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How Zillow Supports Real Estate Agents Through Marketing and Innovation

February 20, 2026 / 33:56

This episode covers real estate market insights, Zillow's business model, and the importance of real estate agents. Guest Beverly Jackson, Vice President of Brand and Product Marketing at Zillow, discusses how Zillow empowers consumers and agents through technology.

Beverly Jackson explains Zillow's role in the real estate market, emphasizing the company's commitment to transparency and consumer empowerment. She highlights the importance of the Zestimate, Zillow's home valuation tool, which aids consumers in understanding property values.

The conversation touches on the current state of the real estate market, including challenges and competition. Beverly shares insights on how Zillow supports real estate agents by providing tools and data to enhance their effectiveness.

Barbara and America's engage with Beverly on the emotional aspects of home buying, discussing the anxiety many consumers face. Beverly emphasizes the need for trust in real estate transactions and how Zillow aims to foster that trust through its services.

The episode concludes with Beverly discussing Zillow's marketing strategies, including the recent campaign "Someday Starts Today," which encourages consumers to take the first step in their home-buying journey.

TLDR

Beverly Jackson discusses Zillow's role in real estate, consumer empowerment, and the importance of trust in home buying.

Episode

33:56
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What you really want is a real estate agent who knows the market. You want someone who understands what you can and
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cannot afford. Think back before you were ordering your stakes through a subscription service where the steaks
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just showed up on your front door. Think back to when you went to the butcher and
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you were trying to decide the difference between a porter house and a ribeye and
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a New York strip. The butcher is the subject matter expert. And in this model, Zillow empowers real estate
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agents who are in fact the subject matter expert. And today I'm really excited because we have with us the vice
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president of brand and product marketing at Zillow. Her name is Beverly Jackson and she is doing some very interesting
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things at Zillow. Welcome Beverly. >> Hi Barbara. Hi Americas. >> Hi Beverly.
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>> Hello. I mean you're a company that I think everybody knows Zillow. You just
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celebrated 20 years. Um, and you're trying to figure out what your next step
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is for your next decade. Um, and I know you've had a really interesting background also. Which one you want to
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start with? How cool Zillow is or how cool you are? >> Well, let's always start with how cool
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Zillow is because I pale in comparison. I pale in comparison. I trust Trust me. >> All right. Well, let's start with
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Zillow. One of the things that I think is interesting is I do think people know what Zillow is and they know it's in the
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real estate market, but can you explain to us or our listeners like what your model is, how you make your money? Are
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you a traditional typical real estate company? I don't think so. So, can you
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explain to us what how the whole thing works? >> Wow. You just went straight in, Barbara.
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Just straight in. >> I can't waste any time. >> Big L no chaser. Big rock no chaser.
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Um, so Zillow is one of or the most beloved brand in real estate. Like everybody knows what it is. Everybody
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depends on it. Everybody leans into it. It is sort of everyone's secret obsession.
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Um it it all started though because of this desire to empower consumers to as as we say as Zillow to turn the lights
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on and to create some transparency for consumers which anytime consumers have transparency there's a sense of
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empowerment for consumers right and so that's always a good thing and so if you
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can find a way to fill that gap like that is where consumers like fall in love with you and that has been the the
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sort of resiliency of the Zillow brand over the last 20 years. And so, if you think back to the narrative that
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originally Lloyd and Rich were just trying to figure out how to buy a house themselves, they're like two young guys
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just trying to figure out how to buy a house. >> And you know, when you're when you're a
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scientist or you're a math guy or a math gal, the thing that you want to know is
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is am I paying too much? Like, how much is this worth? Like, can I afford it? >> Exactly.
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>> Those haven't changed. >> Y >> that's the part I think is super
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interesting. So, I've read some reports about Zillow, and it's kind of like it's
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in the world of social media and and scrolling and things like that, and everybody's always been interested in
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real estate, the consumer market, like just as a, you know, as a neophy, as someone who doesn't know anything. How
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much do things cost? How much? That kind of idea. And I think that that's what's
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so interesting about Zillow is that you tapped into the way consumers shop that don't know anything, right? I think the
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the idea is if you think about it, I'll go back and answer your first question a
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little bit more thoroughly. So, right, so one of the ways that we make money is we pro we provide solutions in the
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marketplace, right? And so we always say to real estate agents who are our partners in this journey of helping
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people to get home is that you do real estate so we can do tech, right? Because we're at the heart of it. We're a tech
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company. And that idea of creating this estimate and providing transparency, there's a fairly sophisticated algorithm
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that runs that that ingests that data of every home in America and knows effectively how much it cost or how much
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it's worth. And then that level of unlock and transparency for the consumer has a value in the marketplace.
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>> I want to build a bit more context with Barbara's questions and line of
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questioning here and to step back just a tad and say give us because I love this
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point. This is the interface of tech and real estate and the idea of of these things coming together. Can you just
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give us really quickly the broad overview overview of what is the real estate market look like right now? Talk
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a little bit about is it growing, is it shrinking, what what is the the overall macro landscape look like in terms of
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because you all have access to this data and information and you have sort of from the the the bird's eye view. So
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talk a little bit about this industry. Moreover, give us a sense of its size, its, you know, all of these things that
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you all pay, you know, quite a close attention to. >> So, I am an incredibly an incredibly
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talented marketer, brand person, social digital thought leader. >> Yes, >> I am not.
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>> That is true. >> Beverly's like, I am not an economist. I >> play on TV
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>> or neither am I a data scientist. But but I will tell you that there are a
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couple of things that are sort of universal truth. The macro is and has been tough for the
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real estate vertical generally speaking. >> Mhm. >> That's that's the first truth. The
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second truth is that it has the landscape has become more competitive >> and there are um and there are just
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challenges with how to make it happen. And the third reality is is no one no one has stopped wanting to find home
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because shelter is sort of like an intimate personal um very uplose and um significant part of anybody's life. So
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there are these three things that are the realities, right? And so there's not
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a lot that I can do or Zillow can do about the macro. The macro is what the US macro is and it will be what it will
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be, right? Fair enough. What we can do is to be on top of it. We can provide information. We can inform. We can
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support and we can move to where the market is. >> I I got to interrupt because I I really
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agree with that. When you think about how you buy or sell a house as a consumer, not as an expert, not as a
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macroeconomist, what you really want to do is figure out how much is my house worth and how much should I pay for
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another house at a not at the macro level. at the micro level. That's really
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what I want to know. And what I think is interesting is what she said from the beginning is that Zestimate gives you a
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a reference point for everything, right? >> And therefore, I have an idea of like
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what I should expect to pay or not expect to pay. Like I think that I mean I agree the whole real estate market
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matters and buyer is it a buyer market? Is it a sellers market? Am I ever going to? But really, when it comes right down
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to it, I want to know how much I should pay or how much I should get my house sold for. And to me, that's what's cool
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about Zillow. >> Yeah. And just sorry, just to sorry, real real quick, just to build on
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Barbara's point. >> I love this, Barbara. You always do this. You always like take it to another
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level, a higher insight. Zestimate. >> That was all right. Wait a minute. Hold
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it. That was branded. That's incredible. Can you unpack the Zestimate brand?
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That's the that's the main secret sauce >> and connect it to why the Zestimate
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brand the Zestimate uh cons analysis is so much better than all that other stuff.
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>> Yeah. Yeah. Because >> so I can so there there so many things there's so many things. Okay. So first
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of all I'm going to say this before you worry about what you what your house is
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worth or what you are going to pay or what you can sell for your house. Every consumer starts with what can I afford?
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And so affordability is really the insight at the heart of the home ownership home buying process and before
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that it is what does home mean to me? Because while home might mean a McMansion or it might mean um a
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two-bedroom condo overlooking the water or it might mean you know a bungalow craftsmanstyle home, right? Mhm.
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>> It could also mean an apartment that's really close to my job that allows me to
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walk my dogs on a walking trail behind the behind the community. It might mean a community gym and it might mean close
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proximity to work. And so we start with what is home and what does home mean? >> What do I want? And then what can I
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afford? And then we get to all the whisbang gee golly stuff that is >> I like that whisbang stuff.
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>> Yeah, me too. Let's go. So, so let's talk about the Zestimate for a second.
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The Zestimate. I always think about this as the Zestimate and I, and I say this,
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I'm sure this is not what Rich and Lloyd were thinking when, you know, I came
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along and decided that this should be the thing. Okay? I think about the Zestimate as the original AI. It's the
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OG of AI, right? And so, it took technology. So, think about this before for a second. And you know, I won't
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speak to how old I am or when I bought my first home, but the reality is is when I first bought my first house, it
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was a book that you got and you went into the person's office and you thumb through this big old book.
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>> Oh, yeah. It was awful. >> And and that was how we got it. Or there
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was some dot matrix printer. I know I'm making myself sound ancient here. >> That's right. With the green and white
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stripes. >> Exactly. >> Yeah. But what I didn't have was a smart
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device in my pocket that connected me to just the neighborhoods that I could drive around. Remember, you had to get
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in the car with the real estate agent and drive around, right? And the poor real estate agent was just dragging this
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person from home to home. But imagine the power before you get in the car, before you get through that big book of
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knowing what you can afford and how much something cost. Um, my mom used to say this all the time. I have um champagne
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taste and beer pockets and so I really do like champagne. Um, but but the reality is is you want to know what you
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can afford before you show up and you want to know what's within your range and you want to know what some and and
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and if you've never done it before, if you are a first-time home buyer, what
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effectively happens is you walk into this not understanding how real estate works.
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>> You don't understand the complexity of the deal. You're depending on a smart,
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informed, savvy, well experienced real estate agent to help guide you through the process.
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>> I don't trust her, by the way. right from the beginning. I don't trust my
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real estate agent ever. >> Barbara, Barbara, are you revealing your What's going on here? This is
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>> That's what I like about Zillow. I really don't trust if she's out for her
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commission or he's out. >> No, I I would say Barbara, I I'm going to disagree with you. I'm going to
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respectfully come on your show and disagree with you. Um >> trust your agent. I I tr my I have I
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have been very very fortunate a I have been very fortunate in my real estate transactions that I've had really smart
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savvy real estate folks who know the market right because what you really want is a real estate agent who knows
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the market you want someone who understands what you can and cannot afford so these are small business small
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entrepreneurs and in some instances they're not that small these are multi-million dollar businesses
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>> and so these are local experts and so Think back before you were ordering your
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steaks through a subscription service where the steaks just showed up on your front door. Think back to when you went
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to the butcher and you were trying to decide the difference between a porter house and a ribeye and a New York strip.
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The butcher is the subject matter expert. And in this model, Zillow empowers real estate agents who are in
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fact the subject matter. >> Interesting. Interesting. >> Let let me I want to I want to build on
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Barbara's point. You tell us, Beverly. I'll bet, maybe I'm wrong, but I will
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bet that Zillow has some kind of mechanism that vets >> the real estate agents and and perhaps
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there's some sort of, you know, rating that let let me get the five-star real
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estate agents or the the ones that are consistently getting super high uh evaluations from the individuals that
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they're selling to. Is there some kind of mechanism that allows for that discovery? So, I don't know that it's
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every real estate agent is responsible for their business. What Zillow is building. And so, if you go back to one
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of Barbara's original questions is what is the Zillow business model? It's in
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fact a two-sided marketplace. And it's really four businesses in one. And we
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can unpack that later. But in the two-sided marketplace perspective, we are serving up information to consumers
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to empower them in their transactions. For real estate agents, what we are and real estate professionals, what we're
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building are tools to help them be good at their jobs. And so they don't have to
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build tech. They don't need to go. >> She's offending the agents because both
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of them are her customers. It's not just the end user. It's also the agent. She
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can't like say what I said. >> Well, I don't believe that. I really do.
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I have like I think >> right. I don't trust anybody. >> Yeah. That Well, Barf, I have trust
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issues, too. We can talk about that later. That's funny, Beverly. Barbara doesn't trust me, okay? I work with her
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every day. So, this is just a thing. It's okay. It's a thing for Barbara.
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There you go. >> Interesting. That's You have to rethink what the model is here. Like, you're
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thinking about traditional real estate, but really, she's talking about a two-sided platform. Absolutely. Where
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she's providing information to the end user, and by bringing those end users
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on, she's providing leads to the real estate agent. And therefore in this middle data platform world they they can
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serve both both sides both the consumer and the customer. >> And Barbara to to go to America's point
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where like you're asking me if there's a rating system for real estate agents you
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know the beauty of the free market is if you're good at your job if you really
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able to do this like I where I live I expect someone to know the difference between Henderson and Summerland. When I
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lived in LA, I expected someone to know the difference between Roondo Beach and Manhattan Beach because those are
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>> right next to each other in terms of communities. But the reality is is
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they're very different. When I worked in Manhattan and I lived in New Jersey and
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I was like, "This commute is too much. I can't keep going through the tunnel."
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When talking to a real estate agent, I expected them to have some level of understanding about whether or not I
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could live in Hoboken and still commute into men in mid to midtown. Like, you're
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expecting your real estate Yeah, it's impossible. But but that's what you're expecting, right? And so like you
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are expecting a real estate agent, >> a good real estate agent to know the
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difference between Morristown and Morristown. >> Like that's what a good real estate
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agent does. And the market decides decide whether or not that happens. And that's like in any that's in any any
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space, right? That's in any space. >> Interesting. >> Okay. So, let me ask you, we're talking
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to Beverly Jackson, who's the vice president of brand and product marketing. So, let's go to one of the
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topics at America's likes, which is the Zillow brand and how you market. Now,
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one of the things I think is interesting here is that for whatever else, a complicated two-sided platform and data
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and blah blah blah. In the end, if you look at real estate, it's a pretty stressful purchase, you know, and like
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my my issues of trust aside, there is a lot of uncertainty, right? And so when you're building this brand of Zillow as
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the vice president, what was your title again? Of brand and product marketing, exactly what do you do to build that
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Zillow brand? How do you build that emotional connection? You know, Americas was playing with the word Zestimate. How
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do you know that's all branding stuff, right? How do you what do you think about what
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are your campaigns like? >> Yeah. And to before you answer that incredibly poignant question that
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Barbara just raised, I'm going to layer on top of it. Barbara's going to be
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shocked by this, but I'm going to be I'm going to layer on top of this, Beverly
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something you said which is powerful, and that is when you buy the home, the place where you're going to live, that's
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all about your identity. That's all about I'm sorry, Barbara. >> I listen, I could I cannot resist. I
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love that idea that you guys are talking about because it for me it's like that
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that that's that is a natural gateway to messaging a conversation that can create
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the kind of connection that Barbara's talking about that notion that this is
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my home. Speak on that in the context of Barbara's question about building the
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Zillow brand. >> Sure. >> I like I would love and you know I told you this whole thing about how I'm this
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brilliant marketer. I would love to take credit for having built the Zillow brand, but it was well on its way to
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being an amazing an amazing iconic legendary brand well before I showed up. My job is to turn up the heat on it a
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little bit. My job is to take some of the new products because I do product marketing as well and I do B2B marketing
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and BTOC marketing as Barbara has so eloquently pointed out and those are challenges, right?
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>> Yes. When I do this with a product that is very much an analog experience,
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buying a house to date has been an very analog experience. You at some point got
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to get off the couch, get a tour, and go see the house that you plan to buy, right? At some point, you have to go
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through your finances and sit down with a loan officer and figure out what you can afford.
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>> At some point, you have to talk to your partner and your family about where
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you're going to live. At some point, it has to meet the needs of your career and
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lifestyle is. And whether you're commuting or working from home, whether you like people walking on top of you in
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the middle of the night and doing a dance party or >> live out in the woods by yourself, like
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at some point that level of personal bespoke, what does home mean to me has to come center of the narrative, right?
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And so for all the things that Zillow is, at the end of the day, our goal is to provide you with some level of
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certainty and support as you traverse that process, right? As you go through that journey.
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>> And then on the and we could talk about the B2B side, right? And so Zillow has
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been the brand has been what the brand is. But what we have been quietly doing and not so quietly actually we but what
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we've been really hyperfocused on over the last couple of years are two big important things is building products
00:18:33
that make this more transparent and easier. Right? And so there are lots of products.
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>> We can talk about buyability. We can talk about you know a bunch of the other
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products that have come to market in the last couple years that empower consumers
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to do that. Mhm. >> And then we have to create some level of trust in the storytelling for consumers
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that they can trust us with their data. >> They us with this journey. >> They can ask questions and feel like
00:19:01
somebody's got their back. >> We will always double down on which is one of the reasons why I took this job
00:19:07
is that consumers are a northstar. Consumers in the middle of all of this. And so well before you start to think
00:19:13
about the value prop of Zillow to a B2B audience or an agent audience or a partner audience,
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>> it doesn't work if consumers don't trust us. >> Exactly. And I think that's really
00:19:25
important because this is a scary thing for most people. You know, this is like the biggest purchase. You feel like
00:19:32
you're making an investment. You can make a really stupid investment. And what saying is I don't understand the
00:19:37
macro environment and you know who does you know and all these other things and if I make a mistake here I could just
00:19:44
turn my life upside down. So I really want to feel that trust that you're talking about and if you give me a brand
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and data you know and expectations that makes me just takes a little bit of that
00:19:56
uncertainty out of it. I think >> interesting so think about this for a second
00:20:02
Barbara. if you if you think about what the brand means because remember Zillow also has a rentals business.
00:20:09
>> Mhm. >> Right. And so if you're a homeowner like back in the old days like you know in
00:20:14
the 2020s in the early 2020s when you had a house and maybe you wanted to buy a bigger house some some people were
00:20:21
very fortunate. They could keep their first house and then they rent out their that that first house and they move on
00:20:27
to a bigger house, right? And so some renters decide, hey, I want I don't know
00:20:31
if I want to live in this kind of an environment. I might want to rent a house. Some renters love living in
00:20:37
multif family environments that are shared community environments, right? People like that, especially if you're
00:20:41
younger in life, but we're now finding out that older people also like rental
00:20:46
communities because they provide community. And so it always goes back to for me, what does home mean
00:20:53
>> for that consumer? And so the brand is always interested in creating marketing
00:20:59
or content or campaigns that center on that. And so I want to speak to what we're currently working on and what
00:21:06
we're currently what we recently just launched, right? Because this gets to the heart of Barbara's point. You got to
00:21:11
start someplace. >> This is the first time you've ever done it. You don't know. It's confusing. What
00:21:16
is title insurance? I don't really know. Do I need a mortgage? What's an interest
00:21:19
rate? How do you calculate it? Like >> variable verse six. Do I need a >> My stress level is rising as we're
00:21:27
speaking. I don't know what's going on here. >> What's my debt ratio? Like how much do I
00:21:31
need for a down payment? Like all those things, right? What are seller points? What are buyer points? Like what's the
00:21:36
commission that I got to give to somebody to do this for me? Because I need a professional, right? And by the
00:21:41
way, no one ever goes into their lawyer's office and negotiates with their lawyer. I'll give you $500 an
00:21:45
hour. No, I want 750. So why you do that to a real estate agent who's bringing
00:21:49
you a level of expertise? But that's me defending real estate agents. So, let me
00:21:52
go back to consumers and mind my business. Okay. All right. So, here's the deal. We launched recently something
00:21:58
called Someday Starts Today. We launched it on Grammy Sunday. And so, you're
00:22:01
going to see this for us. And this is really important because this isn't a campaign for us. This is really, really
00:22:06
important for the team and how we thought about this. And so, the insight, we had a lot of data that this was hard.
00:22:11
You know, one of our executives said that, you know, 50% of the people that buy a house cry at some point
00:22:17
>> all the time throughout the entire process. It is so Barbara, >> I'm sensing a theme here.
00:22:25
>> A very clear theme here. >> America's the next time she wants to buy
00:22:28
a house or anything. Will you call me? I'm going to get on a plane and >> Totally. I'm going to We're both going
00:22:34
to go over to Barbara's house, Beverly, and we're just going to give her a nice
00:22:36
warm blanket. We're just going to like could you calm her down? >> Yes. We're going to give her that
00:22:40
weighted anxiety blanket. You know, take some of this away from you, Barbara. We
00:22:44
really can't. But but the reality is is that the anxiety of not knowing, right?
00:22:49
And in for a lot of consumers and we used to say young consumers but the reality is we're talking about
00:22:55
millennials at this point and millennials no disrespect to them but you know they got a couple years on them
00:23:00
now. And so when we talk about millennials having done this for the first time and having the anxiety of
00:23:07
like I'm at a certain age and I'm never going to be able to buy a house or I
00:23:11
can't figure out how to do it. And people get stuck by the enormity and the complexity and the intensity and the
00:23:18
emotional sort of stress of having to do this. And we've talked about this. We
00:23:23
talk about this all the time. But the reality is you got to start somewhere. You got to start somewhere. And in this
00:23:30
particular instance, the reason we landed on this campaign or this platform called Someday Starts Today is because
00:23:37
the action will look different for every person. >> But you got to take the first step.
00:23:41
Barber, you got to figure out what you can what's your credit rating? What can
00:23:46
you afford? Are you if you're a renter, are you ready to move into a bigger rental property, a rental property, or
00:23:52
are you ready to buy now? Like we talk about those those different customer journeys because
00:23:58
>> every place if home is in the middle, everybody comes at it a different way.
00:24:03
Think about it like a bicycle spoke, right? Everybody's starting points can be a little different.
00:24:07
>> That's great. I really I mean really historically it's never been that way.
00:24:11
It's always real estate. I've always thought about it as a game. I used to
00:24:14
teach it in my marketing classes about like behavioral economics ideas of like the order you show people houses so that
00:24:22
you can upsell them, you know. You know, like I mean it was all it was so sleepy.
00:24:26
It was really a sleepy concept and that's why I have these very strong feelings about
00:24:32
>> very strong. Yes, these are strong feelings. Yes. >> But I I look at them as snake oil
00:24:36
salespeople. I I they're really not and I'm not you're not saying that. I'm just
00:24:41
telling you what I historically think about. But the idea of starting with the ideas, okay, forget all that. Let's
00:24:48
start with you. Let's start about what you can afford. Let's start about what
00:24:53
your vision is. Let's look at it from that point of view. >> That's such a better place to start.
00:24:59
>> Yeah. And and just and just to build on Barbara's point, Beverly, this is a
00:25:03
great opportunity because to Barbara's point, you know, we can now we you Zillow Zillow colleagues can now
00:25:11
>> your team now. >> No, this is this is interesting because to Barbara's point, Zillow can play a
00:25:16
role in rebranding the REAL ESTATE AGENT. AH, in other words, we can help Zillow can help create that trust almost
00:25:25
by association by look, we can bring this marketplace together, etc., and we can overcome those sleazy, you know,
00:25:30
whatever those baggage perceptions were of these folk and we can play a role in helping to rebrand the real estate
00:25:37
agent. Is that I mean, is that a fair characterization? >> That's a that that is a that is a that
00:25:41
is a a shade of it. I will say this, I don't know who Barbara has been interacting with.
00:25:47
>> Are you friends? You don't need no friends. Okay, WE'RE GOING TO WORK ON
00:25:52
BARBARA'S friends later, but but here's the thing. >> That's good. You know, a lot of people
00:25:57
the process of just negotiating >> is overwhelming and you're not and Barbara just said it when she talked
00:26:04
about buyers versus sellers, right? >> And so having someone who's fighting for
00:26:10
you is >> really important, right? Having an agent who understands what you're actually
00:26:17
looking for and can help you get to the good stuff faster. And in some markets, think about this for a second. The home
00:26:23
buying process can be incredibly competitive in some markets and in some macro environments. So, you want a
00:26:29
savvy, smart agent who knows what how much a house should cost, how much that neighborhood is worth, what you can what
00:26:37
you can really afford, where you can flex, where you can't flex, where you can where you can make the tradeoffs.
00:26:42
like having that person and us providing that real estate agent with the right tools to get the job done.
00:26:50
>> Game changer. >> But we all so we share cuz Barbara pointed out we share a consumer, right?
00:26:56
And real estate agents, we need to make this easier for them as well. Like so if
00:27:02
you think about it, if the if the person is sitting on their sofa after a long day, after a long commute,
00:27:08
the kids are in bed and they're trying to figure out like what's next? what can
00:27:11
we afford? We're ready to make the move. We think, we're not sure. And they're
00:27:15
scrolling around on Zillow. Having an agent by your side in that process empowers you even more. And so, I'm just
00:27:24
going to, this is my plea to Bart, >> to think about the power of a real estate agent, a good real estate agent,
00:27:31
as your partner in this. And so you wouldn't go into uh a a legal court case
00:27:39
without um any other kind of legal court. >> That's a much better positioning than
00:27:45
>> Yes. Yes. >> Never represent yourself in court. You know, you know the old saying
00:27:50
>> or I don't even want to represent myself in, you know, athletic stuff. I like to
00:27:54
have a personal trainer help me. You know, I don't want >> You want to have a personal trainer? You
00:27:58
know, if you got a twinge in your back, you don't try to become the or I don't
00:28:01
want to fix self diagnos helping me. >> So, I think Zillow has a very healthy
00:28:07
respect for real estate professionals, right? >> But for all of that, nothing happens
00:28:14
without empowering the consumer. And so my when we think about the next 20 years
00:28:19
of Zillow or the next 10 years of Zillow or the next one year of Zillow, I really
00:28:23
do want well-informed, empowered, >> thoughtful, uh, clients, consumers, uh,
00:28:31
buyers and sellers who have access to as much information as they can possibly have access to. I wanted
00:28:37
>> We're running out of time here. So, but what you're describing is in some sense
00:28:41
the world of AI, the world of data to the degree the and and I think of it even in medicine. You know, I've been
00:28:47
reading about how many patients use AI before they talk to the doctors and the smart doctors encourage that because it
00:28:55
makes the patient more informed, ask better questions, and you can get right to the point. And I think that's what
00:29:01
you're saying here. Instead of fearing the agent, you walk in with knowing what
00:29:06
you want, which is the way you started. Um, and having the data that empowers me
00:29:12
to understand what I can afford and what my expectations should be set at. And then I work with a a partner who like
00:29:21
uses your platform to identify appropriate leads. And you're kind of like a dating service in some sense. Um,
00:29:27
you're setting up these partnerships and you've got a better informed consumer
00:29:31
because of the Zillow data and you have an agent picking out the right consumers
00:29:36
that they're willing to spend time with and helping them find the right house
00:29:40
and helping them find the right thing. It's the same. I think I think this is
00:29:45
the world we're coming into the use of data, the use of AI to empower consumers
00:29:51
and to empower the agents. Um, and Zillow is what, 20 years in this business. They figured it out a long
00:29:58
time ago and the rest of us are just catching up. >> No, no, no, no. We do this with you. We
00:30:03
do this with you. But I will say this. I I Americus, I want to say this. The AI is going to supercharge the ability to
00:30:10
process and gather the data. >> Yeah. To help, >> you will still need to look for the
00:30:14
insight, >> right? And the insight is what will help us create campaigns and creative and
00:30:20
messaging that resonates with a consumer >> that feels personal to them. And so what
00:30:27
I don't ever want to do in this particular kind of business and I've done lots of different kinds of
00:30:32
marketing, right? But in this >> get to that, >> you can invite me back later. U remember
00:30:37
I'm coming to Philly. I'm coming to Philly. But but the reality is is because this is so personal to each
00:30:42
consumer and each agent who's running their business. I want it to feel like a
00:30:47
bespoke message to you. I want it to feel like Zillow is thinking about me. They're meeting me where I am and my
00:30:54
journey. They are helping me get the information I need. And that's a different kind of campaign to run. Like
00:30:59
that is so you start with this platform that someday starts today and recognizing that everybody's today is
00:31:05
different and everybody's starting point is different. But then you have to layer
00:31:08
on like where do I meet you? Where do you get this information? Is it on Tik Tok? Is it on Instagram? Is it on
00:31:14
>> the Grammys? Is it on the Super Bowl? Is it is it at a an experience where my
00:31:18
local community college, no, not community college, my local Wharton is hosting financial seminar on how to get
00:31:24
ready for my first home purchase. >> Yes. And we do that at Warden, not Okie
00:31:27
dokie. Uh >> yes. No, that's >> I'm so out of time. Beverly Jackson,
00:31:35
it's been so wonderful talking to you and it is very interesting thinking about what you're describing in Zillow,
00:31:40
but I also think what you're describing is modern marketing. You know, it's
00:31:44
about personalized customized marketing. Bringing an end user to an agent to, you
00:31:49
know, the B TOC to B2B market. Bringing them together on the platform of trust and data and information, you know,
00:31:56
that's customer centric. Like that's what you're describing and you're just
00:32:00
introducing this to the sleazy world of real estate. >> Barbara, real estate, one of the most
00:32:08
iconic important verticals in our economy. Be Beverly, I'm trying I'm trying to get Barbara to open up more.
00:32:14
She just won't express herself. She I don't know why. I got to get her to come
00:32:18
out of her shell. I I don't know why. I don't know what else I can do. You know,
00:32:21
>> we're going to get her an anxiety blanket. That's the >> Yes, we are.
00:32:25
>> We're going to throw her network and introduce her. I know some amazing,
00:32:29
incredible agents. Listen, you know what's going to happen, Barbara, is every one of my agent friends that lives
00:32:34
in the tri-state area is going to be ringing your doorbell. So, >> that's awesome. because there are some
00:32:39
amazing, incredibly talented agents out there. So, you let us know when you're
00:32:42
ready to buy your next home. >> Anyway, Beverly Jackson, it's been a pleasure having you on our show. Where
00:32:48
can our listeners go to find out all this information? Although, I think people know how to get to Zillow, but
00:32:53
tell us how to do it. >> Sure. So, I would encourage anyone to follow us on all of our socials. We are
00:33:00
sharing lots of information there. And the beautiful part about our socials is we aren't just promoting Zillow. What
00:33:05
we're doing is providing economic information. We're providing market data
00:33:09
information and we are literally helping to make it easier for consumers to be empowered as they begin this this
00:33:17
journey. Beautiful. So just remember that someday starts today. >> Wow, that was well done.
00:33:23
>> Really well. >> Well played. >> Talk about how professional is. She has
00:33:26
an amazing background. That's why she's so good. Anyway, thank you so much. That's all
00:33:32
the time we have for today. We would like to thank our producers Dion Simpkins and Marissa Rena. And thank you
00:33:38
all for listening today. We'll be back next week. Till then, this has been Marketing Matters on the Wharton podcast
00:33:44
network. I'm Barbara Khan here with America's Reed.

Episode Highlights

  • Zillow's Empowering Model
    Zillow aims to empower consumers with transparency in real estate transactions.
    “Zillow empowers real estate agents who are in fact the subject matter expert.”
    @ 00m 24s
    February 20, 2026
  • The Zestimate: Original AI
    Beverly Jackson likens the Zestimate to the original AI, revolutionizing home buying.
    “I think about the Zestimate as the original AI.”
    @ 09m 06s
    February 20, 2026
  • Building Trust in Real Estate
    The conversation touches on the importance of trust between consumers and real estate agents.
    “What you really want is a real estate agent who knows the market.”
    @ 11m 13s
    February 20, 2026
  • Empowering Consumers
    Zillow aims to provide certainty and support for consumers navigating the home buying process.
    “Consumers are a northstar.”
    @ 19m 07s
    February 20, 2026
  • Someday Starts Today Campaign
    Zillow launched a campaign to help consumers take the first step in home buying.
    “This isn’t a campaign for us; it’s really important for the team.”
    @ 21m 58s
    February 20, 2026

Episode Quotes

  • Zillow is everyone's secret obsession.
    How Zillow Supports Real Estate Agents Through Marketing and Innovation
  • What does home mean to me?
    How Zillow Supports Real Estate Agents Through Marketing and Innovation
  • I have champagne taste and beer pockets.
    How Zillow Supports Real Estate Agents Through Marketing and Innovation
  • Someday starts today.
    How Zillow Supports Real Estate Agents Through Marketing and Innovation
  • You got to start somewhere.
    How Zillow Supports Real Estate Agents Through Marketing and Innovation

Key Moments

  • Real Estate Expertise00:24
  • Consumer Empowerment02:11
  • Home Meaning08:07
  • Zestimate Discussion08:54
  • Trust Issues10:40
  • Trust in the Journey18:54
  • Starting Point Matters24:03

Tension Over Time

Words per Minute Over Time

Vibes Breakdown