The Insider: Issue 017

This week’s Insider covers how a world-class brand closes the gap between marketing BS and corporate values, how to be funny, and how to make people uncomfortable with babies. Enjoy!

 

Last Week This Week

The FTC reportedly re-opened its review of the Zillow/ShowingTime deal, but this did not stop ZG from closing the transaction. It’s hard to know what, exactly, is going on here, but this we know for sure: The feds are all up in the industry’s business.

Relatedly, off-MLS brokerage REX, mired in litigation with Zillow and NAR over, among other things, rules against “co-mingling” MLS and off-MLS listings, issued a letter calling on NAR to pro-actively rescind this — their term — “segregation rule.” Now, we have been quite impressed with REX’s deft story-spinning, but we think they’re getting close to overplaying their hand here.

We talked with two stealthy startups working on “Tik Tok for real estate listings” ideas last week. That doesn’t mean dancing agents exactly, but does present photo/video/personality mashups that diverge from the photo carousel norm. Love it or think it’s stupid... it’s coming.

Have You Heard About This?

Money Meet Mouth
Patagonia, the outdoor apparel company known for its vocal stance on climate change, is dead set on a new government spending bill that would accelerate wind and solar energy investments and create funds to protect threatened landscapes. The company said last week it’s willing to pay a higher corporate tax rate to help make that a reality. This may seem like politics, but remember, this is a clothing company. And it’s just the type of action we expect from a brand whose story is so intricately entwined with the environment. Brand is more than logos and design; it is beliefs, actions, and promises made and kept. It is doubling down. It is owning corporate values beyond a pretty word cloud or wall poster. Patagonia is a masterclass in brand.

What's Inside

In case you missed it, we’ve loaded a replay of Brian’s Q3 Market Update to the Live Webinar section of Inside.

Coming up this week: A Spotlight Interview with Michael Martin, co-founder of Avenue 8, a new venture-backed brokerage that’s taking the virtual model up-market.

Inspiration Point

Make Me Laugh And I’ll Love You Forever
Jessica spent a good 30 minutes mingling in the comments section of a Nordstrom Facebook ad the other night. Why? Due to the odd shape of a cosmetics bottle featured in the ad, it was inadvertently, make-you-snort-like-Chrissy-on-Three’s-Company funny. Commenters were pitching up their best witty fastballs like it was the World Series of one-liners. It got us thinking more about humor in marketing. As mentioned a few weeks ago, humor is one of the hardest things to pull off. It can fall flat or it can go really badly. It will most definitely offend someone. But that doesn’t mean it’s not worth thinking about. This article has some great points to ponder before you grab the mic. (Btw, not sharing the Nordstrom ad here because it’s a tad NSFW.)

Say What Now?
Speaking of not intending to be funny, the ad above for Dupont Cellophane is from 1953. Have you checked it out? Because it’s really really weird. And even though babies wrapped in cellophane is no laughing matter, the fact that a company featured them in an ad like this is puzzling and kinda funny in retrospect. It goes to show that it pays to have a brand strategy guiding your messaging and creative... and, um, a creative review team that’s not intoxicated or completely unaware of what may or may not harm babies. Glean this and other lessons in this article highlighting the worst ads of all time.

 

Quote of the week

"Design is the silent ambassador of your brand.”

— Paul Rand