Entry by Jennifer Allan

ACRE/TCP 2.0 - Another ReBranding Solution...

  30 Comments

All rightee... after much soul-searching and deliberation... I think I have a solution that will work... See what you think.

Below are links to 2 versions of a re-worked logo - they can obviously be tweaked, but I'm showing them to you now to better explain the concept.

I think we're all in agreement that it's inappropriate to call ourselves "Accredited" when we are not; however, many indicated a desire to retain the ACRE acronym since Mollie put so much effort into creating the brand awareness... and I agree.

Therefore, I propose that we re-acronymize ACRE to be the "Association of Consulting Professionals in Real Estate." (see the logo for an idea of how to slip that "P" in there).

The related designation will be "Consulting Professional in Real Estate."

The ACRE acronym will be retained to reflect our history. Although it won't mean exactly the same thing; neither will it be misleading (Association versus Accredited) and will create the image of a society of professionals, while giving us flexibility to offer a designation or certification.

This approach also provides a lot of flexibility to incorporate more and less elaborate branding depending on the use - e.g. business card versus website versus listing presentation, etc.

Here are two examples of how the AC(P)RE can be presented:

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7161/6669365193_910814458f.jpg

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7160/6669333899_1c20cd110a.jpg

How does this sound?

30 Comments

Love it Jennifer - it keeps the recognition of the ACRE logo but updates it to reflect that we are an association.

Jennifer, In my opinion I like the first one; however, I have one small issue with it. Since I only do commercial real estate, the house in the logo represents to me and more than likely to my clients residential real estate.

I also don't see a need for the old logo to be incorporated into the new one any longer. It kind of just hangs out there. After a short period of time, no one will remember the old one anyway.

Thanks, Mollie... are you feeling better today?

Michael - I'd love to hear others' opinions on that - if we don't try to retain the "house" motif it certainly opens up our options (which may or may not be a good thing!), but I'm very open to discussion on it. Obviously the goal was to keep the look and feel of the original in an updated fashion... but...?

 

I like the second one best. You could put many windows on the side of the house to represent commercial. I think the old logo should go if we are sticking to a very close acronym. I'm not too fond of the floating professional. My 2 cents! I like an association!

 

 

Thanks, Justin... !

I like the first one best and I agree, an association is best!  

I like association.  I am not in love with the squished in "professional" looking like an afterthought.  (Or i have inventors remorse)

Please DO share any thoughts you have about keeping or not keeping the original "feel" of the ACRE brand... Merv just pointed out to me that the green and yellow of the sample is going to be difficult to work with in a website (not sure why, but I'll take his word for it!). I, personally, prefer bright, vibrant colors (if you're familiar with SWS you know that already!), but with ACRE I tried to be a bit more reserved and refined...

I don't like the word professional stuck in the midst of the logo. Feels like you're trying to fit too much in there, crammed. Plus try to shrink it down to put it on a business card. Has to be readable. But great job Jennifer. Overall I like what you're doing. 

Jennifer,

I am thrilled to see the ACRE acronym being retained and used.  Mollie worked so hard on that and I always thought that acre, being a way that we refer to a parcel of land, was a very clever idea for a real estate designation!  However, I am not in love with using the old logo in the new logo.  It looks like an afterthought to me.

 

 

I like the first draft logo better than the second.

With respect to those who don't care for the word 'professional' "squished  in" as one said, perhaps there's an easy solution which still works with the ACRE acronym - how about Associated Consultants in Real Estate? Fewer words, therefore cleaner. Do we really need the word 'professional?'

 

Ron

Ron, you don't "Squish" in Halifax?

I like it, I think I agree with Ron drop  the professional and go with Associated Consultants in Real Estate

Associated Consultatnts in Real Estate sounds good to me.

I'm liking the look of the logo (good job Jennifer) but I think we should drop the word "professional."

I mentioned this before but perhaps it's worth mentioning again that there are semi-professional designers out there that will bid a price to design or improve your logo - you choose the winnig design based on design and price I believe. It costs less than $500 for a finished professional logo in the best colors.

John, even more insane is the website called FIVRR, these people will do anything for 5 bucks.  if you get lucky, some of them are incredible at what they do.

I really don't like the word "Associated" - it just doesn't sound quite right to me, but I do like "Association of..."

I have a graphics designer I've worked with for years that I love and trust... so I'll stick with her although I have seen the results of some of those bid-a-logo sites and they're not bad!

Dear Jennifer,

On reflection, I agree that Association of --- is better.

On the subject of web design, no problem - it was just a suggestion - and I'll look up the website FIVRR as suggested by Glenn.

John - I actually found my graphics gal sort of that way... and she's just been wonderful.

Jennifer, I knew you would come up with a solution that would make your consituents happy, and you did!  Way to go!  Refining it is just a matter of working through the rest of the details, but you are definitely on the right track and gaining speed!

Thank you, Ronald! I'm feeling pretty good about it all myself. ONWARD!

Jennifer,

My opinion is to drop the house in the logo all together and certainly the old logo within the new proposed logo is to much.  My reasoning?  The house has been overdone in our industry.  How many agents & companies have a house as part of their logo?  Thousands I'd expect.

What is in the logos of other professional groups in our industry?   CRS, ABR, GRI?   None of them have a house in the logo.  Either does NAR.  They use their initials along with a symbol. 

If we want to go to the next level in recoginition of what ACRE means to the industry then we should start with making our logo more about what ACRE means to a consumer.  It's far more than a house and more about services and transformation of the industry.

I like the way you think, Cindy. I've never put a house in any of my logos, but the intention with Round 1 was to reflect the original brand, of course.

I'm going to let this sit for a few days and tackle it again later in the week. I have some ideas, but there's no huge rush... and sometimes the RIGHT answer comes when you least expect it.

Thanks everyone, for your thoughts and suggestions - do keep them coming as they occur to you!

I have to agree with Cindy. The houses are overdone.

Think it through. 

I've always liked stylized skylines although they may be a bit overdone as well.

Jennifer-didn't mean to sound harsh or to critical.  I applaud your effort as I know it isn't easy to try try and satisfy everyone.  Since we are outside the box agents, it would make sense to try and create a logo and tag line that reflected we have a solution for consumers that's not the same old way of doing business.


Cindy - I didn't take your comment as harsh or critical at all... 

I like both of these! 

You may want other commercial brokers to be involved and the house logo might turn them off.

Consulting Professionals ....... is redundant.

Association of Consultants in Real Estate ..... would work.

Jennifer, I have been involved in a lot of logo designs and I must say that I agree with Cindy.  It's good to have a graphical element with some meaning behind it as part of the logo, but roof lines and homes are pretty overused.  Differentiation is what I am after in my business and a large reason why most of us are here. I don't necessarily have the answer, but will chime in when I have an idea that you might use.  The brainpower of all of us working together can outperform the brainpower of the smartest person in the industry.

I'm fine not having a roof-line, chimney, etc.! And I agree. If anyone has any thoughts on what sort of graphical element would be appropriate- please share!

This page contains a single entry by Jennifer Allan published on January 10, 2012 7:51 AM.

ACRE 2.0 - Stepping Back... and Moving Forward! was the previous entry in this blog.

Do WE Believe? is the next entry in this blog.

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