The Language of Luxury: Luxury Real Estate Branding: How to Grow Your Brand Equity

If you think that creating your personal brand is not all that important, think again. Brand equity is a term that describes the financial value of a brand, the value that it contributes to the bottom line profit of a business. Brand equity in your luxury real estate marketing practice is the added value in revenue that your brand generates based on the degree to which you achieve top-of-mind status among potential referral sources. The best way to grow brand equity and achieve top-of-mind status is to “own” or dominate a specific category or niche within your luxury marketplace.

Is the taste of Coca Cola, the formula of ingredients added to sugar-sweetened sparkling water, really that much better and more valuable than Pepsi or other colas? The brand value of Coke is in the top-of-mind status that Coke enjoys among consumers. According to Business Week’s 2009 Top 100 Global Brands, Coca Cola is number one most highly valued brand in the world.

“Owning” an idea or category of goods or services, like the sub-category of ‘colas’ in the broader category of soft drinks, is the ultimate aim of branding. Toyota is #8 on the list with the greatest brand value of all global car manufacturers. When you think of Toyota what idea comes to mind? Toyota owns the word “reliable”. A Toyota is a reliable, moderately priced car.

Toyota is not a luxury car. But, did you know that Lexus, #96 on the list, is made by Toyota? They have done a masterful job of building separate sub-brands that are sharply focused on specific car categories and then dominating those niches. Other Toyota brands (not on the list) are the Prius which is the “proven leader in Hybrid technology”, and the Scion, a winner in the youth category.

What idea or category of car does #49 Ford own? In contrast to Toyota, the Ford brand is on so many models and categories of cars that it has diluted its brand equity. Ford does outsell all other truck manufactures in the US by a considerable margin and therefore, owns this category.

Pick a category within your luxury real estate marketplace that you would like to own. Build your brand around this niche. Then, watch your brand equity grow!

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