Corcoran Launches New iPhone App… Gets Arty
New York-based broker Corcoran Group has launched a new iPhone application to help real estate consumers connect with properties.
The app is very well executed and joins StreetEasy and Redfin as among my favorite real estate apps.
To promote the new app, they commissioned Swedish artist Kari Modin to illustrate the key features of app. The ads will run in media outlets, online and on phone kiosks throughout the city.
The images are striking and I think it’s an important takeaway here; while real estate search apps are a hot ticket item right now — and I would suggest that any decent sized brokerage should be seriously evaluating their mobile strategy for 2010 — simply building and releasing an app isn’t enough.
It needs to be fully baked into to your overall marketing plan and supported through a well-imagined and targeted advertising campaign, which Corcoran has done.
There’s a land rush going on right now for screen space on smart phones and the window of opportunity for any broker to stake a claim will likely be short-lived. A few years from now and there will be likely dozens of “me-too” apps in any given market. Now’s the time to strike.
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Dennis O'Neil | Dec 1, 2009 | Reply
I’m going to be a bit uber-critical here… I’m very fond of the look of the app, the image of the Corcoran brand, and the “palm of your hand” ad looks awesome. However, the video promoting the app doesn’t match. The music and voice over is bland, and the production is generally generic. That being said, I applaud any brokerage that’s willing to invest in their own app. As you said, the key will be integrating mobile into the overall strategy, instead of making it a new appendage.
jim | Dec 2, 2009 | Reply
The astounding speed with which mobile phones are advancing is only going to make having a robust mobile presence all the more important, especially in the already saturated real estate search market.
busted | Dec 3, 2009 | Reply
The app is extremely buggy – it barely works. Crashes 75% of the time when trying to use it. Beware!
Nashville TN Real Estate | Feb 28, 2010 | Reply
Mobile MLS Apps is definetly the wave of the future in Real Estate buyers services. With the age of the New Gen buyer and their tech savy approach to doing everything via the internet, mobile apps for real estate is a great tool.