Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Luxury Real Estate Personal & Company Branding: The "Hailo" Effect

Luxury real estate marketing professionals often ask us about the importance of selecting the right brand name.  It really comes down to how fast and easy you want to make it for your potential referral sources to remember your name, because top-of-mind status IS the name of the referral game. 

In marketing luxury real estate, previous conventional wisdom focused primarily on your “sphere of influence”, those people who know you directly and think highly of you.  But, with the advent of the Internet and social media the very concept of your sphere can change radically.

The fundamentals of staying in touch with your immediate sphere still apply.  But, now there is a potential to have a continuously expanding  “peripheral sphere of influence” comprised of people you have never met!  And, the aggregate of that sphere can literally become a significant source of referrals. 

Here is an example:  A couple comes to your town on vacation, has a great time and is inspired to purchase a second home in your marketplace. They ask a local, a stranger, “Who is the best real estate agent or broker in the area? Now, if you can get your name to come up first for that local person, even if that person is not in the market to buy or sell their home right now, that person is in your peripheral sphere of influence. 

Don’t you think it is important to make it easy for that person to remember your name, first? 
Some of the best brand names are those that you hear once or see once and never forget.  Here is an example of one of those great brand names: HAILO, the taxi app or iPhones and Androids.  This name may be more significant for those of you who live in a major city and frequently use taxis for transportation.  But, once you have heard about it once you are very unlikely to forget it.  

With just a couple of taps of your phone you hail a cap and it tells you what your wait time will be.  No more flailing arms to summon a cab!  Then, as soon as you step out of the cap at your destination, it sends you a receipt, because your credit cards are on file for immediate payment with the app.  The service is available in New York, London, Tokyo, Chicago and five other cities so far. 

Graphically, the logo is very simple. HAIL on one line, O just below. Black letters with “yellow cab” yellow background. It is a better way to hail a cab in just one word. 

There are many tried-and-true principles and approaches that can be applied in crafting a great brand name. Selecting the right approach for your luxury real estate practice or your company in your marketplace is the key.  It must fit the essence of who you are.  And, it must help you differentiate you from your competition. 
Is it worth taking the time to make the right brand name choice? It is if you want to capitalize on and expand your peripheral sphere of influence.
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