Branding MCKRE | Mary Cheatham King Real Estate

There’s a quote I LOVE from Jessica Zweig:

“People are not trying to be brands, Brands are trying to be people, this is good for you because you already contain the magic sauce that big brands WISH they had…your humanity.”

As a small business owner, we do have the advantage and MAGIC SAUCE that Jessica describes…we are humans and we also have values, causes we support, the ability to add personal touches to every client interaction, and we have the small business ability to offer an amazing experience over any big box brand.  

~When you show up as a small business owner to be part of your brand story, the MAGIC SAUCE is even more elevated.  

~When we we get to see your face and hear your voice in your content….it makes a difference. 

~When we see what it looks like to work with you or what it looks like to use your product…it makes a difference.

~When we watch a brand story unfold of how you help people solve specific problems with your goods or services…it makes a difference.  

Two weeks ago, I worked with an amazing Keller Williams Real Estate Team, the Mary Cheatham King Real Estate group.  They recently opened their own wing in the Morehead City Keller Williams office and I worked with them to showcase their agents and all of the ladies that work alongside them to assist their buyers and sellers.  They also just launched a marketing and graphic design division of their brand to help small businesses and individuals with their graphic design needs.  

These were two HUGE changes for their team and they knew they needed great visuals to accompany these big announcements!!

We set up little moments or stories where we could showcase the areas they specialize in and really make it personal by bringing in “clients” to help visually tell those stories.  

Of course we had to get some really great head shots of Mary Cheatham…but we also did some real life shots too…barefoot, fave hat, and her kryptonite…a large bag of peanut M&M’s!! hahaha. Sooo on brand for her….and that’s the whole point of branding photos….to capture the professional side of you, but also a little of the personal side as well!!!

Working with this team of ladies was such a dream!! They are super professionals who made my job a breeze as we began to tell the stories of how they serve clients and work within our local community.

After Mary Cheatham initially reached out, I first met with Meg, the MCKRE marketing coordinator. Meg did an amazing job of gathering our needed props for the day, helping us stay on track as far as which team members we were shooting with and what stories we wanted to convey with each “scene”.

We shot images of agents meeting with clients, individual team members doing what they do with client care, resource management, etc. We then shot the graphic design and social media team. We brought Mary Cheatham in for solo shots as well as working shots with Meg and the team of ladies. It was so wonderful to see a suite full of empowered women fulfilling leadership roles and truly owning what they bring to the table and how they serve clients and the team in their own unique capacities.

When we do large shoots like this, it’s so important that we spend time thinking through the stories we want to tell, map out a realistic timeline for the day of the shoot, and then source and organize our props so that it all runs smoothly. I think we had a total of over 20 people we were coordinating with for this shoot. It all worked beautifully and we were done with our shoot in about 3-4 hours…and we did a LOT of shooting!!! This is why it’s so important to work with a photographer that specializes in or works a lot with brands to make this all go so well…and to give you a TON of great content that you can use for months and years to come!!

Here’s a quick look at some of the stories we told in our first MCKRE brand shoot:

This is Meg, the marketing director and my point of contact for the shoot…she was such a BLESSING in planning out our stories and props and team members…I couldn’t have done it without her. She’s also heading up the new marketing and design offer from MCKRE!! We are now Besties and I’m so thankful that she welcomed me in so graciously!!!! 🙂

Then we shot a variety of images in their new space with their agents “working with clients”. Our models were so amazing!!

And we then worked in the offices to capture more of the team doing the things they do best to keep the client experience momentum going for MCKRE!!

We also shot images of Mary Cheatham and Meg for their Coffee Talks and the new Marketing and Design Division of the brand.

Then we made sure we captured some of their MCKRE branded products that they use to love on their clients!!

We wanted to make sure we also photographed their new offices to celebrate their opening!!!

Our last story was on location at a new space that’s under construction that will be coming on the market soon!!!

Having a bank of images at your fingertips when you are creating content and putting together your marketing assets is so crucial for staying consistent and making it all happen with ease. Your branding images can be used for your website, your social media, branding and marketing assets like fliers and client guides or magazines. They are also imperative to have when speaking at or presenting at workshops, conferences, or from any stage that helps market you and your brand.

We all know that beautiful brand visuals stop the scroll and help you stand out among the crowd. In fact, research shows that EVERY image on a website will be viewed, but only 20% of the copy will be read. We skim the words…but stop and look at all the imagery. As humans, we are drawn to images, especially if they tell a story!!! So make the investment and watch the ROI pay off in big ways as you share the stories of the problems you solve, who you serve, how you serve, and why you pour your heart into what you do!!!

Thank you to the MCKRE Team for being such amazing clients and so dang fun to work with!!!

Branding MCKRE | Mary Cheatham King Real Estate

Blessings,

Corry