Bug! It’s a Real Estate Brand
Bug! It’s a new real estate franchise brand. No fooling! Although REALonomics cannot address the financial model behind Bug Realty, the brand image has been carefully orchestrated to convey simplicity, frugality and of course, fun for consumers. In this sense, we believe the wearied and worn consumer will easily recognize and identify with this brand. After all, who doesn’t know the Bug?
That isn’t all bad in today’s tired and shop worn real estate industry. The branding concept utilizes the Volkswagen Beetle Bug as an icon. Geek Squad gone realty! The power behind the brand is the natural, built-in consumer predisposition toward the Bug…I’m talking Beetle Bug.
REALonomics would like to recognize Bug! as Model Perfect from the standpoint of their keen attention to new brand creation. Watch for our REALonomics Interview with Bug Realty Founder and CEO, Kevin Seney.
What Bug Realty wants to convey to the consumer is their deliberate lack of pretense…simplicity is the idea behind the message as contracted with the big and brassy brand message of some other franchises.
Bug! touts a no-frills, no-hype real estate model. Bug! agents drive the Volkswagen Beetle in order to drive home (no pun intended) the idea of simplicity and no frills.
Bug! resists the idea of being labeled a “discount” brokerage company, opting instead to convey to consumer that they reduce costs by eliminating things like inefficient advertisement in favor of streamlined operating systems. Bug! agents conduct their business with wireless technology solutions with full access to MLS property information via the Company’s intranet, laptops and of course, cell phones.
Founder and CEO, Kevin Seney, said this about current brands, “Their brands are stale, they’re institutional. The communication they’re sending out to the marketplace is we’re big, we’re fancy, and we sell estate homes. But that image doesn’t work anymore.”
REALonomics congratulates Bug Realty for its marketing design that is truly innovative, fresh and recognizable in an industry that desperately needs fresh paint and new screen doors.
Watch for our REALonomics interview with Bug Realty Founder and CEO, Kevin Seney.
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As a boutique investment banker in Del Mar, Ca., I am familiar with all the upmarket brokerages who operate here. They open expensive offices when the market is up, then close them during reversals. That’s one of the reasons agents are percieved as “part-timers”.
They’re always looking for a steady gig or leaving the industry altogether. The advertizing they are encouraged to buy from their broker is expensive and ineffective generally, but if they don’t opt-in, they are more-or-less “invisible”.
Large, established Brokerages have been slow to embrace current technology and agents have less training in the use of computer/web technology than any other industry professionals selling a similar “big-ticket” item. Buyers habits HAVE adopted to technology however. Most “new-generation” buyers have researched the location, know the prices, comp’s, loan costs, taxes, school district ratings, demographics etc. and only need the agent/broker to handle the final transaction with limited direct contact. Rarely will this type of buyer tour listings in the agents car. They will have their own list of properties they wish to see and will meet the agent at those locations.
There is far less “suggestive-selling” in this process as the buyer is much more informed and focused than ever before. Bug Realty has been designed to embrace these newer buyer behaviors, without igoring or alienating the “traditional” generation of buyers who still represent at least 50% of the market. The brand is more likely to attract the “smarter” buyer however, as the “Bug way” evokes tech-savvy, cost-conscious, friendly, efficient and consumer-focused service, vs. the leased-Lexus driving, “crusty old agent” focused on pushing a buyer into one of their listed properties no-matter-what. Bug has just decided to also impliment Wi-Fi Hotspots in their vehicle fleet, creating a rolling Internet POP, so I guess when I’m not near a Starbucks I will be keeping my eye out for a BUG! Bug I can use for a quick surf and email check.
My company worked with Foxtons in the UK, who use the Mini-Cooper as a rolling “billboard”. Foxtons came to the US but deviated from their highly-successful UK model and only operated in the NorthEast. I see Bug as a “Southwest” idea with “Southwest” values which correspond to simple and efficient ways of doing business. Remember, all the pioneers came this way and brought those values along with their aspirations. Much like the REMAX model disrupted the sector 30 years ago, addressing high inflation and a market correction with a generational shift in buyer behavior and expectations, BUG!Realty is also well positioned to embrace and enable the next-generation’s home-buying practices winning long-term and national brand-loyalty.
Foxtons experience in the US demonstrated to us, that the billboard marketing system of the branded vehicles alone, is not the only ingredient to success. The Foxtons brand did not resonate in the US market, as the Cooper Mini is not an “iconic” brand in the US. The Mini has almost NO history here. In the UK, the Mini holds the same, warm spot in the hearts of local Britons, as the VW Beetle does in the USA. Everyone knows the Bug! Our concept is solid and is proven by Foxtons super success in the UK. We intend on expanding on this successful idea in the USA through our 50 state franchise model. Thank you for your perspective, Angus. KS
As an owner of a BUG! Franchise, I can vouch for the impact. The very first Board of Realtors meeting that the BUG parked at caused a riot! The comment, “Finally a change!” was said more than once. I also find Other Realtors staring at my logo, trying to find out who is driving THAT car! I am showing more as the weather warms up and when I meet people at a house, I tellthem I am in a Bug they can’t MISS. That plus a smile is the opening 10 minutes of the conversation and they are my customers. One customer commented on the professional look of the car..and that having the professional look made him feel more confident with his Realtor. Kevin pretty much covered our innovations, and we are on track. Being new can be hard, but with just the cars, our phone has already been ringing! Now, it is time to train the secretaries..so they know that BUG! is the new name when we set appointments. This is the down home franchise I have been searching for and I finally found it. Add the people to the equation and you have the most fun company to work in. We have no stuffed shirts or intimidating people..just smiles, fun and professional service. Meets my needs!
Once again, Patti Barrett is living proof that our brand goes way beyond just marketing. We are creating a new Real Estate Lifestyle! That is cool. That gets us all up in the morning! Thanks Patti. KS
We look forward to featuring the exciting and inovative story of Kevin Seney and Bug! Realty on our program.
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