The Insider: Issue 019
This week’s Insider takes a spotlight to how brands find their difference in a competitive world where people can’t tell anyone apart. Be sure to join the discussions happening in our LinkedIn group. It’s getting smart in there.
Last Week This Week
CoStar tipped its hand a bit by announcing that it will launch a NYC listing portal called CitySnap in partnership with the Real Estate Board of New York. This is an initial skirmish is what will soon become a nationwide war between CoStar and Zillow.
Remine, a software and data company that bedazzled real estate leaders when it launched 5 years ago, then hit all kinds of bumps in the road, was acquired by a consortium of 4 MLSs. This is evidence of a larger trend of cooperation between MLSs in non-contiguous markets in anticipation of accelerated competition and consolidation.
A bit of a PR/competitive side note here: Inman’s story on this deal, by Andrea Brambila, is a brilliant example of how to ask the right questions, even if you know they will get a “no comment,” in order to create a narrative. Andrea just barely stopped short of asking “Do you have any comment on the fact that Britney’s final “Piece of Me” residency at the Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas, was abruptly ended at roughly the same time that Remine entered into a licensing agreement wight the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors for its listings add/edit module?”
REX, the low-fee, off-MLS brokerage at the center of the legal and regulatory challenge to the system of cooperating compensation, announced a second round of layoffs and an intention to join the MLS. The company may be struggling, but its case just got stronger.
Have You Heard About This?
Tuned In
Why go big, when you can go small and bring an impactful moment to a niche group of people? That’s exactly what Google did recently when they launched a guitar tuner directly in search results — offering a solution to a common need among a very defined group of people. Search for “google tuner” from any device and the tuner is ready for you. Sometimes bigger impact comes from smaller gestures.
What's Inside
They Win. You Lose.
Every competitive entity must know and understand what its unique value proposition is. You have one, but you probably don’t realize what it is, or you may even find yourself running from it without realizing its value. If you want to be certain what your UVP is, look no further than the negative things your competitors say about you when trying to sell themselves to others. They do it because it scares the crap out of them. They do it because they know you'll likely shy further away from it. They do it because they know you'll end up doing all sorts of weird branding and marketing maneuvers to try to prove you aren't what you are rather than owning it. As a result, they win, you lose. We’re tired of seeing that happen. We bet you are too.
Join this discussion in the Insider LinkedIn Group.
Inspiration Point
Electric Headlines
Imagine you’re a newer athletic shoe and apparel company competing with the likes of Nike, Brooks and Asics. Imagine you stand up to the plate of Runner’s World magazine with what you can only hope is your best shot at making an impression. That’s where ads like the above come from. Pearl Izumi ran this brand ad in Runner’s World in 2007. It caught the attention of the world’s biggest running enthusiasts and ended up getting written and talked about in countless publications of all types, including CNBC, who pondered whether it had gone too far. All we know is we stopped everything to read past the headline to the bottom of the ad twice, had a brief moment of nostalgia for Law & Order, visited Pearl Izumi’s website, and are now sharing the brand with all of you. We’d say that was a success.
Hardware’s In Fashion
OK, now imagine you’re Lowe’s competing toe to toe with Home Depot. You sell the same things at the same prices and are essentially the same store. What do you do? According to Lowe’s EVP and chief brand and marketing officer, Marisa Thalberg, you reframe the Lowe’s brand as a destination. The company started by hosting curbside trick-or-treat events last year, giving away free candy and pumpkins for Halloween. They also collaborated with New York Fashion Week designers to curate lists of home-decor items. Thalberg said the alternative of dumping a bunch of money into performance marketing felt like a trap, so she intends to focus more on brand moments like these that aim to help the hardware company stand out. We’ll be watching to see what’s next and how this all pans out.
Quote of the week
“What makes a company strong is not the product or the service. It’s the position it owns in the mind.”
— Jack Trout
