by Peter McManus
Service industries have no tangible products. This applies especially to estate agency. It is essentially a people business, yet some estate agents, with a natural ability to deal with people, fail to make their business prosper.
Why is this? In most cases it is quite simply because of a failure to devise and promote a strong corporate identity.
The intangible product of estate agency is house sales: the bringing together of sellers and buyers within an open and fiercely competitive marketplace. To be successful you must adopt the old adage: “If you’ve got it … flaunt it!” But what have you got to flaunt?
More often than not it is simply your company name. In today’s business world there is no longer any room for personal ego. The old-fashioned stringing together of every partner’s surname is no longer good enough. As an example I’m sure my old friend Bill McKinnon-Little will not mind my saying that his recent company name change from “Sheldon, Bosley, Kibler & Morgan” to simply “Sheldons” is a great improvement.
Is the choosing of a catchy and memorable name all you have to do to create a good corporate identity? Far from it. The corporate identity created should be capable of being branded, if necessary.
Branding
Probably the best example of a clearly defined corporate identity, memorably branded in the public mind is “Mann & Co — We Sell Houses”.
This simple identity, concisely and consistently reproduced across the south of England, caused more envy (often shown in criticism) among rival agents than any I have come across. Full marks, Jeremy Agace.
The corporate identity is simple: “Mann & Co” in consistent blue/white colouring with a defined letterstyle. The intangible product of the service industry is equally simply defined and branded “We Sell Houses”.
Branding, however, need not necessarily relate to the product. It should be a device to make the corporate industry more easily memorable in the public mind. In the world of commerce some examples of this are the Old English sheepdog of Dulux, the bowlerhatted flour graders of Homepride or, closer to home, the “X” of the Halifax.
A good example of branding as an aid to memorability of corporate identity in estate agency is the busy bee of Nattras Giles.
Market share
The most common reason for the creation and promotion of a strong corporate identity is to increase market share. However, for market leaders this may not necessarily be true. Bairstow Eves, for example, have been market leaders in parts of East Anglia for many years. Their corporate identity is good, strong and clear. Their recognition factor among the general public must be close to 100%. Yet they must pursue a policy of corporate identity promotion. They have no need of branding — everyone knows what they do. They simply need to maintain a corporate presence to show that they are still doing it. Anyone who has driven along the A12 for more than a few miles cannot have failed to notice their corporate identity displayed on hundreds of “For Sale” and “Sold” boards.
Why bother?
Those estate agents who operate in small isolated communities with strong personal contacts probably do not need to bother improving their corporate identity. However, in the rapidly changing world of estate agency in the 1980s the rest of us do. This article is not about those changes, of which all who have read so far will no doubt be fully aware. Suffice to say the “big guns” from within and without all massively pursue corporate identity promotion policies. Need I say more? … In 1985 a market analysis of estate agency in England and Wales was carried out by the Manchester Business School. Eight out of the top 12 firms of leading agents interviewed attributed the promotion of a distinctive corporate identity as a major factor in their success.
This same market analysis, interpreting Building Societies Association and other figures, calculates that owner-occupation in the UK will only grow from a current 62.4% of the population to 74.2% by the year 2000 — an expansion rate of less than 1% pa. To all intents and purposes then the volume of transaction within the property market can be taken as static.
This means that not only are the major forces in agency growing in terms of coverage but they are all fighting for shares of the same static cake. There will inevitably be losers. Those losers, I forecast, will be those firms who rely on reputation and personal contacts without giving thought to corporate identity promotion.
How is it done?
First of all call in an expert. Not your local jobbing printer but a designer or an advertising agent with a good design team. Let them look at everything you have and do at the moment. Then leave it to the experts. Estate agents often criticise bank managers who think they are valuers. Remember this when dealing with designers.
Once a corporate identity style is agreed on it must be ruthlessly and comprehensively implemented, throughout all stationery, office fascias and interiors, on “For Sale” boards and in all media advertising. It must go right through to staff presentation and attitude. It is no good changing “Bloggs & Co” to “Bloggs” if your receptionist still answers the phone with “… & Co.
A case history
Many readers will have heard of the long-established London practice of Folkard & Hayward. A firm of chartered surveyors who sadly saw their former leading position in house sales slip over the past few, intensively competitive, years in central London. When John Gorte took control of the company a few months ago he decided that his prime concern, if the firm was to prosper and grow, was corporate identity. Beth Macdougall, Folkard & Hayward’s marketing consultant, concludes this article with a case history of how a corporate identity can be created for an established agency.
Folkard & Hayward
The first step in creating a new corporate identity was to take a long look at the firm and analyse their strengths and weaknesses.
Folkard & Hayward were a traditional, professionally well-respected, West End firm of chartered surveyors, but a slightly Dickensian aura had lingered from their 19th-century origins and their public image had gently faded. The immediate priorities were to re-open and relaunch their St John’s Wood branch office, to incorporate the recently acquired south London firm of Callows, and to lay the foundations for further rapid expansion. All these problems were best addressed by the creation of a new, strong corporate identity.
Clarity, consistency and communications were the three elements most vital to this project. Visual clarity of image was achieved by approaching a professional design team, D4, who created a new logo incorporating a striking colour-scheme in dark blue, red and white. This theme was then imposed on every area of corporate activity from the internal and exterior decoration of the four offices, through the “For Sale” boards and company stationary (letterheadings, compliment slips, cards, property particulars, press information sheets), down to key-rings, pens, and even own-label wine, red and blue balloons and flowers at the various launch parties.
To achieve a strong, positive image for Folkard & Hayward we decided to build on the intrinsic strength of the West End origins, good professional reputation and the aim to provide excellent service. We encapsulated this ethos in the new company theme “Total Professionalism — A Total Service”.
In order to promote the concept of professionalism, a glossy brochure listing the professional services available was produced and enclosed with all company correspondence. Further, a presentation folder was designed for property details and reports, again reinforcing the new corporate identity.
To promote the concept of service and establish an element of branding, AdDept created a completely free total-service package called “The Painless Move”. A head office department was set up to administer every detail of moving house on behalf of Folkard & Hayward’s customers, from organising the removal itself to notifying the essential services and even arranging child- and pet-minders on the day.
Communications in the broadest sense were inevitably vital and a public relations campaign was initiated using the launch of “The Painless Move” as a focal point. Advertising, both through press and direct mail, was stepped up, “handwritten” as far as possible in the new corporate colours.
Internal communications are also essential — the whole company should be fully involved in creating a new image. Accordingly, a series of informal lunches were organised and an internal newsletter is being set up.
In conclusion, I must emphasise that the creation of a new corporate identity is a long-term investment and will not necessarily produce an instant return, although Folkard & Hayward have already turned the corner and are now moving strongly ahead.
Beth Macdougall is the managing director of marketing consultants AdDept Ltd.
