Following Century 21 and Halstead, Seattle-based Windermere Real Estate became the latest real estate company to undergo a makeover, unveiling a $10 million rebranding effort that is rolling out across the company’s franchises this week.

Following Century 21 and Halstead, Seattle-based Windermere Real Estate became the latest real estate company to undergo a makeover, this week unveiling a rebranding effort that will cost Windermere’s network of franchises and agents around $10 million.

A redesigned website, fresh new logo, vibrant business cards and, in Seattle and Bellevue alone, 20,000 rebranded real estate signs are all planned for Windermere, which last refreshed its logo in 2008.

Windermere 2008 logo vs. 2018


Windermere’s last logo (top) and its 2018 refresh (bottom) | Credit: Windermere

That logo, a series of interwoven diamonds, is now being replaced with interlocking arms, meant to symbolize the connection between the company’s agents and clients.

“Over our 40-plus year history, we’ve had three or four refreshes — and it’s important for a company to always look at whether the brand is keeping current with the times,” said Windermere President OB Jacobi, whose father founded the company in 1972. “As we all know, imagery is important. We felt it was time to update the color logo, font, signage, business cards. We looked at everything.”

A new company website, meanwhile, will debut in July, even as the company, among the largest on the West Coast with more than 300 offices and 6,500 agents, continues to expand across California, Colorado, Utah, Oregon, Montana and Idaho, Jacobi said.

“It’s a ton of money for the company and for the agent population so we wanted to be very thoughtful as to how we rolled this out,” added Jacobi, who said franchise owners will have packages that agents can purchase to update their branding.

Windermere launched its luxury marketing program, W Collection, in 2016, and this triggered the move toward a brand refresh, prompting the company to look at all of the Windermere sub-brands with the aim of creating a more contemporary feel, Jacobi said.

Jacobi stressed that the company consulted on the “facelift” with agents, franchise owners, executives and outside experts to come up with the brand refresh, which Jacobi said his father approves of. It has had a warm reception among agents and franchises, too.

“The brand refresh has reinvigorated our agents and given our clients a glimpse of the innovative support Windermere consistently provides to franchises and agents year after year,” Marla Heagle, owner of several Windermere offices in Washington state, said in a prepared statement.

Windermere’s brand refresh follows a series of rebranding efforts by well-known real estate names, including New York brokerage Halstead, which in April announced wide-ranging changes to its font and color palette. The effort, which included redesigned store-fronts, also included a change in name from “Halstead Property” to “Halstead.”

Meanwhile, Century 21’s rebrand was unveiled in March, not long after new CEO, Nick Bailey, came on board.

Those rebranding efforts by brokerage companies also come on the heels of a failed new logo by the National Association of Realtors (NAR), which distanced its from the design days after members overwhelmingly panned its $250,000 price tag and uninspired look.

Email Gill South.

Show Comments Hide Comments
Sign up for Inman’s Morning Headlines
What you need to know to start your day with all the latest industry developments
By submitting your email address, you agree to receive marketing emails from Inman.
Success!
Thank you for subscribing to Morning Headlines.
Back to top
Only 3 days left to register for Inman Connect Las Vegas before prices go up! Don't miss the premier event for real estate pros.Register Now ×
Limited Time Offer: Get 1 year of Inman Select for $199SUBSCRIBE×
Log in
If you created your account with Google or Facebook
Don't have an account?
Forgot your password?
No Problem

Simply enter the email address you used to create your account and click "Reset Password". You will receive additional instructions via email.

Forgot your username? If so please contact customer support at (510) 658-9252

Password Reset Confirmation

Password Reset Instructions have been sent to

Subscribe to The Weekender
Get the week's leading headlines delivered straight to your inbox.
Top headlines from around the real estate industry. Breaking news as it happens.
15 stories covering tech, special reports, video and opinion.
Unique features from hacker profiles to portal watch and video interviews.
Unique features from hacker profiles to portal watch and video interviews.
It looks like you’re already a Select Member!
To subscribe to exclusive newsletters, visit your email preferences in the account settings.
Up-to-the-minute news and interviews in your inbox, ticket discounts for Inman events and more
1-Step CheckoutPay with a credit card
By continuing, you agree to Inman’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

You will be charged . Your subscription will automatically renew for on . For more details on our payment terms and how to cancel, click here.

Interested in a group subscription?
Finish setting up your subscription
×