Members Voice Opinions Prompting Further Consideration
Days after the announcement that the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) branding had been redesigned—including the introduction of a new REALTOR® “R”—the organization has announced it is “pausing its implementation” after evaluating feedback from its members.
Following the announcement on Monday that NAR was rolling out the newly revised logo, the organization decided on Wednesday to put the logo release on hold due to concerns raised over the cost and need for the revamp. In a member communication sent out yesterday, the message cited strong disapproval as the reason for pausing the rollout, stating, “we have received a diversity of opinions that ranged from strong support to outright disapproval.”
On Wednesday, NAR released a statement from CEO Bob Goldberg and President Elizabeth Mendenhall informing members of the postponement:
Since we announced the brand evolution and logo redesign, we have received a diversity of opinions that ranged from strong support to outright disapproval. Please know how much we appreciate member input and how seriously we take your feedback.
While the issues that drove this process to evaluate and ultimately evolve the REALTOR® logo still exist, we are pausing its implementation. This extra time will allow us to further examine the enhancement of the REALTOR® brand proposition, including the logo, which means so much to you and your business.
We are a member-centric organization and this decision to postpone the brand transformation demonstrates that your national association is listening.
From condemnation to praise, the branding—the cube logo, particularly—ignited a range of responses, including on RISMedia.com.
“As we tried to reimagine our REALTOR® R, we thought about the people behind the brand—the human beings who are making the real estate transaction happen,” said Goldberg of the revamp at the time. “Consumers trust our members and our brand represents trust. We don’t ever want to lose sight of the fact that the human factor makes the brand what it is.”
Here is the full text of the communication from NAR to its members:
Since we announced the brand evolution and logo redesign, we have received a diversity of opinions that ranged from strong support to outright disapproval. Please know how much we appreciate member input and how seriously we take your feedback.
While the issues that drove this process to evaluate and ultimately evolve the REALTOR® logo still exist, we are pausing its implementation. This extra time will allow us to further examine the enhancement of the REALTOR® brand proposition, including the logo, which means so much to you and your business.
We are a member-centric organization and this decision to postpone the brand transformation demonstrates that your national association is listening.
This journey began in earnest in 2016 from a Presidential Advisory Group on choosing real estate as a first career. The number one directive of the PAG was that NAR should expand, modernize, and elevate the REALTOR® brand.
The process continued in 2017 when a Sounding Board of members, the Leadership Team, and NAR Staff engaged a brand design group to create a new brand proposition and logo. Throughout the year, qualitative and quantitative research was conducted with consumers and members about the current brand and potential brand updates.
This was a thoughtful, deliberate, and comprehensive process with input from many diverse viewpoints. We were very excited to share the new brand with our members. But we are also mindful that an association with 1.3 million members has 1.3 million opinions, especially about an identity that represents our commitment to our clients.
For that reason, let’s all take a deep breath. Let’s take a pause on the brand roll out. Let’s gather more input.
Sincerely,
The NAR Leadership Team
The first REALTOR® R was implemented in 1973, when the association changed its name from the “the National Association of Real Estate Boards” to “the National Association of REALTORS®.”
Here is the original story about the new logo.
Stay tuned to RISMedia for more developments.
