Membership Spotlight March 2022

Friday, Mar 18, 2022

Membership Spotlight | Patti Glass

Patti Glass

Patti is Vice President of Corporate Marketing & Communications for Grosvenor ‘s North American property business and plays a key role helping to build the 345-year-old company’s brand as an active real estate owner across the US and Canada. Her efforts support Grosvenor in earning a reputation for creating value and contributing to communities through the active management and development of high-quality properties.

Prior to joining the company in 2014, Patti spent ten years working in branding and marketing in the real estate and engineering sectors within Canada. Patti is the recipient of ULI BC Women’s Leadership Initiative 2020 Outstanding Leader Award and is now on the CREW Vancouver Board of Directors as Director of Marketing and Communications

Patti, thank you for being our Member Spotlight and congratulations on your new position as Director of Marketing and Communications on the CREW Vancouver Board of Directors - what originally drew you to join the CREW Network, and further, to get involved as a volunteer/Board Member?

While I was generally aware of CREW and its purpose, it was only once I got to know the team behind the scenes that I decided to dedicate my time. What’s on the box isn’t always what’s inside, but in this case, it is! The added appeal is the organization’s focus on Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Action (IDEA), which I’m keen to help foster over time.  

You have had a very impressive career in real estate marketing and communications – what drew you to this sector? What are the elements of your job that excite you the most? 

I’m humbled by the question – thank you! My Dad, Bob Glass, was a developer and he introduced me to the business early on. I finished my degree in 2000 when Real Estate Marketing as a vocation was just taking off in Vancouver; our city quickly became a center for excellence for agencies in this field. I united my create juices with an untapped interest in city building and together found my way to working for industry-argonauts Magnum and Polygon before arriving at Grosvenor.

The world of branding & marketing is everchanging, especially as technology changes the way we consume content – what are interesting/emerging trends you are seeing in how the real estate sector reaches their consumers?

We’re witnessing this unfold in real-time with Meta/Decentraland, so I’m watching that closely. I also think marketing tactics around adaptive re-use, especially with new market entrant disruption, is also worth watching. Segmentation and targeting remains invaluable to us – in part due to ever-increasing content and competition for attention – so tailoring messages to suit audience interest is more important than ever. I still love the nexus of human analysis working together with data and my team is very focused on metric-backed, insightful decision making, especially as we increase our brand presence in the capital markets. 

If you were asked to give one (or two) pieces of advice for how to build a successful career or achieve a challenging professional work goal what would it be?

Practicing active and authentic listening helps you ask smart questions, which goes a long way.  

Outside of work, what are your hobbies/passions?

My three-year-old son Robert and my partner James and I love to be on our boat – a 28’ Axopar that has taken us as far as Desolation Sound and as near at the Shipyards! I appreciate art and try to keep aware of local &/or emerging artists and am also a keen learner always on the lookout for continuing education courses, most recently completing ‘Communicating for Impact’ at Harvard.