< bloginfo('name'); ?>

Is the Grass greener on the other side? Yes or no?

This past Tuesday, I was fortunate enough to get a behind the scenes sneak peek at the newest Realogy real estate brand - Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate. You may be thinking, isn’t that a magazine? Well yes, and a whole lot more. You probably seen their flagship magazine with the same name in bookstores around the nation. The brand has some deep American roots and has been around since 1924. They even have a line of cookbooks!

I met with the CEO of Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate, Sherry Chris and her team - COO Nicolai Kolding, VP of Broker Services, Wendy Forsythe, Sr. Director of Communcations, Kevin Doel and Jason Steele, VP of Interactive Marketing. They gave me a warm welcome and a detailed grand tour of their new corporate offices located at Realogy headquaters in Parsippany, New Jersey. It’s an amazing facility that houses some of the largest brands in real estate including, Century 21, Sotheby’s, ERA, and Coldwell Banker. The new real estate website will be unveiled in a press conference on July 23rd at the Inman real estate connect at 8:30am. In the meantime, you can check out their cool real estate blog - which each of them blogs on.

We went down to the main cafeteria, which was more like a privately catered fiesta. There was an abundance of fresh foods to choose from.We grabbed some lunch to go - freshly sliced turkey with garlic mashed potatoes and corn Over lunch, I was given a presentation about the new brand and it’s vision. While I can’t get into much detail, embargoed until Wed July 23rd, I can say that overall, I was really impressed. For starters, the website is very web 2.0. Light pastel colors, lot’s of white space, intuitive UI and navigation that’s easy to follow. It’s quite inviting actually.

My gift - The Bettor Homes and Garden Cookbook

Reincarnating a classic real estate brand, BHG real estate operated for over 20 years and closed in 1998, isn’t the easiest of tasks. The challenge is how to best to utilize the power of a well known established brand and blend it with a cool new web 2.0 design and marketing strategy. No worries, I think they hit a home run. Tradition and technology has been fused into a complete package. This is a brand that I think, will resonate with many homeowners across the Unites States - just like apple pie and baseball - America’s pastime.

Sherry told me that the brand will not only be available in the U.S. but across the world. So if you’re interested in a unique real estate franchise in Moscow, Russia take a look at BHG real estate. From what I’ve seen, Better Homes and Gardens is a lifestyle real estate brand. It’s something home buyers and home sellers might really find intriguing, even if it’s for nostalgia’s sake. Today’s market is tough, any edge you have helps. In the case of BHG, their relationship with Meridith corporation gives them access to a database of over 85 million consumers. Whoa!

So how did this opportunity to get first look come about? I’m glad you asked. The short answer is - Social Media! Over the last couple of months, I kept bumping into Sherry, on Facebook, Twitter and on various blogs. One day, I just asked Sherry if we could get a sneak peek before the Inman real estate connect. Before I knew it, she had replied with an enthusiastic yes. Being proactive has it’s benefits.

Are you being proactive in the social media space? 

In the garden with Sherry, Wendy, Nicolai and Kevin behind the camera.

Many thanks to Sherry and the rest of the team for your hospitality. We wish you all the best.

So, is the grass greener on the other side? I guess it depends on what fertilizer your using

Popularity: 44% [?]