Florida Realtors® President Cynthia Shelton announces new brand

"We want to bring something extremely important to your attention.  The branding of our organization. Think Google, Starbucks, MySpace, Vogue, People, Citibank, Sports Illustrated, Target, Amazon, The Weather Channel, Facebook. Overall, pretty descriptive. Impactful. Memorable. Wouldn’t you agree?

"For more than two years, the leadership of Florida Realtors® and the creative staff have explored re-imagining the brand of our organization. We faithfully exercised our due diligence.  Consulted the requisite experts. Called on designers, lawyers, and marketing gurus.

"Today, we want to share with you the results: our new name and our first-ever corporate logo.

"Exciting, isn’t it? But, before we go there, first I want to assure you that our official name remains the Florida Association of Realtors.  Our new name and mark for marketing and promotion is simply a DBA, which means “doing business as.” And we’ll incorporate the Realtor “R “in strategic applications, to show we’re part of the family of Realtor® organizations, for example, as part of our letterhead. But we believe the Realtor “R” is the symbol of the practitioner.

"There were five primary messages we wanted to convey that lead us to create our new name and logo.

Contemporary
"We’ve been around since 1916. But we don’t want to look like we’re in 1916. And we don’t want it to sound like we’re in 1916. We need to convey energy, be current, and belong among movers and shakers. We should register and resonate with younger Realtor® members, younger members of the business community, and younger members of the community at large. Let’s be contemporary.

Corporate
You are big business. You are small business. And your success is our business. That’s precisely what we want to communicate as crisply as we can. We need to be streamlined. We need to be nimble. We need to be known. Let’s be corporate.

Compassionate
Actually, it’s both compassion and passion. There’s a quote that says, “a brand that captures your mind gains behavior. A brand that captures your heart gains commitment. ”What is it about excellent Realtors® that we respect and remember? It’s their passion for our profession, and their compassion for others?

Simply put, we want to represent the best in all of us. Let’s be compassionate and passionate.

Classic
"Not trendy. Not out there. Not stiff. Not stuffy. Not predictable. Not of any particular time or place. In fact, the name and mark must hold up over time. To be timeless. Because anything else is temporary. And we don’t want to be changing our Company name and mark any more often than every 93 years. And hopefully, never again. Classic also means simple. Stylish. And simply strong.  Let’s be classic.

Committed to Memory
"Advertising pioneer Claude Hopkins said, “the right name is an advertisement in itself.” We have the right new name. It begins with Florida — the world’s most popular real estate destination. And it ends with Realtors — the people everyone should turn to, to own a slice of paradise.

"Listen to the difference.  Florida Association of Realtors, or . . . Florida Realtors. Just kind of rolls off the tongue, doesn’t it?

"And here’s the kicker. Surveys and studies show that the more a member knows about our organization, the better they like our organization. So let me commit to your memory a whole new line of products, services and events.

Then:                                 Now:
Tech Helpline                   Florida Realtors® Tech Helpline
Spokesperson Training     Florida Realtors® Spokesperson Training

"And so on and so on with every single product, service and event from our organization. Fits right in with our award-winning publication, Florida Realtor magazine and our award-winning website, floridarealtors.org, where we’ve built substantial equity.  The result: if used properly, everyone will know every product, service and event brought to you by — “Florida Realtors.”

"Our new corporate logo appears in the top left corner of our website. It says Real Estate, Community, Sophistication, Inclusiveness, Accessibility, Strength and Energy.

"The mark is purposeful. It says we care. And this professional mark is both classy and classic. It will stand the test of time!"