One of the fastest emerging trends for 2021 is the renewed pursuit for businesses to create branding that’s modern, inclusive, professional — and one that ensures the brand has heart.
Kuba Jewgieniew
It is a tall order for most, but the Realty ONE Group franchise has taken the challenge and relaunched its brand with generous programs to give agents opportunities to not only grow their personal business but also to reduce the carbon footprint that real estate leaves behind.
This month, I had the pleasure of connecting with Kuba Jewgieniew, CEO and founder of Realty ONE Group. The group announced last month its new initiatives to help the environment and to further promote volunteer efforts in the communities it serves.
Realty ONE Group has partnered with One Tree Planted, a nonprofit environmental charity. One Tree Planted works with carefully selected reforestation organizations in four regions, including North America, Latin America, Africa and Asia, so real estate professionals and their clients will be able to plant a tree all over the world.
(Note: This interview has been edited for style).
Why choose planting trees over other charity efforts?
“Giving back is part of our company’s DNA and our culture (which they prefer to call “coolture”), and it’s why real estate professionals want to join Realty ONE Group. We’re proud to have donated hundreds of thousands of dollars and volunteer hours over the years to charitable organizations and communities across the nation through our 501(c)(3) organization, Realty ONE Cares.
“This year, we’ll continue to give to a variety of organizations, but we also found wonderful opportunities to focus on the environment. Since the beginning of the year, we have planted nearly 4,437 trees.”
Do you consider community and environmental projects and incentives essential for agents in a modern marketing plan?
“Absolutely. This project will support our global expansion marketing plans for 2021. We have a diverse network of more than 15,000 real estate professionals who serve diverse communities.
“ONE Tree, ONE World will celebrate this by allowing our real estate professionals and their clients to plant trees in their country of origin or in other locations that are close to their heart. This impact of this initiative will hopefully be felt and heard about by agents and potential clients around the world, which is especially important as Realty ONE seeks to grow internationally this year.
“ONE Tree, ONE World is another way for all of us to further our commitment to the environment, supporting jobs and clean communities, and ensuring the future of the housing market. This new initiative gives us an opportunity to make a direct and significant impact on our communities around the world in more than 111,111 ways.”
Wrapping up
The message is clear. Consumers are smart and are motivated to choose brands that care about the greater good. Successful agents who want to make a lasting impact on those around them are looking for a stronger commitment from the brands that they choose to work with.
If your company is doing great and dynamic things for our industry, we want to hear about it! Spread the news. This is one trend that we all hope to see become the standard of practice in our industry.
By day, Rachael Hite helps agents develop their business. By night, she’s tweeting and blogging. Feel free to tweet her @rachaelhite.
