How Walker & Dunlop builds brand gravity

At a time when brand noise is everywhere, I found myself asking: How can Walker & Dunlop stand out and attract and engage clients?

That question led me to Lisa A. Cole’s book Brand Gravity. Her central idea that “a brand earns gravity the moment people feel pulled toward it without being asked” resonated deeply with me. It reframed the role of marketing not as an engine for promotion, but as a builder of purposeful attraction.

As we move into 2026, Brand Gravity has become a strategic framework influencing how Walker & Dunlop shows up in the market. We are focused on attracting more clients by creating valuable content and sharing our expertise. Our goal is to have clients feel compelled to engage with us because of what we stand for, how we deliver, and how we make them feel.

Reframing our role: from amplification to attraction

Walker & Dunlop has always been a trusted name in commercial real estate finance, but trust isn’t static. It’s something we earn again and again through consistent delivery, thought leadership, and meaningful interaction.

Brand Gravity gave me language for something we were already leaning into: the idea that the brand is not what we say it is. Rather, it’s what clients experience, believe, and share. The gravity we’re building comes from the intersection of:

• What we promise (unlocking opportunity)
• What we deliver (insightful, high-performing solutions)
• And what others say about us (reputation, referrals, shared stories)

When those three forces align, something powerful happens: clients seek us out.

A future-ready marketing team

To build that kind of pull, we’ve reoriented our marketing function to be more agile, integrated, and insights-led.

We’re focused on earning attention through relevance, rather than pushing content into an already crowded space. Our team operates with the mindset of a modern newsroom—rapidly producing high-quality insights, analyzing client signals, and partnering closely with experts across the firm.

From relevant commentary on CRE in our Insights articles to industry deep dives in our specialty Outlook reports, we’re deliberately building a brand people want to connect with.

Storytelling with a shared center of gravity

One of my biggest takeaways from Brand Gravity is that brands are built through consistency. In 2026, our story is unified around a single message: Unlock Your Opportunity.

This narrative runs across our marketing ecosystem, from the Walker Webcast, now one of the top 1.5% of global podcasts, to our WorD newsletter, opened by more than 23,000 subscribers each month. But more importantly, it runs through our people. Our team goes beyond distributing content to reinforcing a promise.

That promise is emotional as much as it is strategic: we are a brand that helps you see what’s possible, navigate uncertainty, and act with confidence.

Gravity is measurable momentum

Another reason I’ve embraced the Brand Gravity model is that it doesn’t live in the abstract. The outcomes it drives, attention, engagement, and advocacy, can and should be measured.

Internally, we’ve aligned our marketing KPIs to reflect this shift. Instead of simply measuring reach, we’re tracking the velocity of engagement: how quickly our content converts interest into action and how well we create long-term value at every touchpoint.

These signals inform our marketing strategy, product innovation, and client experience efforts because brand gravity lives across the business.

Our valued clients are part of this story

Perhaps the most powerful insight I’ve gained from this journey is that brand gravity doesn’t belong to the company; it’s shared with the client.

As we navigate 2026, we see our clients as recipients of our brand experience and as participants in shaping it. Every question they ask, every insight they seek, and every problem they trust us to solve helps define who we are.

That’s why everything we do, from a Walker Webcast podcast episode to a pitch deck, has to be grounded in relevance and driven by empathy. If we want to build and maintain a great relationship with our clients, we have to show up as the right brand for them: informed, responsive, and human.

What’s next: building gravity, together

In a volatile market, brands that succeed are those that earn their place with gravity.

At Walker & Dunlop, that’s the path we’re committed to. It’s a path where brand is about value, not just visibility. We’re committed to making every client interaction a moment to earn trust and deepen relationships.

As Brand Gravity taught me, great brands don’t pull people in by accident. They do it by design.

That’s exactly how we’re building our future.

This attraction-first mindset has already informed how our teams operate, including our learnings from the Webflow Conference last year.