I swear I don’t work for Marc or for 1000 Watt consulting. This following is a video that they have put together entitled “I am not a lead”, and I think it hits the ongoing conversation of “What online buyers want” right on the head.
[vodpod id=ExternalVideo.508978&w=425&h=350&fv=] from www.1000wattblog.com posted with vodpod
Other than the comment, “What does your dog have to do with this” I agree with 100% of these comments. (The fact that people with shared interests actually have a pre-established level of trust is what I tell people to put small details like pets on their bio and/or brand). In the end though it truly is, all about them. Read the comments on this video HERE or on Marc’s blog at www.1000wattconsulting.com.
Thanks for the recognition Matt
Regarding the dog issue – I want to be very clear about this. The young lady who recited that line worked with Caesar Milan – the Dog Whisperer. SHe is one of the most well know dog trainers in California. She own 3 dogs and works with them all day. If she doesn’t buy into the agent/dog branding measures, who is?
Going deeper into this conversation is the massive amount of surveys I have conducted on this very issue. People view agents using dogs as a way of pandering. They do not view this as strong brand building. And they are right. People — you cannot build a strong brand using something everyone else uses. If you were the only dog agent brand in your market perhaps, but you never are. You then enter that twilight zone of competing with the poodle agent, the lab agent, the boxer agent and all the other dog agents.
General consensus is that it’s stupid. Now, you customers will tell you how cute your dog is. But you are not conducting an independent survey. Trust that when you go that route, real feelings come across.
Building a brand requires very strong identifiers. Differentiators. Brand-marks that are well thought out and executed. Posing with you Maltipoo Bulls-eye is not thought out or executed. It’s just a visceral action to a notion.
Disagree is you must. But I have degree in this and worked for Y&R and owned a madison Ave ad agency. I know what I am talking about. And I have 3 dogs of my own so if there were any ways to figure out how to use dogs, I would have found them.
I know Target uses a dog. Bulls-eye. I met him recently on a flight to Ft Lauderdale. He sat in first class. I sat in coach. Unless you are prepared to go the distance and invest $1,000,000 in a dog campaign, I must advise everyone to reconsider this.
Do an independent survey. Hire a college kid to stand outside the local market and ask a 10 question survey. On the last one we did, the question went as follows:
Among the touch points real estate agents use to brand themselves and sell you on their services, please rate the follow on a scale of 1-3 as to how you respond.
The rating scale was:
3. Compelling
2. Not compelling
1. Distracting.
1. Awards
2. Designations
3. Pictures of themselves
4. Client testimonials
5. Pets
6. Listings
7. Services
8. Declarative statements ( I am the best, #1 Expert)
9. Logo
10. Website design
Pictures of themselves received the most “distractive” ratings by all there demographic age groups. You would be surprised to learn why.
Awards and designations came in second. You might not be surprised why. They mean nothing to the consumer.
Dogs came in close 3rd as the most distracting element. Comments include: “What do dogs have to do real estate?” “I don’t like dogs and I feel the agent is forcing their personal tastes on me”. “The agent seems a bit to wrapped up in the dog rather than the client.” “Does this mean the dog will be there when I view homes?” etc.
Conclusion – If you want to use a dog, use it. But then build a smart campaign around it. Smart is key. Smart doesn’t mean tacky slogans like using a German Shepherd and then writing the slogan, I will shepherd a great deal for you.
That’s stupid. You need to do much better than that.
Anyway, thanks Matt. I hope I have not overstated a welcome here. Trying to help is all.