A Pubic Relations Analysis of Zillow’s Impact
John Cook, Seattle P-I’s VC reporter, asked the public relations professionals at Waggener Edstrom (HQ’d just down the I5 from me in Lake Oswego incidentally) to come up with a media map of the media attention surrounding Zillow.
WagEd’s Narrative Network software data mined all the media coverage around Zillow over the last year to create a visual map of common words used to describe Zillow in the media. The image uses color and weight to illustrate the relationships between the terms.
(Image: Waggener Edstrom)
A couple terms leaped out at me right away; “video” and “Youtube” being the most oddball. I doubt they’re referring to Zillow’s VNRs (some examples here)
or actual property videos on Zillow, which don’t exist as far as I know. Though, come to think of it, that’s an intriguing idea - WellcomeMat mashed with MakeMeMove….
More likely they got thrown into the mix as Zillow was mentioned in generic terms, along with Youtube, as examples of Web 2.0 companies.
In any case, based on their analysis of this data, WagEd highlights some of the core themes in the coverage - the accuracy of Zillow’s valuations being one of the biggest issues (highlighted in blue on the map). No surprise there.
Further, WagEd suggests in order to combat “attacks” on their business model, Zillow should continue to build their branding around their Zestimates, because:
- Zestimates take the edge off of appraisals
- Zestimates are built upon “public� information
At the same time they should further build their brand image around “key category words” like:
- Accuracy
- Estimate
- Value
The last two seem doable. The first, however, seems to me to be a loaded word I’d avoid at all costs. I think a term like “research” would be much more appropriate, but it’ll be interesting to see if Zillow heeds any or all of these recommendations.
The full PowerPoint deck with all of WagEd’s recommendations is available on John Cook’s Venture Blog.
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Amy B (from Zillow) | Mar 28, 2007 | Reply
Hi Joel,
It looks like this analysis was done from Aug-Nov 06, which was around the time of the YouTube acquisition. A couple of articles about the acquisition also mentioned Zillow as another popular startup. So that’s probably why the connection.
jf.sellsius | Mar 29, 2007 | Reply
If the attacks on Zillow are built around the inaccuracy of its zestimates, it seems counterintuitive to build your brand around your Achilles heel, especially if you intend to get Realtor support. If the goal is just to bring visitors to the site, then I can agree that the quick fix of a zestimate has entertainment value—but it won’t bring return visitors IMO.
Now if you are repositioning yourself as a listing site, listers may not cotton to your price tag sitting right next to theirs.
Realtors should hope that Zillow sticks with the zestimate—it’s easier to outmanuever a man with a weight around his neck.
Karim Tahawi | Mar 29, 2007 | Reply
Wow! Really interesting stuff Joel. I will be thinking about this for a while.
I had a peek at the powerpoint that Waggener Edstrom published. What I thought was interesting was that they suggested that they leverage their “Narrative Network” around the following “central words”:
-Information
-Research
-Data
-Neighborhoods
-Local
-Neighborhood
-Public
While it is true many people take issue with their “accuracy”, which is an implicit (some might argue explicit) core value proposition, there is no doubt they opened up the world of data and information, at granular levels, to benefit consumers. Waggener’s analysis gets at this directly.
Rocco | Mar 30, 2007 | Reply
The best any comparable based real estate estimate ever can hope to do is get in the general ballpark of the selling price. There are many factors that contribute to a properties final selling price. The best Zillow can ever hope to do with its current technology is to help with a general estimate. If people use it for more than that then they are simply misusing the tool. I think it is a great site with valuable information, but as soon as you start using it as something it’s not you will get yourself into trouble.
Real Estate Video Dude | Nov 13, 2007 | Reply
That is quite an analysis. I think Amy is on to something with the anaylsis being done about the same time as the youtube acquisition.