Monday, October 31, 2011

Luxury Real Estate Marketing: The Inner Game of Market Leadership - Part 3


Photo by Alexa Sklar, Dreamstime.com

What comes to your mind when you think about team spirit? High morale? Esprit de corps? If you have ever been on a winning team, whether it was in sports, in business or any co-created project you know how it feels to maintain your belief in a goal, in yourself and in others. Sustaining your morale, whether personally or as a member of a team is by far one of the most important skills in the inner game of market leadership. As a luxury real estate marketing professional, it is essential.

Even if you are a “solopreneur” vs. a team in your luxury real estate practice, you still may need to work with a transaction coordinator, an escrow officer and title reps. Your ability to engender esprit de corps project by project, not only helps make transactions go smoother, but also more fun.

We all love to watch sports because we get inspired by individual achievement. But, we also are moved by those teams who can pull together tenaciously and consistently in pursuit of a common goal.

Team spirit is definitely one of life’s true joys to experience first hand and also to observe in others. Whether or not you were a Cardinal or Ranger fan, game six of the World Series was one of the most amazing demonstrations of consistently maintaining morale in recent baseball history. You just had to admire each team for not giving up. This was especially true of the Cardinals who were one strike away from losing it all and came back to ultimately win the title.

To sustain high morale on your team you need to keep your own spirits up. This does take practice to be consistent. But, when you reach those critical moments when things do not appear to be going your way, that is when the practice truly pays off.

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Friday, October 28, 2011

Luxury Real Estate Marketing: Lesson in Design and Branding from Tiffany's

We love visiting the Westside of Los Angeles, where we used to live. As part of our design study, we decided to visit the newly refurbished Santa Monica Mall. The mall was transformed from an indoor facility to an outdoor facility which was a successful architectural feet. The result is elegant, uncluttered and very pleasant to walk around in..

When we saw the Tiffany store, we were inspired by the uncluttered presentation featuring a jewelry vignette in one of the windows. The other side of the store had the identical look with a different jewelry vignette. The overall feeling is balanced, inviting and attracting the customer to come in and shop. The brand colors of Tiffany blue and silver are represented beautifully.

Like a store, a website has to attract the customer to stay and shop, If the store or web site is unappealing, you walk away or click on to the next store or web site.

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Thursday, October 27, 2011

The Three Luxury Real Estate Marketing Keys for Personal Branding, Part 3

CENTERING

This is Part #3 of a new blog series on The Three Luxury Real Estate Marketing Keys for Personal Branding. Define. Align. Refine!

Pottery, as an art form, clearly illustrates the principle of feeling centered which is the by-product of the process of self definition and personal alignment covered in previous posts. As students of pottery, we highly recommend that luxury real estate marketing professionals take a pottery class to gain a visceral, hands-on experience of centering. Like the personal alignment process pottery is also a meditative experience because you have to concentrate and focus to keep the clay centered on the wheel as you transform it into something both beautiful and useful.

When you prepare the clay for throwing a vase using a potter’s wheel all these steps need to come into alignment in order to achieve your end result:

  • You cut a piece of clay from a large block and wedge the clay. That is, you knead the clay until all the molecules are literally aligned and no air bubbles remain in it. This will add to the structural integrity of the finished bowl.
  • You shape this clay into a ball and place it on the middle of the wheel
  • You start the wheel, flatten the ball, and center the weight of the mass on the wheel.

If the clay is not kneaded or wedged properly air bubbles will remain. Air bubbles will create holes or cracks when you fire it in the kiln. The personal alignment process is similar to wedging clay. It is essential that you rid yourself of the air bubbles of doubt and self contradiction.

You center the clay mass on the wheel in order to open the very center of the vase and evenly pull the sides up. Suddenly, from a lump of clay you give it definition and a shape. Centering yourself through the process of self-definition and personal alignment quiets your mind, so that you can focus on shaping, crafting the vase of your unique selling proposition (which we cover in Part 4).

The last step prior to firing is called trimming. Once you have let the newly formed vase dry (partially) overnight, you bring it back on the wheel, center it again and trim away any excess clay. This trimming process is akin to what we call refining your marketing message which is covered in Part 5.

We find that so many luxury real estate marketing professional do not take the time to establish their personal alignment and get centered. They simply are unable to clearly articulate how they are distinct from their closest competition. And, their results are usually not consistent.

Personal alignment gives you a sense of balance, confidence and a sense of being centered.. Only then can you be authentic and create a genuine personal brand..

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Luxury Real Estate Marketing Tips for Personal Branding: Part 2

Personal Alignment


This is part #2 of our blog series on The Three Luxury Real Estate Marketing Keys for Personal Branding. Define. Align. Refine!

The second key of successful luxury real estate marketing after Self-Definition is personal alignment. Alignment as defined by Webster’s Dictionary is “the proper positioning or state of adjustment of parts in relation to each other.” What then, is personal alignment? It is the clarification and the formulation of your thoughts in such a way that you eliminate self-contradictions. It is also the convergence that occurs when these mental gears are in sync:

• Your values and beliefs (what matters to you the most and what you stand for)
• Your passions and personality (what you personally love doing the most)
• Your unique talents and abilities (What you can do better than anyone else in your marketplace)

The process of personal alignment is taking the time to formulate and reformulate your success formula by trying out different ideas in your imagination until all these gears click into place. Only then can you send a clear, non-contradicted signal to your target market. Anything less is like tuning in a radio and hearing static.

Without alignment your target market is getting mixed signals from you or cannot even hear your broadcast. And, you wonder why all of your hard work isn’t paying off as you had hoped it would. It’s not for lack of effort on your part. It is lack of alignment!

Most professionals are too eager to rush into action before achieving personal alignment. Then they wonder why they are getting mixed results. Do not underestimate the importance of this vital step in building your luxury real estate marketing practice. Any time you notice that you are not getting consistent results, take more time out for personal alignment or realignment.

The Three Luxury Real Estate Marketing Tips for Personal Branding: Define. Align. Refine! Part #1



Self-Definition


This is Part #1 of a new blog series on The Three Luxury Real Estate Marketing Keys for Personal Branding: Define. Align. Refine!

For luxury real estate marketing professionals the process of self-definition is the starting point for creating a personal brand. In subsequent posts in this series we will cover how self definition and personal alignment lead to being centered and focused which is the prerequisite for refining your competitive advantage. In order to begin creating a successful marketing strategy that effortlessly attracts your target audience, take some time to complete these self-defining exercises:

1. Define your core values and your beliefs. This is the time to be honest with you. These are not the values or beliefs you think you should have because somebody will like you better for it. You will no doubt come up with many of these; however, it is important to identify the most important ones to you. Some values and beliefs are more cherished than others. What do you stand for?

2. Define your authentic personality and your passions. This is not what others think your personality is. It is not what you think you should be or have to fix. What makes your heart sing? How can you use that passion to create an avenue to better relate to others?

3. Define your unique talents and abilities. Everyone one of us has a unique blend of talents. It is your DNA. What can you do better than anyone else in your marketplace?

This is not a process to rush through. Take your time, deliberate. Check out each answer by questioning it thoroughly. You will know the process is done when you can articulate your answers to all of the questions above in one clear paragraph that says it all.

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Thursday, October 20, 2011

50 Top Luxury Real Estate Markets in the USA: Hawaii - Part 3 - Why Kauai?

Kauai - The Garden Island

Elvis was married here in Blue Hawaii. Speilberg filmed Jurassic Park here. The magnificent scenery of the Garden Island of Kauai has been the backdrop for countless other famous films including South Pacific, King Kong and even Avatar. We asked the top luxury real estate marketing professionals who live and work here what is most beautiful about their island. Invariably, they said that the scenery was breathtaking, but it is the people of Kauai and the strong sense of community they create together, that is the true beauty of the island.

kauai lead photo

To view the slide show of the magnificent homes in Kaui click here.

In addition to the lush surrounding of Kauai, another common thread that was conveyed by all was a savoring of the slower paced, authentic Hawaiian lifestyle. Sarah Bernston said, “When you cross the one lane bridge into the famous Hanalei Valley you can feel the shift in the slower relaxed way of life”. Barbara Sloan says, “Kauai is often referred to as the ‘friendliest place in America’. Even though there is very little traffic here, people will go out of their way to yield the right of way”.

Michael Schmidt shared what it is like to work in Paradise. Essentially, he explained that there is a seamless continuum between work and play, between communing with nature and being engaged in the community. “Kauai is conducive to discovering and maintaining your own balance”, he said.

Although, Wai’ale’ale area is known as the wettest spot on earth, with its average rainfall of over 450 inches, the perimeter of the Island along the coastline gets relatively little rain. Kauai has more sandy beaches than the other islands and there are many superb beachfront homes here. “This is an excellent time to purchase an oceanfront home”, says Jim Pycha. “Given all of the amenities of our island, there is incomparable value in Kaui”.

There is also a deep sense of value and genuine respect for the environment among the people of Kaui. Debra Blachowiak believes that, “it is all about the fresh water—water is the gold of the future. Just about anything can grow here which allows for a sustainable lifestyle”.

“The lush landscape on Kauai offers some, who prefer a more rural lifestyle, the perfect opportunity to realize their dreams”, according to Rick Shaw. But, if you seek a vibrant nightlife, you may need to take a 20 minute flight to Honolulu because “the sidewalks in town on Kauai roll up around 6pm”, Rick says. On Friday nights, however, “the Hanepepe Artist Walk is a popular attraction that features local artists, musicians, shopping and food booths”.

Broker/Owner, Scott Lindman, often visits his friends on the mainland, friends who live at a faster pace. “For them, owning a second home on Kauai offers a place to completely recharge”, he says. For Scott, business as usual on Kauai means, “scheduling regular “board meetings” with his agents and staff, surf boards, that is. Successful agent, Sean Ahearn, a transplant from Boston via the San Francisco Bay area, says he usually starts his day on his stand-up paddle board and is often joined by his “frients”, clients who become his friends.

Hanna Sirois, says, “Kauai is a restorative place where you can escape and take the time to exhale”. “Celebrities who live on Kauai are not fussed over”, says Neal Norman, “it is their opportunity to stay out of the limelight”

Kauai is a great place to raise a family, too. Kids get to go barefoot in grade school. Children are raised to be independent here, to “paddle their own canoe”, as Mark Tanaka puts it. He says, “It feels safe here. Neighbors throughout the island keep an eye out for your kids.”

Kauai may very well be the perfect blend of natural beauty, community and an authentic lifestyle. But, it is the appreciation of this splendor that is at the core of the Aloha Spirit. Yvonne Summerfield expressed it this way, “We feel extremely blessed to live on this beautiful Garden Isle. Ben Welborn came to Kauai as a youth on vacation with this parents, and has called Kauai his home ever since. He says, “I love this beautiful island and feel very grateful to live here. I am a Kauai Boy at heart”.

Photos Courtesy of the Agents & Brokers Interviewed

See: Part 1 (Oahu) and Part 2 (Big Island)

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Luxury Real Estate Marketing: The Inner Game of Market Leadership - Part 2

Here is success secret that you can apply not only to marketing luxury real estate, but to all aspects of life, as well. It is an essential pillar of what we call the inner game of market leadership.

There are two types of action: effortful action and inspired action. One is definitely more fun than the other. Inspired action just feels better. But, why is that so?

Effortful action is the result of a mindset that is riddled with self contradictions and/or self-doubt. You want to list a luxury home but, the sellers insist on an unrealistic sales price. You have the notion that there is a scarcity of potential listings and you take it against your better judgment. Then, to make it more palatable, you justify this choice by telling yourself that it is a trophy listing, that it will help you get more listings of this caliber and attract more buyers.

Every action that you take to market this home can potentially be effortful because of your internal contradictions. You say to yourself, “I just closed a deal on another house because I acquired a buyer who was originally interested in this over-priced listing, so it was worth it”. But, then you dread having to fight with the owners to lower the price.

It is entirely possible this is your M.O. (modus operandi) and you actually enjoy this listing game plan. For you, it is fun. But, if you are taking overpriced listings because you believe that there is a scarcity of business, this approach will be fraught with effort, even if you do not readily admit it (to yourself).

We once met a luxury real estate marketing team that had no less than ten over-priced homes listed. Suddenly, they were perceived as “players”, as potential challengers to the incumbent market leaders. Between themselves then knew that this perception was just temporary, that it had no foundation. They knew that these homes would not sell anywhere near the listing price. However, the bottom line with this team was that they were completely worn out mentally and physically.

Contrast this to a market leading client of ours who refuses to take on overpriced listings. He has built his reputation on accurately assessing home values and consistently beats out his competition because of it. But, that is what it looks like from the outside.

In his inner game, he knows that people like to do business with people like themselves. His ideal client is not the unrealistic seller, the one who needs to be flattered going into an overpriced listing and beaten down in price going out. By not wasting his time with these people he is able to attract more clients like him. Those clients appreciate his realistic price assessment and his willingness to walk away without the getting listing.

There is no effortful action required when you have an accurate price in an active market. That does not mean that proven negotiation skills are not required. Under these circumstances, negotiations are usually based on inspired actions making the transactions challenging at time but much more fun.

At times, it takes resolve to keep your self-doubts and scarcity mentality at bay. Maintaining an abundant mindset requires consistent focus, and that takes practice. But, the rewards of inspired action that flow from this state of mind, vs. effortful action are plentiful: pure joy, loving what you do, enhanced health and a grounded sense of well being. This is what it feels like to win the inner game of market leadership.

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Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Luxury Real Estate Marketing: The Inner Game of Market Leadership - Part 1

This is the beginning of a new article series for luxury real estate marketing professionals who have embraced the personal quest of gaining or sustaining market leadership. Here we cover the “inner game” of market leadership.

We have all heard or experienced firsthand that winning the game of golf or tennis, or sports in general, is more mental than physical. True, it is important to have the right physical attributes required to win. But, what matters most, the determining factor for beating a worthy opponent is mindset. In marketing luxury real estate anyone with the means can outspend their competition. But, out-thinking your opponent requires tremendous focus and momentum.

Cultivating and maintaining peak performance in business and in life involves having the right attitude which is the starting point of the inner game. It also requires the alignment of your thoughts and inspired (vs. effortful) action. A negative attitude diminishes your perspective. It is the indication that your thoughts are not aligned. Effortful action follows the misalignment of thought.

Your attitude is a reflection of your belief in yourself or lack thereof. If you do not believe you can become the market leader or if you believe that you cannot hold on to the leadership position that you have achieved it will taint every other thought you have about your luxury real estate practice.

The bottom line on gaining and sustaining market leadership comes down to sustaining the “I Can” belief overtime, without allowing the contradiction of that thought to have any power. Like the children’s story, “The Little Engine that Could”, it is a matter of creating a focused momentum of belief, “I think I can, I think I can, I think I can”. Then, you must notice and appreciate any and all evidence of progress that supports this belief, until you can say “I thought I could”, I thought I could, I thought I could”.

Again, the experience of achieving this state of mind necessitates total concentration. That is, ignoring those who may attempt to distract you, discourage you, or try to convince you that you are not worthy of success. Additionally, there is almost a magnetic pull that you must defy, a pull to conform to mediocrity, a pull to not change the status quo. But, once you break free of this “force field”, another magnetic force field draws you nearer to your goal. That is when momentum propels you faster with even less effort.

You are never too old to listen to the wisdom and optimism of that story about the momentum of belief in yourself. It is a key component in the inner game of market leadership.

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Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Personal & Company Branding: When You' re Hot, You' re Hot !

Photo by Wellesenterprises

When your’e hot your’e hot. When your’e not, your’e not! So is the the world of personal branding as a public figure. But, when you are not hot, how to you make a comeback? Your reputation is at the core of your brand value as a luxury real estate marketing professional. And, the importance of managing the perception of your personal brand in the minds of your target market cannot be underestimated. The story of Tiger Woods is a case in point.

Rolex, the Swiss watch company just signed Tiger as its newest brand ambassador. It has been two years since his public relations debacle occurred, a fiasco that cost him dearly in terms of lucrative company endorsements. Most of his sponsors dropped Tiger or did not renew his endorsement contracts. But, with a well crafted co-branded marketing message, “Partnership for a New Challenge”, Rolex has committed to help him redeem his well deserved reputation as one of the greatest athletes in the world.

This story illustrates just how much is at stake when it comes to public opinion and how much the media can amplify your reputation. The same media that helped to build Wood’s reputation tore him down. It will be also be instrumental in building him right back up again. But, what is behind the story is even more important.

People are very quick to judge others. Often, those who have the most secrets to hide are the ones who are the most critical of public figures. But, what about the inner conflicts that Tiger Woods has had to deal with? The opportunity for personal transformation under intense, self-induced circumstances like Mr. Woods created for himself, can be nothing short of life changing and life giving.

No one can truly put themselves in Tiger Woods’ golf shoes. He was famous beginning at a very young age. Could it be that he needed to deconstruct his life, a life that may have been built to a large extent on admiration from others? We need to be less critical and more allowing of others, giving them the room to find themselves, to reinvent themselves.

Branding can be a mental shortcut. We get lazy and forget to give people and companies a fresh chance to demonstrate who they are today, each day. What does it say about Rolex, who was willing to stake its international reputation on giving Tiger Woods a fresh start as a partner in a new challenge?

As a luxury real estate marketing professional, your reputation is built with each transaction you complete. Your personal brand is not only your trademark it is your “trust mark”.

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Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Personal & Company Branding: A Surefire Way to Challenge the Market Leader

As a luxury real estate marketing professional, what is a surefire way to to challenge the entrenched, incumbent market leader in your marketplace or niche therein? This is a similar question that countless international tech companies have been asking as they attempt to challenge Apple in the category of tablet computers.

iPad owns 70% of the tablet market in the USA. Many companies have tried to challenge Apple in this arena. Yet, only one company is poised to make a dent in Apple’s market share. That company is Amazon who recently launched their line of Kindle Fire tablets.

The best brand strategy for a challenger is to sharply position your product or service (in the case of luxury real estate marketing) as the opposite of number one. This gives consumers a viable alternative to the market leader and summarily dismisses the rest of field of competitors. That is exactly what Amazon is attempting to accomplish.

As the world’s greatest online retailer Amazon understood something that has eluded most other tablet manufacturers: So far it is consumers, more so than businesses who are using these devices and they are using them to consume apps and media (books, magazines, movies, TV shows and games). Tablets are predominantly virtual vending machines!

In addition to Amazon’s strength as a retailer, they also provide out-sourced, cloud-based web services on their very powerful servers. Netflix, for example, uses Amazon’s web services to run their website. Leveraging this capability for their new Kindle Fire, they were able to bring down the cost of manufacturing their tablets to less than half of ALL of their competition.

In fact, Amazon is able to sell their Kindle Fire line at a slight loss because they are able to make up the difference many times over with the sale of apps and media. Equally important is the fact that all of the media that you purchase from Amazon is stored on their servers (i.e., in the cloud) not on the hard drive on your Kindle which is another cost saver in manufacturing.

By lowering the price to a point where other tablet manufactures cannot compete, those who do not have their own app and media stores, they have potentially catapulted themselves to the number two position. Amazon has also framed the choice for consumers as a two company contest between the iPad, with premium features, and the more basic Kindle Fire tablet, simply based on on price.

Both Apple and Amazon have a tremendous competitive advantage over the rest of the tablet manufacturers. They both understand that once you store your apps and media in their cloud, your likelihood of switching clouds is minimal. It is just is too much trouble to switch for most consumers.

Finally, Amazon’s other strength is their worldwide customer base. The Kindle Fire has come out just in time to gain major sales traction during the 2011 Holiday season.

Amazon has even changed the game for Google who supplies the Android operating system to most manufacturers of tablets including the Kindle Fire. Google has a strong potential customer base, they have cloud based services, and they have an app store. But, they are not strong in media sales and they do not yet have their own tablet device.

Other potential iPad challengers have their own operation system. But, Microsoft, who has a cloud based service (Office 365) and Research in Motion, who is spending $100M to purchase a cloud based web service company, are simply late to the party. Neither have an substantial app or media store.

The moral of this story, for luxury real estate marketing professionals, is twofold:

  1. The best way to gain and sustain market leadership is to identify an uncontested or under served market niche that you can serve,with passion and better than anyone else in the world (your marketplace), by adding extraordinary value. That is what Apple did with the iPad.
  2. Here is a surefire way to challenge the incumbent market leader: First assess your strengths and your competitor’s vulnerabilities. Then, take aim at that the weakest vulnerability with full force and concentration. Position yourself as the opposite of market leader to create an either/or choice for the consumer. That is what Amazon did by focusing on price.

We are not recommending that cutting your commission is the way to challenge the market leader as a luxury real estate marketing professional. Market leaders in real estate often get complacent and have plenty of other vulnerabilities. The key to challenging the entrenched incumbent is to create a truly viable alternative that positions you firmly as the number two choice and summarily renders the others a distant number three at best.

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Thursday, October 6, 2011

Steve Jobs:The Unabashed Pursuit of Market Leadership

Photo Courtesy of Apple

Steve Jobs exemplified the power of visionary leadership. He brought Apple from the brink of bankruptcy to the pinnacle of success, the leading technology company in the world. No one in the realm of business has personified our favorite motto better than Steve: ‘The Unabashed Pursuit of Market Leadership”. As much as Apple has become an icon of the best of America in the minds of people the world over, Steve Jobs will be remembered as the greatest iconoclast of business for generations to come. He challenged conventional wisdom and traditional beliefs, and shattered the very foundations upon which traditions and institutions rest.

It was Steve who envisioned the “post PC era” that began with the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad, products that changed the game for entire industries. He turned the tables on many entrenched, incumbent market leaders. Suddenly, companies such as Microsoft, HP, Nokia, and RIM (Blackberry) lost their footing and became the challengers as Apple seized the lead.

The day before Steve’s passing, Apple launched iPhone 4S and iCloud that allows you to backup and synchronize all of your digital content on all of your devices. Even though there were over 200 new software features in the new phone, including Siri that lets you interface with your phone with voice commands, the media was underwhelmed. Perhaps it was because Steve did not deliver the message. But, many missed the significance of the extremely important message itself, Steve’s message about the post PC era.

What characterizes the post PC era apart from the new computing devices is the “cloud” which is remote computer servers. No longer is it necessary for your personal computer to house all of your software (apps), your photos or the documents that you regularly use. No longer is it necessary for your mobile devices to store your music library, your books or your videos. Access to apps and digital media can all take place in the cloud instead of on your computing devices. The big question of the post PC era is this: “On whose cloud will your stuff reside”. And, Steve wanted your cloud to be Apple.

The cloud completely changes the economics of the digital age. It brings down the costs of manufacturing devices and turns your devices into vending machines and even wallets. Without an app store, a music store, a book and magazine store and a movie and TV store, the profit margins on the sale of actual devices are quite slim due to fierce international competition.

Steve Jobs predicted that the economic driver of the post PC era would equate to this: the amount of revenue from store purchases (apps and media) per device. He knew that sales would be predominantly driven by consumers vs. enterprises as they consume more media than business software on mobile devices. He understood the importance of superlative customer service. He was a contrarian when it came to opening retail stores where consumer could interact with the products and ask any question without feeling ignorant.

He also recognized the importance of providing the full spectrum of hardware, software, customer service and stores. Only Apple has the entire package. But, most significant of all, in terms of insuring the future of Apple is the seamless integration and synchronization of all devices via iCloud, which is given away for free. Jobs understood that once you stored your documents and media in your Apple “locker,” and you could access it effortlessly, instantly and simultaneously from any of your devices, it would be too much of a hassle to switch clouds, i.e., switch brands.

As a result, Steve Jobs’ visionary leadership at Apple will be felt for years to come. He made sure of that. But, for millions of us Steve Jobs the man, the iconoclast, will always represent the spirit questioning conventional wisdom, following your heart and trusting your instincts. Thank you, Steve for encouraging us to relentlessly and unabashedly pursue market leadership.

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Luxury Real Estate Marketing: The 3 Symptoms of a Brand Identity Crisis - Part 2

Here are the 3 symptoms of a brand identity crisis. If you are experiencing any of these symptoms as a luxury real estate marketing professional it might be happening to you!

  1. You cannot define precisely how you are different and better than your competition.You cannot instantly communicate your extraordinary promise of value to your ideal clients. Your market share is eroding.
  2. “Market Leader Envy”. You feel jealous of the market leader.
  3. The "Copycat Syndrome". You feeling the only answer is to copy the market leader

These symptoms do not mean that there is anything wrong with you. They just indicate that it may be time to re-examine, rethink and re-formulate the way you are doing business. It means that you need to tune into your authentic brand signal, re-align your entire business model to that signal and then stay on signal.

To illustrate just how much is at stake in re-claiming your brand signal, here are some examples of major international companies that are currently experiencing a crisis in identity, companies who have previously dominated their marketplace as market leaders.

When Apple came out with the game changing iPad they introduced an entirely new category of mobile computing that people love. The tablet was born and an epidemic of “market leader envy” ensued among Apple’s competitors.

Rushing to market with copy-cat models has proven fruitless. For example, Samsung has faced one injunction after another in world markets as Apple has successfully argued that its patents have been infringed upon by the Korean company’s Galaxy tablet.

Research in Motion (manufacturers of Blackberry), the company that once enjoyed close to 50% of the smart phone market is also in identity crisis mode. An internal tug-of-war among top management has been raging over whether RIM’s primary target market is governments and corporations or consumers. Sales for their Playbook tablet have been extremely disappointing.

Although, there are many excellent uses for tablets in business and in government it appears that this device is primarily consumer driven as most people are using it to consume media such as books, magazines, music, videos, and games. Studies by Forrester has indicated that the conversion rate for purchasing all retail items (vs. just window shopping) are higher on tablets than on PCs now.

Countless companies are trying to take on the iPad that now “owns” 80% market share of all tablets sold in the US. Changing the physical features of the device itself as a means of differentiating their product from the iPad has also proven to be a dead end. Competing on features alone is futile. It does not get to the core of the problem.

HP’s failure with its Touchpad is another case in point. Tablets are not just another category of computers. They are vending machines for media and apps! HP understood this principle when they realized that the real profit from printers was not in the physical apparatus but in the recurring income stream of selling ink. This drove the price of printers down sharply creating very thin profit margins on the devices themselves. Apparently, HP did not take this into account when they embarked on manufacturing tablets devices.

The price of ignoring the symptoms of an identity crisis is considerable. Instead of reacting to the symptom of market leader envy by scrambling to manufacture copycat versions of tablets, a move that took these companies off their brand signal, they needed to heed the wakeup call in another way. That is to take the time to re-assess their strengths, to re-think their business model and determine the best new direction for their company.

Recently, HP jettisoned the Touchpad all together once they realized it was not on their brand signal. Today, they are going through a re-assessment, re-organization and re-branding process by heading more in the direction becoming a provider of services vs. a manufacturer of computers and printers. Xerox successfully went through a similar evolution.

Without the entire package of the physical device, the operating systems (e.g., Android) PLUS the app store and the media store the chances of competing with Apple's iPad are slim to none. This complete set of elements is not in the nature, the DNA, the identity, the authentic brand signal of these other manufactures. It is quite a stretch to morph into such a company in time to complete with the iPad effectively on all these fronts. Is there any wonder why these iPad challengers are having an identity crisis?

Only one company so far has figured out how to take on Apple in the tablet category and is equipped with the full package of required elements, the DNA to do so successfully. That company is Amazon, who just launched their Kindle Fire tablet line. Amazon clearly knows its authentic brand signal and it has not deviated from that signal with this new product launch. Amazon is a consumer driven business and they have leveraged their tremendous strengths in this arena to give Apple’s iPad a run for its money.

The story of Amazon's Fire is very exciting! We will be covering it soon! If you are thinking of challenging a dominent market leader in your luxury real estate marketing practice you first need to get over any and all symptoms of having an identity crisis. Cast away all feelings of market leader envy and any impulse to become a copy cat. Take the time to define and artiulate your own unique promise of value. Tune into your authentic brand signal and stay on signal.

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Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Luxury Real Estate Marketing: 3 Symptoms of a Brand Identity Crisis - Part 1

Two timeless quotes apply not only in your personal life but also in your business life as a luxury real estate marketing professional: “Know thy self” and “This above all: to thine own self be true”. In fact, these wise quotes are at the the core of understanding successful personal and company branding. We say, “Know your authentic brand signal” and “Stay on-signal”. In this article series we cover the three most common symptoms that indicate you may be having a brand identity crisis and you need to bet back on your brand signal.

In the context of gaining and sustaining market leadership it is essential to know and then succinctly communicate your brand identity to your target market so they can instantly grasp how you are distinct from your competition. How else can you expect others to spread the good word about you if you do not give them a clear and concise message about who you are and how you are different?

Here is the #1 symptom that lets you know that you are suffering from a brand identity crisis: You are unable to define and instantly articulate your extraordinary promise of value to your ideal clients.

Saying you are honest, ethical, hard working and that you know your market well are not differentiators. They are the simply price of admission in the realm of market leadership.

If you want to remedy this condition it must become your number one priority to rediscover your authentic brand signal. That is why the first step in the personal and company branding process is one of self discovery. Even if you think you already know yourself well it is equally important to validate and confirm what you know implicitly but have been ignoring to some extent.

Only by clarifying your strengths, your values, your priorities, your passions, your distinct personality traits, your aesthetic tastes and your graphic preferences, can you distill all of this and express it explicitly to others through your personal or company brand.

There are two more symptoms of the brand identity crisis that we cover in the next part of this article series. Symptom #2 is what we call "market leader envy". Symptom #3 is the "copycat syndrome", where you think the only remedy for your brand identity crisis is imitating the market leader. All three symptoms are warning signals. They indicate that you are off your authentic brand signal and it is it time to dial back in.

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