REALTOR® Brand Evolution: Updated April 11, 2018
“Since we announced the brand evolution and logo redesign, we have received a diversity of opinions that ranged from strong support to outright disapproval. Please know how much we appreciate member input and how seriously we take your feedback.
While the issues that drove this process to evaluate and ultimately evolve the REALTOR® logo still exist, we are pausing its implementation. This extra time will allow us to further examine the enhancement of the REALTOR® brand proposition, including the logo, which means so much to you and your business.
We are a member-centric organization and this decision to postpone the brand transformation demonstrates that your national association is listening.”
Personally I think NAR made the wrong call here. And I’m not talking about the logo itself. A lot of design is subjective. Some designs grow on you over time. There are always going to be haters, ignore them. Do what you do.
I really think the issue is the cost: what would it cost for every agent, every brokerage to update all their print and digital media? Hundreds of millions of dollars? More? The argument that it would be gradual is bogus, I believe. The business is too competitive, your brand is too valuable to pair it with an “old” logo. It makes you look out of date. When I worked for Great Western Bank during they heyday of M&As and thrift takeovers, the economic costs of a name change – a brand change – from signs to collateral to stationary to business cards was staggering. I don’t think NAR fully assessed the massive economic impact this decision had on its members. I think it was the right call to pause. A better one would have been to look before they took that leap.
Greg,
Great seeing you this week in Miami. Wish we had more time to hang.
I agree with you. Logo’s and all art itself is all subjective. I’m hard pressed to think of a dozen logo marks that I would describe as stand alone beautiful. The logos we tend to love are not based on their aesthetic beauty but rather formed over time and imbued with our feelings about the brand itself – the products or services they offer.
What tends to help new logos resonate is how they are revealed. In this case, it was revealed correctly. It missed a dozen important and contextual elements that would better express the work that went into the design and how will be used in the world.
Perhaps the biggest mistake made was using a foreign agency that doesn’t understand the nuances of something that is so uniquely American and who this new identity would be designed for – Realtors. But that’s the decision they made and they must stand behind it.
“There always be haters. Do what what you do” Exactly.
@Kevin I’m calling bullshit on the “cost” issue. I just took out 10 random real estate agent business cards and not one of them had the REALTOR logo on them (which is another topic). Plus many agents switch brokerages like they switch socks, which means updating everything. Cost, is just not a valid argument on this issue.
additionally Kevin, given my experiences here, business cards are perhaps the lowest cost line item in their P&L. Most agents purchase cheap cards for less than the cost of a monthly Netflix subscription. Busy agents give out so many per month (open houses, caravan, etc) they are printing new ones regularly.
The ones who produce more expensive Moo cards, they have the funds to redo their card if they choose to add the symbol.
But to Greg’s point, of all the cards I’ve saved over the years, more than 90% of them do not have the Realtor logo. Maybe some or many of them are from Agents not Realtors. But maybe not.