Marketing Spotlight: Charlotte's Asterisk Creative Rebrands Regional Realtor and Launches New Website

April 27, 2005 -- Lori and Kenny Fuqua already had 8 years of success, selling over 250 homes in the Charlotte area as agents with Helen Adams Realty. In late 2004, they hired Charlotte marketing firm Asterisk Creative to create a new company brand to work with their existing association with Helen Adams. The following details the creative process and strategy behind the work.

Naming, Brand Identity and Tagline
Asterisk Creative started with naming the Fuqua’s new venture. Most realtors and realty companies adhere to the standard “‘insert name here’ Realty” technique. "We wanted to go with something more distinct and memorable", says Asterisk Creative partner Rick Oppedisano. "The result was Fuqua Fine Southern Homes, a name we felt reflected distinction and the quality residences Kenny and Lori sold."

The logo places emphasis on another memorable element of the name: the “Q” in Fuqua. The "Q" was drawn out as an element, giving it a look reminiscent to a magnifying glass, and used the tagline, “Look No Further”. “Finding a home can be an exhaustive process for some people”, explains Asterisk Creative Art Director Rob McCaskill, “They look for realtors, homes, and advice. The magnifying glass and tagline reflect the cycle of that search process, as it ends with the Fuquas.”

Asterisk Creative's final challenge was to create synergy between the Fuqua’s new brand and the existing Helen Adams brand. The tagline’s friendly but astute tone rang similar to the tone of the Adams brand, and the color palette was chosen to support the Adams brand’s colors. This was important since both logos were featured on the Fuqua Fine Southern Homes business cards and website.

Imagery and Collateral
The Fuqua’s wanted their brand to be unique and uncompromised by imagery that may have been created for a whole other purpose. Asterisk Creative shot all imagery in-house to create a visual language that matched the Fuqua’s values of “high-touch” personal attention. Having a photography team is in-house as opposed to outsourcing eliminates miscommunication between teams and ensures that the concepts, images, and copy convey a unified message.

When our attention turned to the collateral, a close eye was kept on affordability and flexibility. No two Fuqua prospects are the same, nor would they be approached as such. Asterisk Creative addressed this issue by creating professionally printed folders which contain PDF inserts that can be selected and printed in accordance to each prospect’s needs, and a series of direct mail templates to be utilized as needed. This technique is a cost-effective way to create targeted marketing collateral.

Website:
The Fuqua Fine Southern Homes website (www.fuquarealestate.com) addresses specific goals of unique design, strong usability and focused, well-organized content. Visitors can view the Fuqua’s listings and learn about the Home Buying and Selling processes. They can peruse the Recommended Resources section, which offers contact info for every home need, from electricians to landscapers.

Interaction with these value propositions engages the prospect, allowing website to become a lead-generating hub and a valuable information source to the consumer.

Next was making sure the site was visible on search engines. This was a key area in the Fuqua's internet marketing strategy. Asterisk Creative optimized the site with search-engine friendly code. Website copy was written to be “keyword dense”, a technique ensuring website text contains the terminology entered into search engines by users looking for a meeting facility. Keyword-dense copy increases the likelihood of the website being recognized by Google, Yahoo, or MSN.

The Results
"The name of the game in real estate is brand recognition and even more important than that is what it says about you and your company", says Kenny Fuqua. "The custom materials and brand design makes an immediate impact with our clients in regards to their decision on who they are going to hire too sell their current home and locate their new home. With the newly created pieces and website we are able to quickly differentiate ourselves from the thousands of real estate agents in Charlotte and the surrounding areas."

"We can not say enough about the impact that they have had on our business and to think that we just launched a few months ago. We would not hesitate to recommend Asterisk Creative, Inc. to any company looking to hire an organization to produce some of the most cutting edge corporate branding on the market.”

Founded in 2001, Asterisk Creative has more than 60 clients in the Charlotte area, including HRAmerica, the Charlotte Chamber, the Charlotte Bobcats and Verbatim. Visit our website to learn more about our company and clients:

http://www.asteriskcreative.com