![](\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/58c85a7c44b0425e39898d6ac854a1db2df75310-700x467.gif\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Zillow Gone Wild is, indeed, going wild.<\/p>\n
The cross-platform social media account, which highlights some of the weirdest and most extravagant home listings on the real-estate platform Zillow (like this castle in Southlake, Texas, or this AI-looking house in Victoria, British Columbia), has accumulated an audience of nearly 5 million across social media and its newsletter. Now, it\u2019s also a TV show on HGTV and Max.<\/p>\n
Samir Mezrahi, a former BuzzFeed social media director who created Zillow Gone Wild on Instagram in 2020, said that even though he made the account without any official ties to Zillow, he began receiving positive messages from its employees almost immediately.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou never know which brands are cool and nice or fun, or immediate cease and desist,\u201d Mezrahi told us. \u201cZillow was really cool about things.\u201d<\/p>\n
Beverly Jackson, VP of brand product marketing at Zillow, told us that the company has opted to embrace the account and its use of Zillow\u2019s marks and logo, instead of fighting it. It\u2019s been a net positive for the company, she said, and has led to greater brand affinity. In addition to driving traffic to listings, Mezrahi noted that Zillow Gone Wild has even led to some home sales, while also creating brand partnership opportunities for him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like it\u2019s positive all around,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
When Zillow Gone Wild first took off, Zillow\u2019s marketing and social team kept an eye on it from afar and \u201cbegan to see the beloved nature of the way fans were engaging with the account,\u201d Jackson said. As it\u2019s grown, she said it has \u201ccontinued to be this very organic, unique way of allowing consumers and users and social media fans\u201d to engage with Zillow.<\/p>\n
Zillow Gone Wild has \u201callowed Zillow to be on the tips of people\u2019s tongues and in the cultural zeitgeist,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
For the most part, Mezrahi said Zillow has remained relatively hands-off, with communications limited to topics like the new show (of which Jackson said Zillow is not officially involved). Every now and then, Jackson said Zillow\u2019s social accounts will comment on Zillow Gone Wild posts, but it intentionally keeps public engagement to a minimum.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen your brand\u2019s engaging in organic cultural moments, it is oftentimes best to get out of the way,\u201d Jackson said, adding that it can feel \u201cimposing\u201d to be too involved. For that reason, she said, Zillow opts to act more like a fan than a collaborator.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot getting involved actually allows the audience to have an experience without the heavy-handedness of overt marketing,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s not to say Zillow has been entirely removed from Zillow Gone Wild, and Jackson said she would be \u201cremiss if [she] didn\u2019t say that there were concerns\u201d initially over brand safety with the account\u2019s use of the brand\u2019s logo and name.<\/p>\n
Marketing Brew informs marketing pros of the latest on brand strategy, social media, and ad tech via our weekday newsletter, virtual events, marketing conferences, and digital guides.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
To address those concerns, the company worked with Mezrahi to authorize the use of its name on social via a limited license agreement, and, more recently, in the show, which is handled between Mezrahi and HGTV\u2019s production company, via a brand name license.<\/p>\n
Even though Zillow isn\u2019t officially involved in the new series, it\u2019s helping to promote it. Each week, Jackson said the company shares Zillow-created content featuring the show\u2019s host, Jack McBrayer.<\/p>\n
Since it premiered in May, Jackson said she\u2019s been excited to see that the show is reaching Zillow\u2019s core demographic of 18\u201354 year-olds, she said. Mezrahi, meanwhile, said he\u2019s seen Zillow Gone Wild\u2019s follower numbers increase on Fridays and Saturdays after new episodes are released, even without explicit mentions of the social account on the show.<\/p>\n
\u201cHopefully it brings more audiences, more eyeballs, more brand deals, more attention to it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Mezrahi has monetized Zillow Gone Wild through sponsorship deals with brands like Bud Light, Pop Tarts, and Royal Caribbean, as well as with franchises like The Bachelor<\/em>. Jackson said that Zillow remains uninvolved, but Mezrahi told us he gives the brand a heads-up on the deals he makes \u201cjust as an FYI.\u201d<\/p>\n Recently, Zillow had Mezrahi host an event for the LA Rams in which they converted a house in Hermosa Beach, California, into the NFL team\u2019s 2024 draft house. Jackson said the company plans to continue to look for opportunities where it \u201cmakes sense to bring [Mezrahi] into work that [they\u2019re] doing,\u201d citing the Rams activation as one example because of the uniqueness of the house.<\/p>\n The benefits from Zillow Gone Wild (both the account and show) have \u201cpushed [Zillow] to do things in social and be in places that are new\u201d to the brand, Jackson said.<\/p>\n As the company expands its marketing efforts online and in real life, can the app\u2019s users also expect to see an expanded offering, a comments section, which followers have clamored for on Zillow Gone Wild and on other sites for years?<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s probably the No. 1 question I get,\u201d Jackson said. \u201cAnd my response is: no comment.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n