Notorious R.O.B.

This post by Marty Neumeier on @Issue (from which the above graphic cometh) might be the most interesting branding-related insight I’ve read in quite some time.  Go now and read the whole thing.  I’ll wait.

Let’s assume that he can back up the assertion via survey data, focus group data, and actual market results.  The conclusions are very cool and very interesting indeed.

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Alan Webber by Gary Kelly / @issue Interview / vol. 6 no. 2

Thanks to travel, blogging is a bit light, but I did want to get this post out because more and more, I feel it’s a painful message that must be heard.

There are quite a few things that a real estate company can do to improve operations, but many of them will take immense amount of work, cultural changes, and rethinking the practice of real estate brokerage itself.  There is, however, one thing that any company can do that will immediately pay dividends: design.  All it takes is spending some money.

Start by reading this post by @Issue web magazine.  It is an excerpt of a book “Rules of Thumb” by Alan Webber, the cofounder of Fast Company magazine.  The excerpt speaks to Rule 28: Good design is table stakes. Great design wins:

Not long after that trip I went to Denmark for a conference that brought together architects, industrial designers, and graphic artists. I walked around Copenhagen, admiring the shops and stores, the comfortable restaurants, the overall ambiance of the place. Then I had a cup of coffee with a friend who had organized the gathering.

“Denmark has high wages, high taxes, and an expensive social safety net,” I said. “But your manufacturing is moving to cheaper countries. What’s the strategy for the future?”

“We’re not worried,” she said. “We intend to compete on the quality of our design. Denmark is famous for our design.”

Read the whole thing; it’ll be worth your time.  Then think through the implications for real estate with me.

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