Warburg to unveil new brand

Warburg Realty will roll out a different look tomorrow, complete with a new website and marketing materials, representatives for the firm told The Real Deal. The brokerage’s print and online materials will emphasize photographs of people, not properties, in what Warburg president Frederick Peters explained was a reflection of the changing nature of the real estate industry.

“We’ve moved out of the information business and into what I would call the trusted advisor business,” Peters said, of the industry overall. “We are now compelled to define ourselves in terms of how we add value to the transaction, where it’s not about information — and part of what we want to focus on is relationships.”

The new advertisements feature young people’s faces imposed over images of New York City real estate and the words, “Our properties are exclusive. Our agents are exceptional. Our clients are inspired.”

Warburg began conducting market research this summer, Peters said, and after hundreds of interviews with buyers and sellers – some clients of the firm, some not – the brokerage decided on the people-focused approach.

Warburg is not the only real estate company to attempt to reboot their image in the face of technological changes. In February, Stribling & Associates launched a branding overhaul aimed at revamping the 32-year-old firm’s somewhat “stuffy” image, as The Real Deal reported, and in September Citi Habitats unveiled its new logo, part of an ongoing re-branding.

Warburg is also set to open a new 7,000-square-foot corporate headquarters at 654 Madison Avenue in February of next year.