Why… you ask? Spend a couple of hours reading what his friends and colleagues have to say about Daniel Rothamel and you will want to be his friend too.

Checking my Facebook account this morning I came across a post by long time friend, Jeff Turner: Pay Attention To Your True Brand. You might remember Jeff from my July 2009 post, Living Your Brand. As expected, I enjoyed Jeff’s post and found his insight refreshing. What I didn’t expect, is that I would spend the next several hours learning about Daniel Rothamel of Strong Team Realtors, a lawsuit and the social media storm that has followed.

Google Search = ‘zebra lawsuit’ turned up these images (*credits below)

Just 5 days ago, on February 22, 2011, Denise Lones, President of The Lones Group, filed a complaint and ‘Demand for Jury Trial’ against Rothamel and Strong Team. Beyond what The Lones Group must have imagined… while the District Court of Washington was processing the paperwork… the court of public opinion granted a speedy trial and a jury of their peers assembled overnight. What probably appeared black and white then, [Yes, I too have fallen victim to zebra imagery], must seem much more gray and uncertain now.

The Lones Group took a wrong turn long before they filed the lawsuit. As Jeff Turner pointed out in his post, they shifted focus from their “true brand to the words and images that simply represent it.” Urs E. Gattiker, in his ComMetrics post, Brand vs. Reputation, cites Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, “Your brand is what people say about you when you are not in the room,” and Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Airways, “Build brands not around products but around reputation.” At this point, I doubt The Lones Group has any misgivings about what is being said when they “are not in the room.”

Regardless of what ultimately happens with the lawsuit, Denise Lones and company has managed to do some good. They have helped strengthen Daniel Rothamel’s brand, grow his circle of friends and ignite a popular twitter meme… #SaveTheZebra. They’ve inspired his supporters to speak out thru Facebook, YouTube, and countless blog posts/comments. Their actions even lead to the creation of a fund for Daniel’s legal defense. And last but not least… without Denise Lones grossly underestimating how truly connected and small the world has become… I might not have met Daniel Rothamel, our friend in the Zebra Suit.

Would the real Zebra, please stand up? Realtor, blogger, sued
Daniel Rothamel, popular blogger, Realtor, and friend to many was sued on Febuary 22, 2011 in Seattle District Court demanding relief in regards to Rothamel’s use of the Zebra stripes “trade dress” violations. The suit alleges that Rothamel and the Strong Team Realtors have violated their trademark by using the zebra stripes and alleges use of their trademark “was and is calculated to cause injury to Plaintiff in the State of Washington” which is why they’re seeking $75,000 in damages.

Zebra trademark backlash
About a week ago, The Lones Group in Washington state brought an action for trademark/tradedress infringement against Dan Rothamel and Strong Team Realtors (in Virginia) over the defendants’ use of some allegedly “confusingly similar” elements. As often happens, this didn’t sit well with a number of people (check out Twitter hashtag #savethezebra). Does the Lones Group have a case? If not, what could they have done differently to protect their marks? Could this have been resolved without a formal complaint and the resulting backlash?

An excellent of example of living a brand can be found at “http://www.jeffturner.info.” Spend a few minutes on any of Jeff Turner’s websites and you will find a carefully cultivated brand. Jeff knows people, he understands packaging and he has excellent communication and marketing skills. However, the absolute best thing about the Jeff Turner brand… is that it is real. I have had the unique privilege of working with Jeff professionally and getting to know him personally. Whether you are a consultant, a colleague or someone Jeff bumps into on the street, you can expect, “what you see, to be what you get.” You can expect to be treated with courtesy and respect.

Whether you call it your brand, your reputation, your “street cred”, or integrity. “Living your brand,” means minding the gap between what you practice and what you preach. – Russ