If you are already a successful real
estate professional in your marketplace and would like to break into the
luxury end of the business heed this warning. Do not fall into the
trap of thinking that your current personal or company brand will work
to your advantage because it is already well known and well thought of.
You most likely will need a separate
luxury real estate brand because your current brand is identified with a
different pricing tier in the minds of your target market. This is not
about snobbery. It is about one of the most perilous challenges of
branding for any type of business large or small: brand extension.
Here is an example of a brand extension misstep made by one of the biggest brands in the world: General Electric.
Recently, we began forwarding our
business landline to our iPhone. For me, (Ron here), finding the right
headset was quite a challenge. I tried the two best blue tooth models
on the market. In each case I got feedback from friends and clients who
said I sounded like I was in an echo chamber and my voice broke up in
far too many calls.
I went to Staples and tried the leading
brands for over the head models with volume control, which worked fine,
on my landline, but not with an adapter for the iPhone.The General
Electric model had all of the features that I needed without an adapter.
But, I completely dismissed G (general) E as an iPhone headset brand over the leading brands in this category that specialize just in telephony accessories: Plantronics and Jabra.
What does GE stand for in your mind:
Appliances, Aviation, Consumer Products, Customer Training, Electrical
Distribution, Energy, Finance, Healthcare, Lighting Oil & Gas, Rail,
or Software & Services?
Had GE come up with a cool brand name
for this category of their business, the brand extension would have been
far more successful. I certainly would have discovered it immediately
and at least tried it. It was only after the others did not work for my
needs that I finally tried GE, which works just fine.
Like GE you could use your current brand
name when you extend your brand into the luxury realm. But, your speed
of success will be much slower. You or your company may be the best
choice. But, you will not be readily identified with your new category
of business with your current brand name. Think of the pace of brand
acceptance that Toyota would have faced if they did not use the brand
name Lexus for their luxury model. The same applies to Accura, which is
the luxury car brand of Honda.
Toyota and Honda are both outstanding
brands in their price category. But, these brands are very strongly
identified with that category. You just need a new brand name that
works for your new business category as a luxury real estate marketing
professional.
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