What do Betty Crocker, Kraft Foods, Monopoly and Target not have in common with real estate brands?
They’ve created iPhone apps.
These long-standing brands have plunged down the rabbit hole and into a wonderland where they have found a newer, cheaper, smarter way to connect and serve a generation of King and Queen consumers – your consumers – while you are not.
Feed your head
Last week at Real Trends’ Gathering of Eagles in Dallas, a prominent association executive attempted to show me his organization’s new app for the Blackberry.
His presentation began with the statement, I know it would look and work so much better on an iPhone but… and concluded with an apology regarding its clunky, unattractive and rudimentary interface. “We had to make this for the Blackberry” he said, “our industry has yet to adapt to the iPhone.”
Lame.
Talk about surreal. Just moments earlier Zillow’s Spencer Rascoff pulled me aside and offered these facts about their new iPhone app:
• The app had 150K downloads after only 8 days
• It now ranks as the #14 free app in the iTunes App Store
• 25% of all searches last week on Zillow came from the app
If real estate hasn’t adopted the iPhone then where did all this hoopla come from?
It must be consumers. Your consumers. Doing exactly what they did three years ago when Zillow offered them a view through real estate’s CMA looking glass. So unless I am smoking caterpillar, how many times is history going repeat itself before real estate decides to head down the rabbit hole and get with the program?
Need some incentive? Check out this 35-page study of iPhone users conducted by Rubicon Consulting.
• Half are under 30
• Half consider themselves very technology savvy
• 13% of them traded in their Blackberry’s for iPhones
These people are not just consumers. They are real estate’s future cash cow. So what is your game plan for connecting with them?
A blog?
Better think again.
That’s very 2007.
Go ask Alice
If you ever wondered how others outside this space so easily wedged themselves between traditional real estate companies and their customers the answer is obvious. Traditional real estate is always a day late on understanding its customer and a dollar short on shifting quickly to meet their needs.
As long as MLSs, associations, brokers and vendors continue to cater to the stagnant inclinations of their constituents – agents – rather than pushing them forward into new mediums others outside the industry will.
Davison
Twitter: 1000wattmarc
Local, Mobile, Social and the future of real estate
20 Tools to Bring your Real Estate Business to the Cloud
15 Ways to Make Your Marketing Mobile
A blog is very 2007 however you can easily turn a blog into an iPhone application.
Also I’m not sure a brokerage firm would necessarily benefit from bringing out an iPhone application unless they had some sort of inherent value above and beyond the applications already out here that reach the same audience only better.
Trulia, Zillow, Homes.com, etc.
They all serve listings and much better than a brokerage could do or would need to invest to compete.
But maybe I missed the point of the article… Are you saying that broker’s and agent should leverage current existing applications to push their listings because of the marketing reach and scope of the iPhone platform?
I also wouldn’t necessarily say the iPhone is the answer either. While it has a huge chunk of the market and it’s user interface is amazing, the BlackBerry is outselling it.
Maybe the answer isn’t necessarily should you be on the iPhone platform but should you write simple, useful software and introduce it to your audience in an easy to consume package.
Marc,
An interesting dilemma to be sure:
Use the iPhone, which many of my clients are, but sacrifice the speed of response which my crackberry affords me.
Small point, but when I can connect with my clients and prospects within SECONDS of their inquiry, the iPhone becomes nothing more than a toy.
Don’t get me wrong, I’ve got a severe case of SOS (Shiny Object Syndrome)and would love to make an iPhone my business phone. But it simply doesn’t have the business machine ‘chops’ that my crackberry does.
So, while there is more than a modicum of truth in:
“As long as MLSs, associations, brokers and vendors continue to cater to the stagnant inclinations of their constituents – agents – rather than pushing them forward into new mediums others outside the industry will.”
…I have to point out that even if I wanted to, the iPhone technology is what hampers me from considering it even usable.
Anyone working on a ‘hybrid’ blackberry/iPhone?
Jesse’s right. In Q1 2009, the blackberry 8300, or “Curve” model, actually outsold the iPhone in units, with the Storm 3rd in units behind the iPhone. So Blackberry has 2 of the top 3 selling Mobile devices.
Blackberry recently unveiled its own app store, and while it is playing “catch-up” to the iPhone app store, it is a step in the right direction.
My brokerage, Avery-Hess, Realtors, serves the Washington, DC metropolitan area, and Blackberry products are far more prevalent (at least through my observation) in this area than iPhones. Even the youngsters (under 35) seem to have adopted blackberry devices as they are the norm for businesses in this area (see consulting, defense contracting, and government agencies).
Wouldn’t it be smart for brokerages to develop an app for both devices if they decide to go that route?
I’m under 30 and use an iphone (I prefer it much more than a Blackberry – even for business use), and more of my friends use iphones than blackberry but I think that’s all beside the point anyway. It’s not a matter of which mobile device is better, it’s a matter of actually reaching consumers on their mobile device of choice. Maybe that means an iphone app, maybe a blackberry app, maybe some “new phone” app.
I am actually in the process of developing an iphone real estate app (or trying to I should say), but with a limited budget and my local MLS practically requiring a manifesto from me about how I am going to “use the data” it is quickly becoming a pain in the ass. I am not sure it is worth it to try to compete with a VC backed firm to create software at this point. One thing I can compete better with is personal, local service, so that’s where my time is better spent for now. I can still do that through a blog (among other things) better than an iphone app, though I do agree that mobile is the future (probably near future). That’s why I am at least dipping my toes in….
Good comments so far.
My emphasis is not merely about the iPhone versus Blackberry.
Consider these:
1 – The cost of marketing and reaching the new consumer on a worldwide scale would typically cost a major brand tens of millions of dollars whereas an iPhone apps could potentially run around $25,000. Not peanuts either but if you consider the 3+million downloads Zippo has amassed for their simple app, national firms like C21, who have already scratched their expensive TV campaigns, stand to cultivate an entirely new audience and convey brand meaning through an app that arguably, even their new social network might not.
2- Playing on the field instead of in the stands. Traditional RE companies stand on the sidelines. They continually cry foul at the “interlopers” who wedge themselves between them and their customers. Here’s a chance to wedge back into the conversation. And cultivate their own leads instead of buying from others.
3- Brand building. It all points back to that for me. As brokerages pull out of newspapers, contend with really unattractive websites and lose traffic to the syndicators, how will real estate largest brands get in front of my 21-year son who represents the middle of the tidal wave of new customers to real estate? Their only shot is through their agents, which the majority of do not know how to brand properly and the ones that do, hardly co brand to their brokerage.
Blackberry is not going out of business. But it is not a branding platform with the kind of Gen Y target like the iPhone has – a target this is real estate most potent next customer.
I agree with Marc that this is a great way to reach a large audience and continuously market to them. Something I’d warn about though is if you are going to invest in an iPhone application, understand that you are now becoming a software vendor and you cannot just build the application and leave it at that.
It’s like any other business venture. You’re most expensive part will be R&D and leaving it alone will only communicate that you don’t care about your investments to your users/customers. The application will need updates to the codebase and a dedicated team to interface and have a conversation with your users.
Opening your company up to these conversations can be absolutely amazing and HUGELY profitable. BUT… be well aware that this is not a one time fee and it’s not something you buy and forget about. You will have a VERY large user base that now sees you as an iPhone application provider and will expect updates, and improvements on the product they’ve invested in. It’s an unfortunate caveat of Software now (as I believe a well built program shouldn’t necessarily need to be “updated”) but it is what is expected.
Think $25,000 initial and some amount of monthly costs from there on out. Or be prepared to fully communicate that this application is a one time deal and you will not be updating it further. Just don’t be surprised when Apple/BlackBerry comes out with a firmware update and your app no longer works and your customers are upset and you now have a much larger problem than you had before.
Two years ago, my business partner said “We need to begin developing our interactive floor plan for the iPhone.” I said “Yeah, that would be cool…” and quietly thought “What a waste of time & money. Realtors using iPhones? Common…”
2 years later, and here we are. The facts in this post alone should be enough motivation for the industry.
Luckily, I let my business partner chase his dream. PlanOmatic is the first to offer our clients an interactive floor plan presentation optimized for the iPhone: http://photoplan.planomatic.com/3275 . Now, we just need more iPhone apps for real estate that support a virtual tour link. We aren’t far off.
Great post Marc. What if traditional real estate was 1 day ahead of technology as opposed to one day behind… What a soothing fantasy.
Hi Marc – this is an excellent post, thank you.
The message I take away is that it has very little to do with the phone Realtors are using today and much more to do with the decisions our Associations & MLS Boards are making.
As a Broker in San Diego, I sit on several technology committees and find myself frustrated that the majority of my peers are content to look down or backwards, anything to prevent the necessity of moving forward.
Your statement:
“If you ever wondered how others outside this space so easily wedged themselves between traditional real estate companies and their customers the answer is obvious. Traditional real estate is always a day late on understanding its customer and a dollar short on shifting quickly to meet their needs.”
couldn’t be any more spot on. Our industry leaders/associations need to either accept the inevitable changes or find another career path. Their limited vision is doing more harm than good for their Realtor members.
We need to embrace the new mindset of the younger generation and build our business around their way of thinking & living.
My advice to all younger Real Estate Professionals is to start volunteering / participating in your local associations. We need to be the change we want to see.
Drew Burks
http://www.WebRealEstateTools.com
Thanks for the comment Drew. It all comes down to this: last night, while talking an after evening stroll with wife, kids, dogs, I passed an aging yard sign with nothing but air in the flier box. My wife wondered how much the home is selling for. That answer was supplied within seconds by Zillow. Not the listing agent. Or the brokerage. Or the local MLS.
But to be fair, I called the two numbers on the yard sign. Got voice mail. Still no call back.
Now get this, my 8-year old, who is fascinated by the iPhone, spent the rest of walk, holding the phone and having a Zillow experience.
My guess, that won’t be his last either.
The iphone/blackberry debate is real
The iphone is a consumer device while the blackberry is preferred by business users -mainly because of the easy of typing on the (non touch version) blackberry keyboard.
A realtor would be well served with a blackberry but should market their services on an iphone.
Indeed proper marketing would have as Brian points out, a great website and and equally great iphone and blackberry app.
Since the majority of consumers use a PC, that application better be top notch before fiddling with mobile apps.
Hi Marc,
Thanks for the post — totally agree.
When we at Zillow sat down to decide whether to build our v1 app on the iphone or the BB, it was a no-brainer. Perhaps we’ll do a BB app down the road, but the fact is that even people who have BBs don’t seem to use apps. Apple has just crushed it with their app store. They’ve created a brand new platform, as powerful as Windows. (Well, almost as powerful. But give them time — 37M iphones and itouches have already been sold….)
Today Zillow passed 250,000 downloads of our iphone application and it’s now the #13 free app overall. Only the AT&T Wireless app is ahead of us in terms of corporate applications. The rest are games like Pee Monkey (how can we compete with that?)…
Go long on APPL.
[BTW, how come I can't get new comments from this post emailed to me as they appear? I don't see that feature on your blog.]
Thanks for the info Spencer. I think my kid can account for about 10,000 downloads today alone. He’s gone nuts with the application and keeps snagging my phone when I am not looking.
I agree on BB. It’s used for email. Phone. But where the action is, based on this post is in the applications. It a branding wonderland.
I will check into the issue with the comments ASAP. Thanks for bringing to my attention.
Indeed. iPhone and Apple are just getting started with all the whiz-bang they and developers will deliver. I have agents ask me all the time, which phone should I get? I recommend the iPhone, then they go out and get the blackberry because our HAR MLS lockbox setup is not compatible with apple and they don’t want to carry 2 devices. Silly I know. But even worse, how about the idea that if use the HAR website, it’s not compatible with Safari or Firefox…talk about dumb and consumer, member unfriendly.
Interesting points.
No reason not to have 2 phones. Reason the report I linked too. Many of the subjects in that report carry two phones.
What’s the buy in? $199.00 plus a monthly? Seems crazy not to drop that to be part of the “in crowd”.
As for HAR not being compatible with Safari… Hey Bob, Sam, Taqi… what’s the deal with that?
Had to chime in on the HAR/MLS Internet Explorer (READ: Ancient, broken, technology…if it can even be called tech anymore) issue.
I loathe MLS’s. They seem to move at the speed of rock and offer the same amount of effort in services. Thank you for Zillow, Trulia and other’s that are picking up the slack and bringing transparency and clarity to the consumer.
But what do I know, I’m just a consumer… MLS’s, your brand is upside down and we’re hoping you fail. The image is also being passed on to every agent that sends a link to your site or has to interface with your products.
Jesse,
In some cases, yes, the MLS hurts their constituents more than they realize. But check out MRIS and what they created as a public consumer facing site. http://www.homesdatabase.com – Remember, nothing in life is perfect but this is a great attempt – perhaps the best effort in real estate.
HAR.com’s public facing website is browser agnostic and does work with Safari, however, the MLS system for agents that HAR licenses from its vendor, Marketlinx, is only supported in Internet Explorer. Many MLS vendor systems supporting large MLS’s have browser compatibility issues and utilize Citrix server as a work around to the issue. Systems being coded today and the last few years may support multi-browser access and the large MLS vendors understand the need for their next generation systems to support multi-browser access as Inernet Explorer continues to lose market share..
Industries like RE tend to have a few early adopters, but most agents still cling to the old technologies for their business and communication. Things are changing and the agents who want to be successful should be ready to embrace the change.
This industry can no longer afford to have early adopters. And honestly, I wonder if that term even makes sense anymore. One is either nimble and stays current or they get left behind quickly.
Ken,
I have reached out to the folks at HAR after visiting their site and find it works fine in Safari on both my Mac’s. I have received confirmation that this is the case but I suspect someone from HAR will delineate further either here or to you in an email.
My experience with HAR is that they are progressive and have been for a very long time. They take their members seriously and have been more instrumental in keeping their members on their toes than any other entity in Houston.
I look forward to their response.
This is pure gold Marc:
And MRIS’s http://www.homesdatabase.com/ is beautiful! More please!
Blackberry will = AOL & Netscape. They both led the internet revolution, but Google, Microsoft, Firefox, Apple, etc cleaned up after them.
Same will go with with the iPhone and the smart phone revolution.
Anyone remember the Sharp Wizard? http://tinyurl.com/qboc9u or the Apple Newton? http://tinyurl.com/qa4g2m
I have never had a BB only the iPhone, the only difference I can see is that you have to carry the MLS ekey instead of having the info loaded to your phone, but I don’t care. The benefits of the iPhone far outweigh that inconvenience.
Jesse's right. In Q1 2009, the blackberry 8300, or “Curve” model, actually outsold the iPhone in units, with the Storm 3rd in units behind the iPhone. So Blackberry has 2 of the top 3 selling Mobile devices.
Blackberry recently unveiled its own app store, and while it is playing “catch-up” to the iPhone app store, it is a step in the right direction.
My brokerage, Avery-Hess, Realtors, serves the Washington, DC metropolitan area, and Blackberry products are far more prevalent (at least through my observation) in this area than iPhones. Even the youngsters (under 35) seem to have adopted blackberry devices as they are the norm for businesses in this area (see consulting, defense contracting, and government agencies).
Wouldn't it be smart for brokerages to develop an app for both devices if they decide to go that route?
Exciting facts. I have already been looking for a page with content much like this. Cheers for conveying