by G. Sax, Head of Communications, RESO
This week’s RESO Three Questions interview is with Ashley Stinton, Managing Partner, NAR REACH (REACH is operated by Second Century Ventures, the strategic technology venture arm of the National Association of REALTORS®). We talked about branding from two different angles – consumer packaging and from an organizational perspective – and we finished with a question calling upon being “Back Home Again in Indiana.”
Q1: You have a background in CPGs (consumer packaged goods). Is the REALTOR® brand a good CPG or is it an uphill battle trying to get consumers to understand the difference between a real estate agent and a REALTOR®?
Ashley: It’s significantly more difficult than most of the CPG goods I sold in previous work. But there are parallels with natural exposure that are going to be subject to scrutiny.
Like with Coca-Cola, overall, it is an extremely positive brand that holds high emotional value with consumers. But it was a quick education in the weight that larger brands carry, like Coke or McDonald’s. Consumer confidence, regulation, etc. – you name it – major brands face a different level of pressure and are often sitting in the role of scapegoat or get pitted against one another. Though I have to admit I eagerly await the beverage industry’s Super Bowl commercials each year!
Real estate also reaches so many people and carries significant emotional value, so naturally it’s important for the National Association of REALTORS® to reinforce its brand. If we look at real estate as a product, we have to ask how a REALTOR® is different? And what does that stand for? What does it not stand for?
We can talk about other CPG brands in a similar position: Kleenex, Post-It, Rollerblade, Uber. It’s great to be the category leader, but you don’t want it to be genericized. I look at the REALTOR® brand with the same esteem as a category leader, but it’s important to separate REALTORS® as members of a professional organization adhering to a strict Code of Ethics.
There are also factors related to state licensing to consider. What do those thresholds look like? Is this the opportunity to set a higher standard? Perhaps that’s a positive outcome of all this competition around branding.
Let me approach this in a different way from the lens of my role with REACH. REACH Canada is working with a company called Credivera that does credentialing in the healthcare space. A single credential or certification is not often the full story. It’s a mix of continuing education, licensing, credentialing and other factors, depending on the industry – all the things that go into maintaining a license paired with the many additional areas of expertise a licensee may endeavor to achieve. So how can we apply a similar approach to real estate?
Q2: You had early success in your career at blue chip companies like 3M and Coca-Cola. What is it about the National Association of REALTORS® specifically that leads you to believe that it, too, is a blue-chip organization?
Ashley: I gained a lot of experience at both orgs in terms of operating at that high caliber in a specific industry – it’s not easy for them to stay at the top of their game, and competition exists at every level. But I believed in each company’s vision, and I trusted the teams I worked with, so I enjoyed the pressure. When I was looking at real estate and a transition, I wanted to work with an organization that held themselves to a higher standard. I wanted a company that was innovative in its approach to being an industry leader.
They had a 15% rule at 3M, where all employees should spend that amount of their time each week on ideating, experimenting and collaborating. I saw this at NAR and specifically at Second Century Ventures (SCV). We spend time on challenging the status quo and the notion that no idea is a bad idea.
When I got to NAR, it was great to see the behind-the-scenes activities towards problem solving and creating big ideas. I spent a lot of my CPG career working with enterprise clients, inspired by but not creating the formula for how the glue was made. Similarly, at SCV, I don’t develop “the glue,” meaning the AI. But in being an innovation company, we focus on the enormous opportunities for technology to support and advance the industry.
Q3: Do the names Nina Kennedy (Australia) and Katie Moon (U.S.) mean anything to you? If so, why?
Ashley (Thinking): Pole vault. Olympians. Women’s pole vaulting was not an official Olympic event until 2000 in Sydney, Australia. Stacy Dragila from Team USA won that inaugural gold. It was inspiring.
I know you asked that because I was a pole vaulter in high school and college. An opportunity I almost missed out on since IHSA – the governing body for high school sports in Illinois – didn’t allow women to compete in the event until my junior year. And without pressure from aspiring athletes and parents to lobby the IHSA, my very tiny window to get into the event wouldn’t have existed.
At the time, I believe that only a fraction of all 50 states allowed women to compete at a high school level. Because track and field adds points from all the events, my event was needed. I was more than willing, because I saw this as my shot at a D1 collegiate scholarship.
I’m lucky to have parents that supported sending me to a bunch of different camps, which included driving me to them with a makeshift container to hold 12-foot poles on the top of the car. And I had a very forgiving coach who saw potential in me even though I looked like most YouTube fail videos for many, many months.
I ended up competing for Indiana University, which I chose largely because of the Kelley School of Business. It would have been pretty cool to go pro, but I knew school was still top priority. I wasn’t going to end up in any Hall of Fame, but I feel pretty damn proud to have Hoosier teammates who have won Olympic gold medals
My motto in sports is similar in career, surround yourself with folks faster or smarter than you if you want to raise the bar.
RESO: Quick follow-up: Have you ever seen the movies Breaking Away or Hoosiers and have you ever worn a t-shirt that says “Cutters”?
Ashley: Yes. Yes. No. But I do have a lot of Hoosier gear. It was a magical year with Indiana winning the national football championship. I got to watch the team play at the Rose Bowl!
Three Questions is a lighthearted interview series that features real estate industry professionals, their businesses and how they interact with real estate standards.
