Brand Guidelines 2011 A guide to using the Patterson-Schwartz Real Estate brand across all marketing platforms.
Powered by The Patterson-Schwartz Real Estate Marketing Center
Introduction Welcome to the Patterson-Schwartz Brand Guidelines! We are pleased to endorse our latest Brand Guidelines as a way to help standardize and ensure consistency in the way the Company is represented in the marketplace. These guidelines have been carefully considered and we expect that you will implement them into all existing & future marketing initiatives. Our guidelines have been developed to ensure consistent production for a range of communications. Whether the material is produced in-house or is an externally commissioned project, the Patterson-Schwartz Real Estate Marketing Center has a team of designers who are well-briefed in the guidelines for the Company’s brand and may be called upon for reference. When it comes to following Real Estate industry advertising standards, we have provided a few resources within this guide but it is ultimately up to the Sales Associate to ensure all advertising and promotional materials are compliant with NAR regulations. For a complete list of NAR requirements, please visit: http://www.realtor.org/mempolweb.nsf/pages/code - specifically Article 12 for marketing & advertising guidelines. If you have any questions about these guidelines or how to implement them, the Patterson-Schwartz Real Estate Marketing Center is happy to help – Simply call any member of the team!
Donna Greenspan Director of Marketing Patterson-Schwartz Real Estate
A note about our 50th Logo – On December 1st 2011, Patterson-Schwartz Real Estate will officially turn 50 years old. We are celebrating throughout the year in various online & print marketing campaigns and have developed a special logo to promote this significant milestone through 2012. Please feel free to use whichever logo suits your purposes but remember how impressed your clients will be knowing that you are associated with a company in business for half a century!
Table of Contents:
· Use of the Company Name ... · Use of the term REALTOR® ... · Use of the EHO Logo ... · Patterson-Schwartz Logo Standards ...
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Use of the Company Name When using the company name in any print or online advertising* and marketing materials (including email signatures), you must refer to the company name in full as Patterson-Schwartz Real Estate. Please note: the hyphen is required. An abbreviated version of the company name as PSA many be used for internal purposes only. Correct Use: Patterson-Schwartz Real Estate Incorrect Use: Patterson Schwartz Real Estate
* Properly identifying yourself and offering full disclosure is important. Your honesty will be appreciated in the social media environment. If you’re writing about Patterson-Schwartz, use your real name, identify that you work for Patterson-Schwartz and be clear about your role at the company. Referencing PattersonSchwartz in conjunction with your name or business is acceptable but using any version of the Patterson-Schwartz brand alone is not permitted.
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Use of the Term REALTOR® According to the National Association of Realtors, “the terms REALTOR®, REALTORS® and REALTOR-ASSOCIATE®, are all federally registered collective membership marks owned exclusively by the National Association. Collective membership marks are a type of trademark which, rather than indicating the source of a product or service, identify the user of the membership mark as a member of a particular group, in this case the National Association.” In Article V, Section 7 of the Bylaws, this provision expressly prohibits the use of any descriptive words or phrases from being used with the membership marks. When you use descriptive words or phrases with the marks you are inadvertently presenting the membership mark in a generic way as a synonym for a real estate agent/broker/salesperson rather than correctly using this term to identify yourself as a member of the REALTOR® organization.” Whether you use traditional print media or the Internet, it is essential to use the REALTOR® marks in accordance with the rules and guidelines of the National Association. The REALTOR® marks should only be used to denote membership in the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®. • FOR USE IN SIGNATURES (INCLUDING EMAIL SIGNATURES) AND ON BUSINESS CARDS If the individual is a REALTOR® Member, the term REALTOR® may be used adjacent the Member’s name provided appropriate separating punctuation is also used. The preferred form for the term is all capital letters and the registration symbol “®”. Correct Use: John Doe, REALTOR® Incorrect Use: John Doe, Realtor; John Doe, Realtor®, John Doe, REALTOR • FOR USE ON THE INTERNET REALTORS® often want to use the REALTOR® marks as part of their domain name or address to distinguish themselves, but you must keep in mind that there are rules governing proper use of the REALTOR® marks that must be adhered to at all times regardless of the media used. These rules are found in the National Association’s Membership Marks Manual, a reference manual explaining proper use of the REALTOR® marks including examples of correct and incorrect uses. Here is a brief list of the principle rules affecting use of the REALTOR® marks in domain names:
1. The term REALTOR®, whether used as part of a domain name or in some other fashion must refer to a member or a member’s firm.
2. The term REALTOR® may not be used with descriptive words or phrases. For instance, Number1realtor.com, numberone-realtor.com, chicagorealtors.org or realtorproperties. com are all examples of incorrect use.
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3. For use as a domain name or e-mail address on the Internet the term REALTOR® does not need to be separated from the member’s name or firm name with punctuation. For example, both johndoe-realtor.com and johndoerealtor.com would be correct uses of the term as a part of domain names and jdoe*realtors@webnetservices.com and jdoerealtors@webnetservices.com are both correct uses of the term as part of an e-mail address.
4. The REALTOR® block R logo should not be used as hypertext links at a web site as such uses can suggest an endorsement or recommendation of the linked site by your Association. The only exception would be to establish a link to the National Association’s web site, REALTOR.org, or its official property listing site, REALTOR.com.
The public has adopted the use of all lower case letters when writing domain names, even those containing trademarks. Therefore, for purposes of domain names and internet addresses only, there is an exception to the rule on capitalization of the term REALTOR® and it may appear in lower case letters. Whether you use traditional print media or the Internet, it is essential to use the REALTOR® marks in accordance with the rules and guidelines of the National Association. The REALTOR® marks should only be used to denote membership in the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®. USE OF THE REALTOR® LOGO: As a REALTOR®, you can use the REALTOR® membership mark to help identify yourself as a member of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®. To help protect the power of the NAR brand, please read and follow NAR’s guidelines at http://www.realtor.org/about_nar/nar_graphics/download once you’ve selected the logo you want to use.
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Use of the EQUAL HOUSING OPPORTUNITY (EHO) Logo The Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity (FHEO) administers and enforces federal laws and establishes policies that make sure all Americans have equal access to the housing of their choice. It is required to add the Equal Housing Opportunity logo to your Web site, communications, advertisements, or marketing materials to show your compliance with fair housing laws and affirm your commitment to housing that’s free of bias and discrimination. To obtain the logo visit: http://www.realtor.org/about_nar/nar_graphics/eqhouse
OR: http://www.hud.gov/library/bookshelf11/hudgraphics/fheologo.cfm
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Patterson-Schwartz Logo Standards Full color Logos:
Black & White Logos:
When placed on a black or an image background: Place white 1pt border around logo
The logo must always be reproduced from a digital master reference available for download from the Marketing Center PS@Net**. Preferred File Formats: eps: all professionally printed materials Jpg: desktop publishing gif: online applications **To request files not available on PS@Net or if you have questions, please contact Becky Guschl at 302-234-3619 or Mike Mullen at 302-234-5278
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Patterson-Schwartz Logo Standards (cont.) The Lantern: COLOR PANTONE 871C 41% C 48% M 80% Y 8% K
The lantern should NOT be used as a substitute for the logo. The logo should always be used as a whole, including both the lantern and the name of the Company.
The lantern can sometimes be used as a graphic device or a watermark in printed publications. Please contact The Patterson-Schwartz Marketing Center for permissions and specifications.
Logo - Recommended Sizing: Our logo must be clearly visible and reproduced at a high quality. For this reason a minimum size of .5 inches has been established. The logo does not have a maximum size.
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The logo should always be reduced or enlarged proportionately to accomodate alternative sizes. It must never be compressed or expanded but scaled up or down in proportion. A ^ Measurements A & B must always be the B same ^
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