Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Personal & Company Branding: The Benefits of a Single-Word Brand Name

STING & SEAL ©Aleksandar Andjic - © Semisatch

Choosing the right name for your personal or company brand can help you achieve a strong competitive advantage. One brand strategy that can help you to reach top-of-mind status in your marketplace, as a luxury real estate marketing professional, is to distill your brand identity to a single word.

Many celebrities have been successful at doing this, including Oprah, Cher, Madonna, Beyoncé, Rihanna, Daughtry, and of course, the Donald. We are not suggesting that you must change your name or the name of your company to a single word. But, the one-name brand reveals three important branding principles that are definitely worth understanding and applying.

  1. SHORT NAMES ARE EASIER TO REMEMBER: A one-name brand makes it very easy for your target market to remember you. Therefore, when you chose or change your brand name keep this principle in mind: Make it as easy as possible for your target market to remember you after their first encounter with your name.
  2. SINGLE-WORD BRAND NAMES ARE INIMITABLE: Once you stake claim to your single word as your brand name, it makes it difficult for someone else in your marketplace to copy you if they want to stand out
  3. CONVERTING A COMMON NOUN INTO A PROPER NAME COMMANDS INSTANT ATTENTION: If your one-word brand can be converted from a common noun to a proper name it can immediately grab the attention of your target market.

A name like Sting or Seal simply cannot be ignored because it is such a departure from the norm. You hear the name once and it sticks in your mind.

Both Sting and Seal were born in England. Sting’s original name was Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner. Seal was born Seal Henry Olusegun Olumide Adeola SamuelIt. Both had the good sense to condense their names to a single syllable. If you can do the same, you could have a distinct competitive advantage in your luxury real estate marketplace.

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Thursday, December 22, 2011

Making the Non-obvious, Obvious: The Role of a Brand Strategist

A brand is the highly focused, abbreviated communication that conveys the essence of what makes you or your company different from and better than your closest competition. It is the distillation of your extraordinary promise of value expressed graphically and in the fewest words possible so that your target market can quickly grasp that you are a match for them. People like to do business with people like themselves, people they feel they can trust. Therefore, a successful brand accelerates the speed of trust and empowers potential referral sources to easily spread the word about YOU.

In our Language of Luxury blog we often offer examples of non-real estate related products and services that clearly illustrate these branding principles. And, we often are asked how this applies to luxury real estate personal and company branding. The fact that this is not obvious is what prompted this post. The principles of excellent branding and brand strategy are the same for all products and services. And, the role of the brand strategist is to make the non-obvious, obvious.

A strong brand makes what is implicit about you or your company, explicit, and does so with an economy of imagery and words. A great brand is like a flawlessly cut diamond that allows the maximum refraction of light. All of the individual facets of a great brand work together to communicate a singular message that creates demand and compels action to buy products or engage service professionals.

The role of a brand strategist is similar to a diamond cutter who knows exactly how to take a diamond in the rough and bring out its utmost brilliance, which is not obvious to the untrained eye. What is truly unique and valuable about you or your company may not even be obvious to YOU. It is often the case that your ideal client is not obvious as well. These factors must be discovered and articulated first. Only then can you develop a brand strategy.

Our case study of Cuties, a brand of California Clementine oranges, illustrates what can happen, from a strategic standpoint, once you fully articulate your unique promise of value. They were able to exponentially expand their target market by accentuating and amplifying their distinguishing value proposition. They now target BOTH parents and kids as their ideal customer because their fruit is not just sweet and seedless like other oranges can be. Because, Cuties are small they are easier to handle and easier to peel (for small children and seniors) than other oranges.

There is a tremendous amount of focus that goes into crafting a strong brand and also into developing a powerful brand strategy. But, it is an exercise in futility if the aim of branding is not fully understood. The purpose of brand strategy is to achieve top-of-mind status and secure the lion’s share of the business. Brand strategy ONLY applies to what we call the “unabashed pursuit of market leadership”. If you are not interested in being #1 or #2 in your marketplace or a niche therein the purpose of brand strategy simply will not be obvious to you.

Please understand this: Making a good living in marketing luxury real estate does not require being a market leader. But, gaining or sustaining market leadership, if that is your choice, requires expert brand strategy.

As brand strategists, we only work with luxury real estate marketing professionals who are either the incumbent market leader or the challenger in their marketplace (or niche therein). We seek a 360 degree perspective in the “discovery process” through which we ask dozens of questions to identify what is unique about our client.

One of the first things we do is meet our clients, in person, in their marketplace. We ask them to take us on a tour of their world. We want to see the homes they represent, the homes they have sold, and the homes they are targeting to list. We want to understand their neighborhoods, the lifestyle, and meet people that live there. We ask them to treat us like someone who has come to buy real estate in their town.

We immerse ourselves in the marketplace, in the buyer’s/seller's point of view and also in the point of view of our client. Then, together, we analyze the competition, which often reveals what we call “an underserved or uncontested market niche”. We look for the vulnerabilities of the competition and determine how best to position our client as distinct. Finally, we develop a brand strategy that can either secure our client’s top-of-mind status, if they are the incumbent, or displace the current market leader, if they are the challenger.

Only when all of this is accomplished is the new brand identity crafted through graphic design and website design. Their brand strategy usually requires an expertly built and optimized website to execute their strategy which we also create for them.

Making the non-obvious, obvious to a clearly defined target market is our role as brand strategists in luxury real estate marketing and also the marketing of other products and services. It takes precision to craft a strong personal or company brand. And, it takes an energetic entrepreneurial spirit to embark on the unabashed pursuit of market leadership.

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Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Personal & Company Branding: Clearly Expressing Your Brand Personality

Brand personality is a concept that you need to pay close attention to as a luxury real estate marketing professional, especially if you want to stand out from your completion in an instant. You only have a nano-second to make an indelible first impression on your target market. Before, you can present your extraordinary promise of value in words you must first capture their attention, visually. Clearly expressing your authentic brand personality graphically (as a brand identity) can do just that. Here is a flawless brand case study that demonstrates the power of a clearly articulating your brand personality.

Certainly, you have heard the expression that you cannot compare apples with oranges. But, when you are comparing oranges with oranges how can you make your oranges stand out from all others and become the preferred brand? This is the same question that you need to ask yourself about your own luxury real estate marketing brand or your company’s brand.

The Competition:

Standing out is exactly what California Cuties have done. Cuties are actually two varieties of mandarins: Clementine Mandarins and Murcott Mandarins. They are not “little oranges.” They are in a class unto themselves.

However, Cuties has positioned their fruit as small oranges that can be handled equally well by small kids and adults, even though they make it clear right in the logo that they are California Clementines. What is Cuties primary competition? The answer is the large orange that adults have to peel for small children.

Brand Personality

Oranges do not have an intrinsic personality. But, small oranges that are sweet can be “cute”. Other Mandarins have seeds. But, Cuties are seedless, making them even more attractive than other Mandarins.

The Logo & Tag Line (Brand Identity):

L’il Zipper is depicted as an adorable orange that can quickly be peeled or “unzipped”. With vivid colors, it provides an immediate emotional response while conveying its extraordinary promise of value (as distinct from the larger orange) in an instant: sweet, easy to handle, easy to peel.

The tagline further conveys the unique selling proposition: E-Z Peel & Seedless. They know they have successfully branded their product when consumers ask for Cuties vs. oranges or Mandarins. Cuties means small, sweet, seedless organges that are easy to peel. When Cuties are requested instead of the fruit category (seedless Mandarins) the branding process is complete in the same way people ask for a Kleenex instead of a facial tissue.

The Unique Selling Proposition

If you check out their expanded written message you can see that the logo summarizes the essence of the unique selling proposition in a glance:

Cuties have several distinct characteristics that make them the perfect anytime, anywhere snack. Unlike other Mandarins or oranges, they are:

  • Super Sweet Always 100% natural.
  • E-Z Peel Kids can do it all by themselves!
  • Seedless Nothing to spit out or clean up!
  • Kid-Sized Perfect for little hands.

Can you articulate your unique selling proposition, as a luxury real estate marketing professional, in just a few words, like this? Does your brand identity communicate the essence of your unique selling proposition? Does your brand personality capture the attention of your target market in a nano-second so they will take more time to learn more about your unique selling proposition?

You do not need to be cute to capture attention. But, your own, authentic personality must shine through your brand identity when it is expressed graphically. It must tell the essence of the story about YOU and how you are different from your closest competitors.

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Monday, December 19, 2011

Marketing Luxury Real Estate: Are You Being Served?

Exemplary client service is imperative when marketing luxury real estate if you are intent on gaining or sustaining market leadership. If you are interested in challenging the incumbent market leader you might want to ask some of their clients this question: Are You Being Served?

There are all levels of client service. Great service often begins right on your website where you have the opportunity to make “self-service” an enriching experience for potential clients before they are actually ready to make their first live contact with you. But, the minute a prospect calls you or walks in the door of your office you had better live up to the standard you have established on the web and exceed their expectations. Congruency and consistency is the key. Many current market leaders lack this.

Recently, Alexandra and I (Ron here) needed to open an investment brokerage account at one the major national brokerage houses to facilitate the transfer of funds. Since there was a local office close by we decided to go into the office instead of calling or setting up the account online. Whenever possible we prefer to establish new relationships in person and support our local businesses. Our experience was a disaster in client service.

Instead of being introduced to an account representative who could assist us in opening the account (and with whom we could potentially establish a long term relationship), we were guided by the junior in charge to a computer kiosk to open the account online in “self-service” mode. Shocked, that we were being introduced to a machine vs. a human being, we approached the kiosk where it was necessary to stand up while filling out the online form to open the account. In an instant they lost us as a customer. I immediately decided that the minute my funds were transferred to this brokerage firm I would transfer them elsewhere and close the account.

On the initial screen were there were a number of account types and we needed advice as to which type was appropriate for our transaction. The receptionist called an account representative over to assist us. Thinking that perhaps, we had encountered an inexperienced receptionist, we expected that the account rep would invite us into his office and fill out the form for us as he asked appropriate questions. Instead, he told us the type of account we needed and guided us back to the kiosk to make the selection on the screen.

To get the idea of how physically awkward this was, try typing while standing up directly over your desktop or laptop computer that is lying flat on your desk. There is an ergonomic reason that there is a place to rest your palms while typing. After typing in our name and email address with great difficulty, the shock lifted, and outrage ensued. But, I decided to stay positive and give them the benefit of the doubt.

In an attempt to give constructive feedback, I told the account rep that had I not needed to open this particular account, I would have left on the spot, the moment the kiosk was suggested in lieu of human service. The account rep did not even acknowledge my feedback. Nor, did he apologize. Instead, he just cheerfully said “if it would be easier, you could open this account online at home”. Then, he gave me a card with the telephone number of customer service as we walked out the door.

The only consolation prize from this experience was the knowledge that this blog post that you are now reading would be written. When I got home and called customer service, I vented about my experience adding a bit of humor, knowing that the call would be “monitored or recorded”. The phone rep was dumbfounded. Getting back to the matter at hand, she graciously helped me through the form, which I could not have completed without her kind assistance. In contrast, this rep lived up to the standard of exemplary client service which highlights the imperative of congruency and consistency.

Every major investment brokerage firm has an office in our town, given the demographics here. Choices are abundant when it comes to selecting a particular firm and account representative. We hope that you get the parallel here to luxury real estate brokerage firms and agents. You would think that exemplary client service is a given, merely the price of admission into the field. But, for those of you who are intent on challenging the incumbent market leader in your area this extremely important factor of consistently outstanding client service may be the very chink in the armor of your competitor that can give you the edge.

You might assume that your competitor’s clients are being served. But, you may want to investigate this further.

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Thursday, December 15, 2011

Personal & Company Branding: A Tale of Two Brand Personalities

In great branding, the expression of the professional’s personality or the company’s personality shines through the brand identity in everything from the logo and slogan, to the website and the design of a store and the packaging, if it is a retail business. Clearly representing your personality in your own brand, as a luxury real marketing professional is important. You want your target market to grasp the essence of who you are immediately. You also want your potential clients to quickly see how you are distinct from your closest competitors.

In the world of cookware there are two stores that come to mind most readily—Williams Sonoma and Sur La Table. Each has a distinct brand personality. Here is an analysis of the two personalities:

What makes them the same?

1. They both sell cookware and other items relating to dining. Many well known brand items are sold in both stores.

2. They both have stores located in shopping malls or highly trafficked streets

In Santa Barbara, both stores are thriving. Sur La Table is located in our Downtown area, an area frequented by locals and tourists. Williams Sonoma is located in the La Cumbre Shopping Center, known to locals and less to tourists.

What makes them different?

Slogans:

“Serving Serious Cooks since 1959” (Williams-Sonoma)

“The Art & Soul of Cooking” (Sur La Table)

Store Décor and Cookware Display


Williams-Sonoma has wide aisles with wood cabinets and wood floors. In many of their stores they have an open kitchen where they are continuously demonstrating cooking techniques and offer food samples to customers. The merchandise is artfully placed in sections, and those sections are clearly marked. The look here is traditional and elegant; the energy is calm and relaxed.

Sur La Table has a contemporary industrial look with lots of merchandise arranged on “high-tech” tables. They demonstrate some products such as coffee machines. Everywhere you look there are aisles filled from top to bottom with interesting kitchen gadgets and cookware. The energy is fast paced and fun.

Logos

Williams-Sonoma: traditional and welcoming.

Sur La Table: casual, fun, relaxed

As a luxury real estate marketing professional, does your brand identity clearly express your personality or the personality of your company? Does it help to sharply differentiate you from your competition?

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Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Personal & Company Branding: Commanding the Lion's Share

Brand strategy is a concept that is often misunderstood in the realm of marketing luxury real estate. The reason it is not crystal clear to many agents and brokers is because it only applies to the subject of gaining or sustaining market leadership. The purpose of strategic branding is to achieve “top-of-mind status” which enables you to command the lion’s share of your market. It takes a certain entrepreneurial “gene” to embark on what we call “the unabashed pursuit of market leadership”. And, it takes strategic thinking to achieve the #1 or the #2 position in the minds of your target market.

Perhaps the company that is most unabashed about its pursuit of market leadership is Google. With a 63% market share of all searches performed on the internet and a 53% penetration in the smart phone market for its Android operating system, the pursuit of market leadership is something that Google takes very seriously.

Recently, Google’s Chrome surpassed Firefox as the #2 most widely used browser behind Microsoft’s Internet Explorer (IE). According to the Wall Street Journal IE's market share is down from 56% to 40%. Chrome has 25.7% and Firefox has 25.2%. Can you see that brand strategy is irrelevant to Opera, another browser, unless they want to challenge the incumbent market leader or overtake Chrome and Firefox as #2?

For most consumers, the differences between browsers negligible. How many consumers could actually tell you the difference between the top three? Yet, one enjoys top-of-mind status over all the rest. It takes a very fine-tuned strategy to win the lion’s share of mind share and thus, market share.

Browsers can be downloaded for free. So what is at stake to be #1? The browser can dictate which search engine the consumer will use and that is where the advertising dollars are made. Google was a major investor in Firefox and Firefox features Google’s search engine. They split the revenue generated by pay-per-click advertising. Google is also the search engine for Apple’s Safari browser, which is why Google is truly the king of the search jungle.

That Firefox investment was an excellent strategy on Google’s part. By dominating search on Firefox in addition to Chrome , Google most likely has eclipsed the revenue generated by Microsoft’s Bing search engine featured on Internet Explorer.

What is at stake for you, as a luxury real estate marketing professional if you were to embark on the unabashed pursuit of market leadership?

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Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Luxury Real Estate Marketing: Truth is in the Details

In luxury real estate marketing, the first impression of your collateral materials, your web site and your messaging should exude luxury. However, it is the attention to details that solidify the impression and make it eminently clear that you speak the language of luxury fluently.

Truth is in the details. A diamond in the rough definitely has hints of brilliance. When it is cut, faceted, and polished that evidence becomes indisputable as the light will shine through it and attest to its beauty. Each facet is a detail precisely cut to reflect the beauty of the stone.

Details either affirm the luxury or point out that it is an imitation. Art appraisers look for details to authenticate or dismiss a work of art. Luxury is attention to details, it is craftsmanship. This is what makes a luxury item valuable.

Alexandra’s maternal grandmother was the head finish seamstress for Coco Chanel. She was in charge of embroidery, hand stitching button holes, and hems. Hems had to be invisible to look right. This took time and skill and gave the clothing item one of the details of luxury.

When dealing with a luxury clientele you need to be well versed in the details of luxury. Educating yourself on every aspect of what makes a luxury home is key to your success. It is the very thing that will inspire confidence in your clients and will assure them that they have made the right choice

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Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Luxury Real Estate Brand Strategy: The Unabashed Pursuit of Market Leadership

Singapore Airport Courtesy of Salvador Manaois Iii

If you have that entrepreneurial “gene” that compels you to be the best in class as a luxury real estate marketing professional then you can understand our slogan, “the unabashed pursuit of market leadership”. For, it is only within the context of market leadership that brand strategy has any meaning.

Brand strategy is the route to “top-of-mind status” in any category of business whether it is a product or service. What most luxury real estate marketing professionals do realize (because it may not be obvious) is just how much is at stake when your name or your company name vs. your competitor’s name comes to mind first to the majority of people in your marketplace or niche therein. What is at stake is the lion’s share of business. It is known as “mind share”. And, mind share converts to market share over time. Whoever has the most mind share wins, big time!

When you are ready to approach your luxury real estate marketing practice as an exercise in achieving top- of- mind status the entire “game board” or competitive field takes on an entirely new perspective. The very set of questions that you need to ask yourself is completely different than the questions that the majority of agents or brokers in your marketplace ask themselves. In fact, the questions required to achieve this status most likely do not even enter their minds.

The most important question to ask yourself if you decide to embark on the unabashed pursuit of market leadership is this: What can I (or we, as a team or company) do better than anyone else in the world (or in my marketplace)? To illustrate the importance of this question see how it played out when an entire country asked this question of itself and implement the answer.

Singapore’s Changi airport has been recognized as the best airport in the world winning over 370 ‘best’ awards worldwide. Their airport offers countless amenities to travelers who have deliberately chosen it as their connection hub to other parts of the planet. At Changi airport you can take a shower for $6. You can go swimming in the airport pool for $11. There are touch screens next to the sinks in the restrooms where you can rate your experience or get an immediate response if there is an issue.

Soothing music is piped in to reduce stress throughout the airport. There is over 750,000 square feet of shopping, concessions and entertainment facilities. 50% of revenues pays for amenities and also keeps costs down for the airlines. There are activities galore for travelers with time on their hands including movies and bus tours of the city if you have 5 hours in between flights.

Some travelers appreciate the quick baggage handling. Others find terrific entertainment for their kids who can be challenging to deal with on long flights plus stopovers. And, there are people who choose Singapore just because they can swim in between flights!

Ultimately, Singapore has created an international buzz-worthy news story by identifying what the country can do better than anyone else in the world and delivering on that claim. In the unabashed pursuit of market leadership Singapore not only generates over $1 billion dollars in annual revenue from its airport, it has proven that the economic development of an entire country can benefit by becoming known as the best in class in a specific market niche.

Oddly, the cost of adding most of these amenities is relatively low. Other airports could easily imitate this strategy. However, just like with the tablet computer, first to market earns instant top-of-mind status in an underserved or uncontested market niche rendering others simply as “me too” copycats. This is the power of great brand strategy!

What can you do better than anyone else in your luxury real estate marketplace? Is it time you became known for doing that and triggering positive buzz about you or company?

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Monday, December 5, 2011

Luxury Real Estate Marketing: You Can Have Your Cake and Eat it Too!

Outstanding packaging is an important way to express your superior level of attention to detail. For many high net worth individuals this a an indication of the level of quality service they can expect when they do business with you as a luxury real estate marketing professional.

In the arena of competition for market leadership the differences between the #1 and #2 competitor is sometimes marginal in terms of volume of business. Each one claims they have the most in-depth market knowledge, that they have integrity, the best negotiation skills and that they offer excellent service. If they both essentially have the same set of benefits, including their companies’ benefits, on what basis does the consumer make his or her choice to begin a new business relationship given that a referral was not the basis of the introduction?

You have heard the expression, “you cannot judge a book by its cover”. But, more often than you realize packaging is the basis of choice for consumers who are not introduced to a product or service by a trusted recommendation. Many consumers select their wines based solely on the aesthetics of the label and the cleverness of the name, i.e., the packaging.

That is why some wineries pay as much as $80,000 just for a label design. In Napa Valley, there are many fine wines of the same varietal priced similarly. In fact, in a blind taste test, they are difficult to tell apart except for those who have the most educated palates. Which one should the uninformed consumer buy?

Aesthetics play a very big role in romancing consumers to purchase a product or to do business with a service professional. Here is an example of how this plays out.

Most of us love chocolate cake. Get the idea that two bakers use the finest fresh organic ingredients to create a great chocolate cake batter. They use the exact same recipe and the same oven, at the same time to bake their cakes. In a blind taste test, consumers cannot tell the difference between the two.

But, following this example, one baker used an inexpensive bundt pan and the other used a top-of-the-line pinwheel designed pan that clearly made her cake stand out visually from the ordinary shaped caked. This detail that only cost 1/3 more created a superior presentation that also sparked word-of-mouth advertising because it literally was “remarkable”.

In marketing luxury real estate pay attention to the details in your presentation of your personal brand and also in the properties you represent. That alone can tip the scales in your favor to win more clients and out-perform your closest competitor. This goes to show that you have have your cake and eat it too!

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Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Personal & Company Branding: Co-Branding, Italian Style with Sparkle

Co-branding is a marketing arrangement between one or more brands. The idea is to act in cooperation in a way that combines the strength of the brands. It is also a way to differentiate products and services in a highly competitive marketplace. It is an excellent strategy that is underutilized by luxury real estate marketing professionals.

At lunch we ordered one of our favorite sparkling waters, San Pellegrino from Italy. As we were waiting for our order, we noticed that the bottle had a new label and featured Bulgari one of Italy’s premier jewelers. The label as seen above has a photo of a beautiful Bulgari necklace and the caption reads “Pellegrino Sparkles with Bulgari.”

This special edition bottle was conceived by both companies to promote the Italian style internationally, and according to Stefano Agostini, the CEO of San Pellegrino, “Our brand is an international symbol of the Italian art of living and partnering with Bulgari adds power to our efforts to export the finest side of Italy.”

This is the second limited edition series that S.Pellegrino has launched to celebrate Italian Style. The first was with famous Italian clothing designer Missoni, who created four different versions of their signature patchwork chevron design combined with the San Pellegrino brand.

For both firms this is a win-win situation. They came together to promote the Italian lifestyle, and their great luxury brands that have become international Italian icons. This co-branding endeavor promotes their commitment to their country, and also leverages their marketing dollars, which can potentially increase their overall market share.

How can you co brand with luxury services and products and do the same for your luxury marketplace?

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Personal & Company Branding: All You Need Is Love

“All You Need is Love”-- Lennon-McCartney

“All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt--Charles M. Schulz, Creator of “Peanuts”

As a luxury real estate marketing professional, emotional branding can sharply differentiate you from your competitors. First you need to romanticize your marketplace. Then, you need to create the perfect personal branding message so that potential clients experience “love at first sight” or on their first encounter with you.

People like to do business with people they trust. Excellent branding is all about accelerating the speed of trust. The faster you can attract and convert potential clients into and an ever-increasing base of raving fans the more money you will make through referrals.

Emotions compel people to act faster than logic. That is why emotional branding is so important. Luxury real estate marketing professionals who are passionate about their marketplace and their job have a greater chance of attracting more clients. Passionate people are like natural magnets. They draw like-minded people toward themselves. If you can capture that passion in your branding and on your website your website can become a silent salesperson for you.

Think of branding like packaging. People who do not know a product will more than likely buy the product based on its packaging. This is true of books, of wine labels and believe it or not, it is true when it comes to selecting a real estate agent. Prospects searching for homes on the web from outside of your geographic area do not know one agent from another. Agents’ websites are basically seen as a commodity. You usually can get the same basic information on any half-way decent agent website. In this scenario, you have a nano-second to make a first impression, to stand out and engage your prospect.

Today there is a glut of wine on the market. Competition is extremely stiff in this industry. As a consumer, if you are not a connoisseur how can you tell one from the other? Fine chocolate has also become commoditized. Chocolate growers have followed in the footsteps of wine growers creating appellations for differentiation purposes, based on the “terroir” or earth in which it is grown.

But, when it comes to the point of sale, how does a consumer who is not a connoisseur know one brand from the other? Trader Joe's markets has built a brand that commands a very high level of trust among its loyal customers. When they put their brand name on a product it usually is worth at least a try.

Trader Joe's understands the value of emotional branding. They did not just call their dark chocolate bar “Trader Joe’s Chocolate”. They named it, “The Dark Chocolate Lovers' Bar”. For the connoisseur they also added this to their packaging: “smooth & fruity from the Tumaco Region of Columbia." The chocolate connoisseur may appreciate these “chocolate notes” (like wine descriptions), recognize this appellation and make a buying decision based on logic. But, average consumers (we are talking about the masses now) who love dark chocolate will grab the package for the first time just based on the name and the festive South American graphic design.

When you are reaching for market leadership your branding must appeal both to logic and to emotions. But, you will find that emotions are the fastest way to the heart of the majority of new prospects when they are in the process of selecting a agent to represent them.

PS. One of our favorite brands is Valhona pictured above with the purple arrow made from the finest African chocolate. As unabashed chocolate lovers and self appointed experts of dark chocolate, we also tried TJ's Dark Chocolate Lover's Bar and enjoyed the "fruity taste." Now we have added another favorite to our list. We educated our palate in the process but that was secondary. -Ron & Alexandra Seigel

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Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Luxury Real Estate Marketing: Brand In Alignment with Beauty

Here is a quick personal branding quiz:

What is most important when crafting your persional brand?

  1. Self expression
  2. Designing to meet the aethetic expectatons of your target market
  3. Capturing attention with the WOW factor!
  4. Standing out from your competition
  5. All of the above

If you answered (5), all of the above, you are correct. Creating a personal brand is truly a balancing act!

Capturing attention and standing out from your competition are both very important when crafting your personal brand as a luxury real estate marketing professional. However, the two most treacherous traps that luxury real estate marketing professionals fall into when attempting to brand themselves are these:

  1. Factoring out the aesthetic expectations of their target market thinking that self expression is all that is needed
  2. Factoring out their personality, values and personal aesthetic preferences to please their target market.

Either one of these extremes is a recipe for failure in personal branding.

Certainly, you have heard the expression “beauty is in the eyes of the beholder”. There is no question that aesthetics is a subjective value judgment. To some contemporary art design and architecture is the ultimate expression of the human spirit, while traditionalists see no value in it at all. But, when it comes to branding, the entire exercise is to make the subjective, objective. Brand comes first and then in alignment with beauty.

If you work in a conservative marketplace this objective fact must be respected if market leadership is your quest. Too much shock value may keep you out of the winners circle. The objective measurement is whether or not you are attracting the number of clients that you need to reach your goal. There are ways to express yourself to a conservative audience without offending them and still feel that you have not compromised your sense of self expression. Find a way to express yourself in your personal life if outrageousness is your “thing”, like the owners of these luxury cars (Mercedes and Jaguar) depicted in this article.

But, trying to please everyone is impossible. Trying to be all things to all people is likewise futile. Leaving YOU out of the branding equation eliminates perhaps the most important key to branding success: authenticity.

When we conduct a strategic brand analysis in our consulting practice, we dial into all of these factors in the quiz above to establish our client’s “brand signal”. It is like finding the right combination when all of the tumblers click into place and the brand “unlocks”.

Once you amplify your authentic brand signal and reach your target market through focused communication, those who resonate with that signal with naturally gravitate to it. Therefore, it is essential to place brand before beauty. You must sharply differentiate yourself from your competitor and you must do so with a wow factor. But, with aesthetics, you must also strike the perfect balance between your personal tastes and the values of your target market.

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Monday, November 28, 2011

Marketing Luxury Real Estate: What Are You Trying to Say?

As a luxury real estate marketing professional, it is important that you get your marketing message laser sharp. You must speak to your target market in a language that they understand using words that resonate precisely with their mindset. The faster you can communicate your extraordinary promise of value in a way that addresses their most pressing needs the quicker they will want to do business with you.

Apart from referrals, open houses and yard signs, your website is the place where most consumers discover you for the first time. Does your website instantly communicate who you are, how you are different and how you stand out from your competition? Think of your website as a retail store. Does your site compel people to walk in to discover more?

We walked by the window of the Louis Vuitton store in Santa Barbara, California on Thanksgiving weekend, one of the most important weekends of the year for retailers. After “scratching our heads”, wondering what this was all about we just had to take a photo and write this post about messaging.

You can see what we saw in the window depicted above. An elephant doing an “hand stand” on a plank that is balanced on a ball with a designer purse on the opposite end of the plank lifting the elephant. What message does convey to you? Does it make you want to enter the store to shop? Does it make you want to buy that particular item? To whom are they attempting to communicate?

Unless this store is a destination for you because you already know the brand and you intend to shop there for the Holidays, this is a huge missed opportunity to draw in new customers. Window design is an art form in luxury retail stores throughout Europe. With so much competition for attention you only have seconds to capture the the attention of prospective customers. How can you expect to increase sales if you cannot draw customers in the store in the first place.

The same applies to marketing luxury real estate and to marketing YOU. Get your messaging spot on and you will dramatically see an increase fin the number of prospects that convert to clients and sales.

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Monday, November 21, 2011

50 Top Luxury Real Estate Markets in the USA: Channel Island Region, CA

We began this article series on 50 Top Luxury Real Estate Markets in the USA in Santa Barbara, California and its adjacent wine country, the Santa Ynez Valley. But, the Santa Barbara Region is only one of the four regions that comprise California’s Central Coast which begins just north of Los Angeles and Malibu (and just south of Santa Barbara) in an area called the Channel Island Region. The other two Central Coast Regions (north of Santa Barbara) are San Luis Obispo (known for the Hearst Castle) and Monterey (famous for Carmel, Big Sur and Pebble Beach). By far, the least known hidden gem of California’s Central Coast is the Channel Island Region, home to the coastal cities of Ventura and Oxnard.

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Thursday, November 17, 2011

Luxury Real Estate Marketing: Practical Luxury

We often hear that time is money. Having time to enjoy the good things in life is a luxury. Yet, sometimes we are lured by lower prices or special offers, thinking we are saving money, when doing so can actually waste time. Sometimes, paying more seems impractical. But, think again! Think about the concept of practical luxury. As a luxury real estate marketing professional, how much is your hour worth?

Have you ever been offered a dollar to complete a survey that takes 10 minutes of your time? That means that your time is worth only $6 per hour. At a new upscale shopping center we were offered $10 to complete a survey that only took 3 minutes. That equated to $200 per hour--a much better return on our time spent, especially for effortless work. But, the key here is to stay focused on what your time is worth.

With gas prices skyrocketing, many are lured by gas stations wars. Depicted here are two gas stations catty corner from each other. Union 76 always has lower prices than its competitor, Chevron, across the street. The majority of time, the owner of Union 76 is directing traffic around the narrow pump aisles, making sure that everyone is on the correct side of the pump. At peak times, people are lined up to fill up while their engines are still running.

At the Chevron station there is no wait whatsoever. There are more pumps and wider aisles for easy access. What is your time worth while you are waiting to save a couple of bucks? If your car uses premium gasoline you are spending $2.00 more per fill up of 20 gallons. However, you are quickly in and out of the gas station. You can get to where you are going quicker and in a better mood. Now that is practical luxury! Are you worth it?

The best luxury real estate marketing professionals thoroughly understand the mindset of their clients and target market. This nuance of practical luxury can give you an insight as to why some affluent people do not bother to comparison shop. While, there are those who became affluent because of a very frugal mindset. Neither is better. Some just value their time in different ways.

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Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Luxury Real Estate Marketing: No-Tech Marketing

No-Tech marketing can pack a bigger wallop than internet marketing. As a luxury real estate marketing professional it is important to have a balance of high-tech and no-tech marketing, as part of your strategy to achieve top-of-mind status in your marketplace. Here are two examples.

Gelson's Market Santa Barbara

Gelson’s Markets like many other markets or food specialty stores in the USA prepares a takeout Thanksgiving dinner. You can order in accordance to the number of people you are hosting. The dinner is complete with hors d’oeuvres, side dishes and dessert. Additionally, they will suggest the perfect wines for the occasion. This season, they added no-tech marketing to their promotion. Last Saturday you could come to the store between the hours of 11AM to 2PM, to sample an entire Thanksgiving meal, without wine.

Williams Sonoma-Santa Barbara

Williams Sonoma had a special sale on all the cookware, accessories, and foods one may need to prepare a gourmet Thanksgiving dinner. This included their special cranberry relish, gravy, spices and more. You can even sign up for free cooking classes this week on how to make Thanksgiving easier. During the classes, their chefs will be demonstrating time saving techniques.

The net result in both cases is increased good will and customer loyalty which, in the long term will pay off handsomely for both stores. How can you implement no-tech marketing in your luxury real estate marketing strategy?

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Monday, November 14, 2011

50 Top Luxury Real Estate Markets in the USA: Park City/Deer Valley

Robert Redford founded the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah in 1979. Since then it has grown to become the largest film festival for independent film makers in the world. Two years later Deer Valley opened. This grand ski resort was destined to became a 2002 Winter Olympics venue site. It was also honored by Ski Magazine as the #1 ski resort in North America for an unprecedented five straight years including 2012. For this article, we asked the top agents here why the Park City/ Deer Valley resort town has emerged not only as a great place to vacation but also to live.

deer valley summer

view the beautiful homes in Deer Valley Park City

Park City is considered to be one of the safest communities in the United States. According to Diane Rinehart, “It is a real town with real people; that’s what you want from a second home--you want it to be a home. It’s a small town where you feel you can make a difference”

With a population of under 10,000 people, Park City has a generosity of spirit that is unsurpassed. According to Dena Flemming, “There are over 100 non-profit organizations here. This is a place where second home owners want to participate in the community; it is not just a place to see and be seen”.

Although Park City/Deer Valley is known for having the “greatest snow on earth”, Tyler Richardson says, “The locals will tell you that our summers are far superior to our winters. We are truly a year-round resort with exquisite golf courses, mountain biking, blue ribbon fly fishing and boating”. There is a saying in Park City that sums it up, “I came for the winter; I stayed for the summer”.

Tyler, and his mother/business partner, Peg Marty, specialize in marketing both ski-in/ski-out properties in Deer Valley and gentleman ranches-equestrian properties just outside of town.Peg comments that “this is one of the few places where you can enjoy the year-round ski town lifestyle while owning fee simple, (privately held) property in town, in a rural setting and also on the mountain next to the lifts”.

Ann MacQuoid says, “The summer is all about recreation during the day and entertaining under the stars; it’s light until 10pm. At night there is something for everyone, from dining at one of 17 Zagat rated restaurants, to cocktail boat cruises on the Jordanelle Reservoir, to outdoor concerts".

“It is easy to get around town all year long by taking Park City’s free busses that come along just about every 20 minutes”, states Suzanne Harris. “This works out especially great in the winter for locals and visitors who want to experience the diversity, of the three major ski resorts, Deer Valley, Park City and The Canyons that are in close proximity to each other”.

As the summer season gained in popularity an interesting trend emerged. Heidi Gatch noticed that, “Many home owners who enjoyed being on the mountain for vacations are moving to town to be closer to local activities year-round. Some like Old Town properties that may not have as much land or square footage, but they are within walking distance of restaurants, art galleries and shopping.”

Others just like to walk! Carol Agle says, “With 150 miles of hiking and biking trails locals take fitness seriously.” She adds, “According to the Center of Disease Control our state is one of the healthiest (least obese) in the country".

Steve Chin explains that “One of the main reasons for the huge success of the Park City/Deer Valley area is its proximity to a major international airport in Salt Lake City. It is the only ski area in North America where you can take a morning flight from just about anywhere in the US and still ski for a half-day in the afternoon. In fact, if you present your boarding pass to any ski ticket window from your morning flight you can go skiing free for the rest of the day!”

Steve adds, “Deer Valley in particular offers an extraordinary skier experience. It is so civilized--all the fun of skiing without the hassle factor”. Mary Leader points out that “the Deer Valley Ski School is second to none. If you own a home on the slopes your instructor will meet you at your home for your private lesson”.

At Deer Valley the number of skiers allowed on the mountain is limited. This results in very brief lift lines. There is usually tons of dry powder yet mostly mild weather. Kelly Rogers points out that,”even at the peak, Deer Valley is at a lower altitude than most ski resorts. With meticulously groomed slopes, that means more endurance and more runs!“ When asked to sum up the skier experience at Deer Valley Karen Keating said, “More blue sky days, white glove service and groomed, velvet, corduroy power runs”.

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Thursday, November 10, 2011

Luxury Real Estate Marketing: What is Your Luxury Brand Personality?

As a luxury real estate marketing professional you have to identify the luxury brand personality of your marketplace and make sure it is harmonious with your personality. If it is a match, then it will be a match made in heaven as those with similar likes will be attracted to you. Here are three examples of luxury personalities.

Sophisticated

The Louis Vuitton store pictured above defines a sophisticated luxury brand personality. This is reflected in the look of the store, with fine leather furniture, beautifully crafted wood and glass counters and display cases, and top of the line accessories. The merchandise is traditional and elegant.

Hip

All Saints Company as is an example of hip brand luxury. The windows are filled with antique sewing machines emphasizing their quality manufacturing and tradition. The lighting is industrial reminding one of a factory, and the clothes are chic, edgy and hip. The clothing tags are handwritten and some of the beaded garments sport an additional “manually embellished.”

Photo by Pietro Cruciatti, Dreamstime

Fun

Moschino, an Italian designer is known for the fun brand personality in luxury, as seen in the helmet above. His tagline is “A Stylish Attitude”. The motorcycle helmet definitely screams attitude. The clothes are quirky and fun. The jewelry is one of a kind. The picture of the brooch below shows three dangling enameled and articulated fish hanging. The inscription on the top of the circle, says in Italian, “If you sleep, you don’t catch.

How does your luxury brand personalityand what is the brand personality of your marketplace? Is it a match made in heaven?

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Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Luxury Real Estate Marketing: New Trends in the Brand Naming Game

All Saints Store in Santa Monica

In luxury real estate marketing, it is of paramount importance to come up with the right name for your business. One of the traditional rules of branding has been to keep a name short because they are easy to remember, and easy to spell! As the new century dawned the rules have been challenged and some of the new the names became descriptive of their mission statement, their marketplace or who they are.

Some of the pioneers in the longer version name game can be found in the fashion industry. Here are some of our favorite brand names and the story behind them.

Not Your Daughter’s Jeans: This is a brand of women’s clothing including chic jeans designed to flatter every woman’s figure.

Citizens of Humanity: This is a Luxury Denim & Apparel for Women & Men. A portion of proceeds are given charity.

Band of Outsiders: This is a clothing company for “geek chic”, hence outsiders.

All Saints Spittafield: This is a manufacturer and retailer of quality garments. Their stores are decorated with assorted antique sewing machines. All Saints donates to “Not For Sale” a worldwide movement to stop human trafficking.

Rag & Bones: Fashion for men and women, the name is a British phrase for junk dealers of old with a pushcart who bought and sold and recycled discarded items.

Is it time for you to play the brand naming game?

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