Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Genius Marketing or Just Juvenile? You be the Judge



I don't know Rogers Healy, who recently formed his own real estate company here in Dallas, so I don't want this post to be misconstrued as being critical of him. I came across this article in the SMU Daily Campus and it seems as though he is going after a particular niche market with a certain amount of, well, arrogance. I'm struggling as to whether it's brilliant or not. Here are some of the rather self-aggrandizing statements from the article. You be the judge.
"...we're not your mom's best friend," Healy said. "We're young people who are good looking and aggressive, and that opens doors."
Is this alienating the baby boomer generation? The girls are cute but the dudes need to kick it up a notch, ifyaknowwhatimean.

"Every person on Healy's wall of fame has a connection to Healy, including best friend Tony Romo. The two were introduced through a mutual friend."
Really? Best friends with Tony Romo? I thought that was Jason Witten. I guess I must have missed him in that photo in Cabo.
"Healy gets more than 400 calls a day on his cell phone. He keeps it constantly plugged into a charger to manage all of the calls."
Really? 400 calls a day? Does Donald Trump even get 400 calls a day?
"With the office fridge stocked with beer and a staff made up of an ex-college cheerleader, a Maxim magazine model, a reality TV star and a few frat boys, it is no surprise that Healy is the buzz around town."
But you're professionals, right? And the kicker,
"Healy was busy last fall switching careers from realtor to matchmaker, successfully creating Hollywood's 'it-couple' when he introduced Jessica Simpson and Tony Romo."
Really? Seriously? He's taking credit for introducing Romo and Simpson? I obviously can't refute any of these claims but like I said before, maybe this is brilliant marketing to a niche not yet served in our real estate market.

5 comments:

  1. Interesting post, Jeff.

    I wouldn't go as far to say that the guy is a genius, but I can say that he's creating a niche for himself with the young crowd. Better to be focused than to be general, right?

    And yeah, it's unprofessional in REALTOR standards, but we have to admit. Almost all REALTORs in this country are unprofessional.

    Lotta BS with him being buddy-buddy with Romo, but I'm sure that it's selling and building Healy's name!

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  2. I agree. You can't argue that he isn't focusing on a target market. Those young SMU students and the younger, casual professional crowd may be the hedge fund and financial gurus of tomorrow. So there's that.

    I will say there is a need for a younger, "hipper" real estate office in Dallas. Not sure why we feel the need to look and act stuffy. I believe it's possible to balance professionalism with a certain degree of informality without coming off as cavalier.

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  3. Thanks for this post, Jeff.
    I haven't laughed this hard in a while.
    I don't know this guy either, but remember Britney was wearing his t-shirt when she was having her meltdown? I guess if it works for him ...

    It sounds like he has some clever marketing ideas. Nothing wrong with thinking outside the box (like we do Jeff). But I think he has stepped waaaaaaay outside the box - and the circle, too.

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  4. This guy is the biggest tool in Dallas and especially around the SMU campus. I'm sure if you use your imagination you know why he gets all the sorority girls to "buy" from him.

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  5. I don't think he's a tool. The more I think about it, the more smart I think he is.

    We, as REALTORs, are in this for the money. If not, you're a liar.

    I would rather be him, having people blog about me, than be an agent that's traditional that no one knows about.

    And because he has his niche market going on, I'm not going to sit and pout and hate on him. Be relevant or be gone.

    Easy.

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