Realogy (now known as Anywhere), the parent company to mega real estate brands including Century 21, Coldwell Banker and others, was developing a new tech stack of products to power their enterprise and network of thousands of broker businesses. Realogy Corporate Comms understood getting quick adoption for the new products would be critical to operational success, and called upon Spitball to develop a strategy and messaging plan.

Our first task was to understand real estate brokers and agents, and the challenges they faced in running their business. Each are their own entrepreneur, but are supported by the system they choose to be part of. With the speed of digital transformation, they often felt burned by the constant new tech they were forced to adopt, whether by the parent company or the changing needs of the industry. Our goal was to communicate not what they needed to use, but why it aligned with their goals. Real estate is a relationships business, but there is no relationship without the ability to connect. This informed the foundation of our messaging strategy.

Simply put, Connect What’s Key

To bring this messaging strategy to life, Spitball looked at the line of products in the new Productivity Hub. Each needed their own identity while fitting into a larger visual language. The idea of a continuous line captured the benefit of connectivity and was used to form each icon. The continuous line communicates the idea of always being connected while creating dynamic shapes to represent each of the 7 products. There is a sense of energy and motion in the line as it draws the shape of each icon, but there is also a minimal and modern quality to the line work.

Creating a visual identity was just the start. How can we establish core messaging for the Productivity Hub and its individual products that will create meaning for the diverse audiences – from brokers and agents to investors? Spitball embarked on an audience-centric discovery process to understand the functionality and benefits of each product to create a messaging playbook for the Realogy comms team to disseminate information appropriately. It was the basis for press, investor and internal communications.

A critical piece of the messaging ecosystem was a one-page microsite used to invite brokers and agents to learn more about the Hub. It’s simplicity along with its design and content were purposeful in connecting to the audience and growing their business.