Standing Out or Blending In?

A new real estate agent has recently opened in my home state of Tasmania called Buzz Property (buzzproperty.com.au/) Their logo / branding and photos are super-hero-esque with one of their team ripping open his shirt to reveal the Buzz logo underneath.

I had a giggle when I saw the advert, which then made me look up their website, which then made me tweet (@kirstydunphey) about it.

For whatever reason – their branding stood out and caught my eye and made me talk about it. It was the same thing when Fruit Property (www.fruitproperty.com), also in Hobart opened. I like to think we had the same impact with our branding for Elephant Property (www.elephantproperty.com.au/).

These days when you’re thinking up a name and setting your branding for your new business you’ve got a few choices. Using real estate agents as examples (although of course these relate to any industry): you can choose a branding and a name to convey:

* Respectability, stability and that of being an established company (like www.corkhill.com.au established through their branding)

* Innovation, freshness (like: www.fruitproperty.com and our company www.elephantproperty.com.au)

* A real desire to shock and get people talking like Buzz above (it’s important to note though that I’ve encountered some people who really don’t like their branding – but you run that risk when you choose to be this innovative!)

* A known brand like Harcourts, Ray White, McGrath etc whereby you’re leveraging on the reputation that brand or name has already built.

* Your own personal name – but bear in mind the difficulties you may encounter selling that “brand” / business later on.

For me – I like a name and branding that gets me talking – so I’m all for Buzz’s new branding and I wish them every success with their attempt to break into Hobart’s competitive real estate market.

Thanks to Tony McCombs who let us know about this great TED video on the power if BOTH standing out and blending in - a great 3 minute watch:

www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/derek_sivers_how_to_start_a_movement.html

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By Kirsty Dunphey with No comments

Different much?

I like to be first in… with my Christmas cards that is. I send them mid to late November and I like the emails I get proudly proclaiming that I was that person’s first card of the season. I’ve done this for the past few years and it’s my way of differentiating my cards from the mass of cards that always arrive from about the 10th of December onwards.

But, I’ve been trumped this year.

Lonely but spectacular, the last card I have left from the recent holiday period sits magnetized to my fridge. All the Christmas cards I received have long gone, as has every Seasons Greetings. The last one standing however is a card I received early in the new year. It’s a Happy New Years card and I’m proud to say it’s the first one I’ve ever received. The savvy entrepreneur Susan Henshaw who mailed it to me has found her own way of being different, unique and remembered.

Speaking of being remembered… did you hear about Sam Cawthorn’s recent visit to meet the Prime Minister for the Young Australian of the Year awards?

Sam’s a fabulous speaker and trainer who was involved in a horrific car accident and had his right arm amputated. When he met the Prime Minister of Australia, on a dare from his daughter, he unscrewed his hand so that it actually came off when the Prime Minister shook it!

Sam didn’t win Young Australian of the Year for Australia, but by being different (with a sense of humour) he actually ended up with world wide media coverage (just google Sam Cawthorn Kevin Rudd to see exactly how far the story ran!)

It doesn’t take much to be different, but being different means being remembered, it means standing out, it means people will talk about you and the services you offer. I think it’s the simplest marketing out there! Here’s to a very different 2009 for all of us!

By Kirsty Dunphey with No comments