Staying On The Leading Edge of Luxury

Apple store on 5th Avenue in New York. Photo by© Phakimata

It is tempting to dilute your position as a leader in luxury real estate marketing by taking on whatever properties come your way in various price ranges.  The temptation comes either from greed, fearing that you will miss out on other opportunities, or from losing confidence that your chosen niche has the capacity to fulfill your financial goals.

A great case in point is the reversal of fortunes of Samsung in the smartphone market.  After an outright assault on Apple, Samsung surpassed Apple in overall smartphone sales. Their tactic was to create phones in all price ranges and go for sheer volume.

Apple stayed focused on the top-tier where the margins are high and regained supremacy after selling over 75 million phones in their last quarter.  A significant percentage of 2014 sales were in China where competition for lower price range phones is fierce and margins are slim.

Last year Apple unseated all of the iconic European luxury fashion and jewelry brands as the number one luxury brand in China. With the Apple Watch soon to launch, Senior VP of Design, Jony Ive, and the new head of retail, Angela Ahrendts (who was credited for turning around luxury retailer Burberrys) are in the process of revamping the design of its stores. Apple is doubling down on luxury to strengthen its dominance in this arena.

Continuously refining your marketing message and luxury real estate brand esthetics is an important part of staying on the leading edge. It is essential if you want to stay ahead of your competition in the long run.

Written by Ron & Alexandra Seigel- 
ABOUT:  Napa Consultants, International is the leader in brand strategy for the luxury real estate industry.  They work exclusively with professionals who are passionate about gaining or sustaining market leadership. With an expertise in personal branding, company branding, luxury real estate website design and social media marketing they help their clients become the breakaway brand in their marketplace

Luxury Real Estate Brand Colors: Part 1 - Some Like it Hot!

                      

Using color effectively in luxury real estate branding can help to make you stand out from the crowd.  Your brand colors can speak volumes about who you are and how you are distinct from your competition.  In this article series we delve into some of the nuances of brand colors and how to integrate them into your brand story. 

Some people love the hot or warm colors: red, orange, yellow, magenta and gold.  Others prefer cold or cool colors: blues, greens, white, grays silver.  

This image of sweet peppers, taken at the Santa Barbara Farmer’s Market, focuses upon hot colors.  But, notice that there are several cool colors that offset the hot colors.  This contrast makes it easier on the eyes to view an image for a longer period of time.  

If your luxury real estate brand colors are going to include both hot and cold colors, one of the important principals to keep in mind is using the right proportions of hot and cold colors. 

The color swatches below are actually samples of hot and cold colors taken from the same image of the peppers.  Can you see how important proportion of hot and cold colors are to a composition?

 Written by Ron & Alexandra Seigel-
ABOUT:  Napa Consultants, International is the leader in brand strategy for the luxury real estate industry.  They work exclusively with professionals who are passionate about gaining or sustaining market leadership. With an expertise in personal branding, company branding, luxury real estate website design and social media marketing they help their clients become the breakaway brand in their marketplace.

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How to Find Your Market Niche: Focus Your Internet Energy,Clue #2

Last week, we wanted to purchase another Meyer lemon tree  (thin fragrant skinned lemons that are less acidic) for our deck.  We looked on line hoping to find a nursery in Santa Barbara. We were utterly surprised that not a single grower or nursery in Santa Barbara came up for a Meyer lemon tree. We made an assumption based on the fact that since California is the second biggest citrus producer after Florida, we would find a Meyer lemon tree on line from California.

Our search revealed two growers, one based in South Carolina, and the other in Georgia.  The search did not even show nurseries in Santa Barbara carrying Meyer Lemon trees.  For all practical purposes, one could conclude that Santa Barbara does not stock Meyer lemon trees, which is not true.  The only reason we looked on line is because two of the local nurseries had  sub par Meyer trees , and like everyone else we were hoping to save ourselves time on line.

The Eastern based nurseries identified an under served market niche in Southern California.   We were stunned. If someone is pressed for time and does not want to wander through nurseries, they can easily order a tree on line and have it arrive at their home with free shipping.  It fulfills an important need of saving time, and both of these companies who are located back East are benefiting from this uncontested market niche.

Clue #2. Realize that searches are specific, so question your assumptions.  Check on line how homes are advertised in your marketplace.  What characteristics of homes are missing that a buyer would be looking for, that is so obvious no one had mentioned it?

Written by Ron & Alexandra Seigel-
 ABOUT:  Napa Consultants, International is the leader in brand strategy for the luxury real estate industry.  They work exclusively with professionals who are passionate about gaining or sustaining market leadership. With an expertise in personal branding, company branding, luxury real estate website design and social media marketing they help their clients become the breakaway brand in their marketplace.

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 Buzz-Worthy Luxury Real Estate Websites  

Personal Branding Case Studies   Company Branding Case Studies  

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Luxury Brand Strategy: How to Find out What Google Knows About You

The privacy debate rages on.  In yesterday’s a Wall Street Journal article, titled, Google’s Data-Trove Dance Internal Debates Over Using Collected Information and Protecting Privacy, journalist Amir Efraty notes,

“The breadth of Google's information gathering about Internet users rivals that of any single entity, government or corporate. The Web search and advertising giant continues to expand its collection and analysis of data, turning its mission to index the world, its people and their interests into a roughly $50 billion-a-year advertising business”. 

Here is how you can you find out, what Google knows about you.  Thanks to Tom Gara, WSJ journalist whose Google data graphic accompanies the above mentioned article, wrote, My Life, and Past, as Seen through Google’s Dashboard, here are the instructions: Go to Google.com and search for “Google Dashboard”.  You enter your password, and   view all the data about you.  Google gives you the option to turn the collection off, and delete archived data. 

We recommend that you read the article, as Mr. Gara has both a negative and positive spin on this.  The negative is digital blackmail and identity theft if anyone has your password, and the positive, “Our online histories, in the long run, could become one of our most cherished memories. In 20 years time they will paint a picture of our past more detailed than anything our brains are capable of.”

Enjoy your journey through your archives.

Written by Ron & Alexandra Seigel-

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Luxury Brand Strategy: Is Privacy the New Luxury Expenditure? Part 3

MEERKAT SURVEILLANCE TEAM

Personal privacy on the Internet is one of the most important topics in current events today.   Is privacy truly the new luxury expenditure?  Would you pay for a subscription to Google or the social media platforms if your privacy was guaranteed, and all ads were on an opt-in basis? Or would you hire a pair of meerkats?

The Snowden affair is an indication of the state of privacy on the Internet.  “Snowden was an employee and technical contractor for the United States National Security Agency, and a former employee of the Central Intelligence who leaked details of several top-secret United States and British government mass surveillance programs to the press.” (Wikipedia)  This surveillance included information obtained from Google, Verizon, Facebook, Yahoo, Amazon, and Microsoft.

His disclosures have fueled a variety of debates branding him a hero/whistleblower or a traitor.  His stand is “to inform the public as to that which is done in their name (the war on terror) and that which is done against them”(the 4^th amendment).

Here is the excerpt from the Bill of Rights, and is known as the 4^th amendment.

“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”

In an article in the Guardian, a British newspaper, John Naughton (a newspaper columnist) writes in an editorial piece, that the media is telling the wrong story: “the story here is where the proper balance between freedom and security lies”.   The most important outcome of this he feels is that the days of the Internet as a truly open global network are numbered if governments can demand wholesale information on its citizens activities.  And, how do you divide the Internet and which country is watching what and whom?

In conclusion, Mr. Naughton quotes Neelie Kroes, vice president of the European commission, "If businesses or governments think they might be spied on," she said, "they will have less reason to trust the cloud, and it will be cloud providers who ultimately miss out. Why would you pay someone else to hold your commercial or other secrets, if you suspect or know they are being shared against your wishes? Front or back door – it doesn't matter – any smart person doesn't want the information shared at all. Customers will act rationally and providers will miss out on a great opportunity."

What do you think?

Written by Ron & Alexandra Seigel-

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Luxury Brand Strategy: Is Privacy the New Luxury Expenditure? Part 2

Mining Your Personal Data

In Part 1, we discussed the effects of digital footprints or tattoos, and the impact of “free” usage of social media.  Here is the latest way to mine your data by Facebook.

As companies are reporting earnings for the last quarter, it is important to note that Facebook’s earnings have improved because companies are willing to spend money advertising on the social network.  Facebook has recently expanded its mobile ad strategies by spending time with its potential ad buyers and listening to what they need and want. 

The facts are that marketing budgets are eager to participate in mobile ads, because so many are connected to their mobile devices.  Facebook by virtue of its numbers is the logical place for these ads.   Com.score reports   “American consumers spent 225.4 billion minutes on Facebook mobile app and mobile Web pages in the second quarter, about double from a year ago.”

According to the Wall Street Journal, “What advertisers particularly like about Facebook mobile is to advertise on the news feed-the spot on member’s pages where they post their own news and read what their friends are posting.  The ads, with colorful photos are hard to miss, right in the middle of the scroll of updates.”  This fall they are planning to enhance this feature with video advertising.

How does that affect the average consumer?  Facebook has teamed up with Datalogix,  “which identifies people who have been exposed to an ad on Facebook and then mines credit-card and retailer purchase data to determine whether those people bought the product.” Wall Street Journal

What do you think of this practice?

Written by Ron & Alexandra Seigel-

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Luxury Brand Strategy: Is Privacy the New Luxury Expenditure?

This question was posed at the e-luxe conference in Paris.  What many of us don’t realize is that every time we interact in a digital environment such as: TV, mobile phone, the World Wide Web, and social media, we create a digital footprint (some have dubbed it a digital tattoo). Wikipedia defines it as “the size of a person’s ‘online presence’ measured by the number of individuals with whom they interact.”

When social media came on the scene, many rushed to make and interact with as many friends as possible without discriminating as to whom they were associating with.  The theory was: it is free, and perhaps something will come of it, the more, the merrier!  Fast forward to 2013, we are all realizing, that we may have given too much information in return for “free”.

In an article written by Jeffrey Lambert, titled, How to Erase Your Digital Footprint,

Mr. Lambert says, “Like stepping in wet concrete, these trails we unwittingly leave behind can be tough to erase. With the rise of identity theft, corporate tracking, and the ability of “Big Brother” to access our private data, it is more important than ever for Internet users to be aware of how past and future data can be erased and controlled more effectively.”

One of the recommendations he gives to understanding your digital footprints are several tools, when added to your computer will monitor what Google gathers in terms of data to allow them to search and target advertising. 

“Download the free software offering Google Alarm, created by F.A.T. Labs, which is available for both Firefox and Chrome browsers. This add-on will notify you each time you are sending data to Google. Just make sure you disable the sound option for this. I jumped out of my chair the first time the (very loud) alarm went off, and kept going off almost every time I visited a new site.  Unless you have a serious love for air horns or are trying to induce a heart attack don’t forget to do this!”

Go ahead and read this article for additional suggestions for monitoring your privacy.  In the end the most expedient and time saving procedure may be paying someone to switching your concrete prints for some cloud light slippers.

Written by Ron & Alexandra Seigel-

  

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The Luxury of Freedom: New Rage or Outrage?

We had been noticing this “ecoATM” machine at the Thousand Oaks Mall for many months. We still had an old phone from the days of yore (prior to the arrival of the smartphones) and liked the idea of recycling it.  So, yesterday, we made a point of taking the phone with us in order to recycle it, using this self-service kiosk.

The business model of the “ecoATM” is to give you cash for recycling phones and simultaneously to contribute a part of their proceeds to charitable foundations such as Make-A-Wish-Foundation.  This all resonated with our point of view as we very much support efforts to create a greener America and this particular charity. 

One customer review said, “Broken iPhone laying around? You have to check out these machines.  Got back $100 for a cracked iPhone 4!”  We thought, “why not pay for lunch by recycling our old phone?”

Here is WHY NOT:

When we discovered that the machine asks to scan your personal photo ID, take a photo of you in front of the kiosk (to compare using facial recognition software, no doubt) and requires a thumbprint on top of all that, our jaws dropped!  Certainly there is justification for this, i.e., to make sure they are not collecting a stolen phone.  But, this really got our blood boiling with outrage. Never have we seen a red flag waved in our face so blatantly for the potential of identity theft or a breach of privacy.

We asked the Mall security guard, his thoughts on this.  He said “they are a reputable company”. And, we know this to be true.   However, just a couple of days before, Apple’s app developer site was hacked.  They were able to quickly contain the damage.  But, what level of assurances can this vending machine company make that this will not happen, here?

The question of privacy on the Internet, on social media and Internet connected devices must be examined by each of us.  There are some that say, “Privacy is for old people”.  Perhaps, these people also believe that the luxury of personal freedom is just an old fashioned notion, too.   Or, have they not yet connected the two concepts?

When personal freedom gets severely eroded will the pendulum swing?  Will personal freedom then become the new rage?  New rage or outrage, the choice is yours?

What do you think?

P.S.  We took our old phone into the Apple store located a few doors down from the kiosk and they gladly recycled it for free.  The YOUNG Apple staffers also were outraged when we told our story. They had no idea what that machine did.  And, we happily paid for our lunch, which was a drop in the ocean compared to the price of our personal freedom.

Written by Ron & Alexandra Seigel-

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Luxury Brand Strategy: No More Naked Popcorn

“Small Indulgences” is an important product and service area of luxury brand strategy and marketing.  It does not mean that the item has to cost a lot. The cosmetic industry thrives on this principle of small indulgences. Starbucks built a global empire on it. 

Not long ago, a college student from Chicago made it big by identifying an uncontested small indulgence market niche. He dominates a product category that he himself defined and is passionate about. Meet Brian Taylor, CEO of Kernel Season’s the popcorn seasoning company.  

Brian has a mission:  To rid the world of naked popcorn.  He started out by getting a local movie theatre to test-market his products for free.  This grew into a multi million-dollar business based on Brian’s love for popcorn and his curiosity about seasoning it. Now you can find Kernel Season’s (cleverly similarity to Colonel Sanders of KFC chicken fame) in the popcorn isle of most supermarkets. 

The brand name itself tells you what the brand is. It even has an avatar like the Colonel.  The slogan, “No More Naked Popcorn”, tells you, in just four words, exactly what the brand stands for.  

There is no mistaking what this new product category is or in which larger category this niche belongs. It is also intuitive where you would find the products in your local market-right next to the popcorn. 

Type in the search term, “popcorn seasoning”, in Google and this brand will come up first. But, not because of brilliant SEO work. There just is not much competition in this field.  That is the beauty of identifying an underserved or uncontested market niche as a luxury brand strategy.

Written by Ron & Alexandra Seigel-

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