And you can certainly do it yourself. But make sure a few of you are willing to tackle the extra load of running the business while the others divide the marketing.

Too many businesses fall flat because they undervalue the impact of solid marketing.

And if you are going after high-income individuals, you can't call yourself Armani and show up in a cheap suit. Know what I mean?

Hi there,

Thank you all for your valuable feedback and comments - it is much appreciated!

We took the last few days to reach out to some of our existing clients and ask re Figtree Realty. It turns out, many of them did not have much of a reaction and did not relate to the name in the same way we did. We found having to explain the name choice and by then we had already lost their attention, etc.

Given the above feedback and many of your comments re the tagline being too vague - we went back to the drawing board. Given that our main ‘features’ benefit our clients directly and are the key reasons why prospect buyers/sellers/investors would go with us vs our competition - we wanted a name/tagline that spoke directly to that.

I understand I didn’t follow through the ‘features’ into benefits - hopefully the below clarifies and hopefully we are headed down the right path. The difficulty we encountered was how to ‘market’ / word the tangible benefits on our website/promo materials. Nevertheless, I have written out the benefits in common language below:

3 Features —> Benefit to Customers:

Education - masters/university = smarter analysis /interpretation of market data = better buy, sell, investment (higher ROI) decision for customer
Experience - corporate/business experience = more consultative / holistic approach to RE = superior customer experience (treated like a professional business rather than just a one off transaction - as many agents do)
Investors/owners - agents that are owners = have real life/full cycle experience and better negotiation skills developed = pass on the lessons/knowledge to customers so they don’t have to go through mistakes = better experience and lower unanticipated costs.


NEW POTENTIAL TAGLINE:

‘Strategically, moving you.’ OR 'Strategically, moving urban professionals.'

(to play on the corporate, business, educational approach to the real estate transaction which really differentiates us from the other agents in the area)

NEW POTENTIAL NAME:

We thought of the concept of strategy and making smarter moves and thought of:

Chessboard Realty or Chess Realty (but open to other suggestions on other names that embody the tagline and benefits above)

Thoughts on the above are welcome and thank you sincerely again!!

Personally, I wouldn't have considered combining "strategy" with "realty" unless you're focused on long-term investment strategy, rather than a simple buy/sell transaction.

Thanks KSA, glad you liked chessboard realty!

Any other feedback on chessboard or other related names?

Thanks!

Once again, I think our opinions -- like yours -- are largely irrelevant when it comes to a name that communicates a clear and distinctive benefit to your primary target audience. Instead of playing that game, why not conduct some in-depth interviews with a dozen people in your target audience and see what words, phrases and concepts come up without much prompting. Then use those as the basis for a name and tagline.

Sometime we get so wrapped up in our own needs that we lose sight of what's important to our target audience.