Luxury Real Estate Branding: Maintaining Your Sterling Reputation

Managing your personal or company luxury brand, that is, managing how you are perceived by your target market over time, is mission critical. You can certainly elevate your game as a luxury real estate marketing professional by studying how the market leaders in luxury consumer brands manage or mismanage their brands. The Art of Shaving is one luxury brand that has recently made a major branding mistake, in our opinion, and has tarnished their otherwise sterling reputation.

When you think of men’s shaving, what it the first brand of disposable razor that comes to mind? Gillette is by far the market leader in this category. Their most expensive, top of the line model, the Fusion, has five blades in a single cartridge and promises the smoothest possible shave. Top of the Gillette line of disposable razors will never constitute a luxury brand because Gillette is not perceived as a luxury brand.

The Lexus is perceived as a luxury brand on par with Mercedes Benz and BMW in the minds of many consumers. Did you know that Lexus is made by Toyota? They did not call their top of the line car the “Toyota Lexus”. Instead they created a separate brand name for this relatively expensive luxury car.

Recently, we were strolling through Century City Shopping Center in Los Angeles. There we found a store called the Art of Shaving. The Art of Shaving products are the best selling men’s brand in upscale department stores. It is clearly a luxury brand based on its extensive product line including a sterling silver razor and shaving soap brush that sell for hundreds of dollars.

We were stunned to see a huge photo of the Gillette Fusion in their store window. Why were they diluting this luxury brand by aligning with Gillette? Later in Nordstroms, here in Santa Barbara, we noticed that a new package of the Art of Shaving products had a Fusion razor right on the outside of the box. You could not see the other products in the box. What were they thinking? This completely reduced the Art of Shaving to the level of a non-exclusive brand. You can buy the Fusion along with the entire Gillette line of cheaper razors in any discount drug store.

With some research we discovered that Proctor & Gamble purchased both Gillette and The Art of Shaving. The intent was obviously to use The Art of Shaving to create a perception of “class” for the razor. Instead, The Art of Shaving was rendered déclassé--reduced to having a lower class in the minds of its target market.

Managing your personal or company brand is primarily about managing perception in the realm of luxury real estate marketing. If you also want to sell properties in the lower price range you may want to consider creating a separate sub-brand so that you do not confuse your target market in both categories.

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Luxury Real Estate Marketing Tip: Luxury is a Pink Jellyfish

It is truly important, as a luxury real estate marketing professional to examine and re-examine the meaning of luxury itself. Like beauty, luxury is in the eyes of the beholder. What we so often take for granted is the abundance of free experiences available to us, especially via the internet, experiences that are true luxuries. The wealth of free information that is literally at our fingertips is astonishing.

For example, some many consider it a luxury to visit the Monterey Bay Aquarium in Monterey Bay, California. The cost is $29.95 for adults and 17.95 for children (3-18). Students get a slight discount. Of course, there is the cost of getting there, if you do not live close by.

But, you can “visit” the aquarium for free via several live web cams (cameras) whenever you wish. There is a kelp cam, a penguin cam, an outer cam and a wading bird cam that features pink flamingos. Did you know that flamingos are only as pink as the food they eat or that penguins “fly” under water faster than some fish?

The Monterey Bay Aquarium was the first aquarium to rescue a great white shark. They were able to keep it in captivity for 175 days until it became too dangerous for the other fish there. You can learn all about this on their website and watch videos about the shark on their You Tube channel.

Nature, the TV channel, produced a special presentation documentary on the aquarium featuring the great white shark and jellyfish. The aquarium has one the most extensive jellyfish collections in the world. They actually breed these exquisite creatures to populate the ongoing exhibit.

Take the time to ponder what luxury means to you. Ask your clients as well. You may be surprised to find that many high net worth individuals consider life’s simple pleasures to be among their most cherished forms of luxury. 

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Luxury Real Estate Marketing: Visionary Thinking at Dom Perignon

KARL LAGERFELD © CHAMPAGNE MOET & CHANDON 2008

One of the most common traits of a market leader who is interested in sustaining dominance in his or her marketplace and also building a lasting personal brand, is visionary thinking. For those of you luxury real estate marketing professionals with this ambition it is wise to look to luxury brands that have stood the test of time and emulate the standards and the value that these brands embrace. Dom Perignon champagne is brand to emulate.

Dom Pérignon is part of LVMH (Moët Hennessy • Louis Vuitton S.A.) family of brands, one of the world’s largest luxury goods conglomerates. Dom is a vintage champagne. This means that the champagne is not produced in weak years, and all grapes used to make the wine were harvested in the same year.

When we lived in Napa Valley, we had the good fortune to sit next to chef de cave (head winemaker) of Dom Pérignon who happened to be dining alone. We struck up a delightful conversation throughout our meal.

What was most impressive about his Dom Pérignon stories was the fact that if the grapes are not perfect in a given year they simply will not produce the wine. In the 80 years between 1921 and 2002 for example, Dom Pérignon champagne has been produced in only 36 years. Three vintage years in a row are a rarity. This phenomenon only occurred two times: in 1969, 1970 and 1971, in 1998, 1999 and 2000.

CREATE THE “BEST WINE IN THE WORLD”, Pierre Pérignon, 1668.

In 1668, the young monk took up his post as the head of the cellar at the Abbey of Hautvillers . Over three centuries later, Dom Pérignon is the ultimate homage to this visionary spirit and to the founding work of the man who is considered the creator of champagne.

For fun, here some facts about this fabulous champagne:

• In 1961, Dom Pérignon Vintage 1949 was on the menu for the dinner given at the US Embassy in Paris for Charles de Gaulle and John F. Kennedy during the American president’s official visit.
• In 1981, Dom Pérignon was chosen for the wedding of Lady Diana Spencer and Prince Charles. The magnums of Dom Pérignon Vintage 1961 served at the wedding had a special insignia created just for the ceremony.
• Today, Costo sells more Dom Pérignon than any other retailer in the world.

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Luxury Real Estate Marketing: Face Time for Business Development

While it is true that your social life can and should lead to business referrals, it is a good idea for luxury real estate marketing professionals to separate the concept of business networking and social networking. Business networking can actually increase your bottom line faster because of its focused nature and clear intention: helping one another develop more business. What can be more clear, simple and, most importantly, direct?

Last night, while on Linked In we noticed a profile of a CEO of a company on the east coast (we are in Santa Barbara, CA) with whom we shared common interests. There was immediate recognition of potential synergies between our companies. We are in a professional group together but we had not yet met. So, we invited him to also join the Language of Luxury group on Linked In. Within minutes we noticed that he had joined LOL.

By the time we woke up this morning we received a direct email from him suggesting that we connect. He too, believed that there were possible ways to develop some business together which we confirmed in a wonderful phone conversation this A.M. Yes, we just used the “P” word!

Phones are the missing link in online networking. In fact, the entire purpose of business networking online is to set up a phone conversation. Between Skype, which is free, and smart phones with ridiculously low monthly fees (as compared to the cost of long distance calls in previous decades), there is absolutely no excuse for not picking up the phone. Now, you can actually have an instant face-to-face meeting (e.g., with Skype video or iPhone 4 “face time”).

Business networking, online facilitates WARM PHONE CALLS! And, that is what most luxury real estate marketing professionals have lost sight of in this hurricane of white noise about social networking.

This very same morning, Alexandra noticed that an interesting company just started following us on Twitter. She always looks up each of our followers’ profiles to see if there is a commonality and a reason to connect by phone. In this case, there was, indeed, potential for mutual business. So, Alexandra shot off a email and suggested that we connect directly.

Within 5minutes we got a phone call from the director of business development from this company! [Rapid response communication is one of our most highly valued business practices]. We had an excellent conversation and set up a phone meeting with the CEO of the company for Friday ( 2 days later).

Can you see the difference in the speed of concrete results between social networking and business networking online? The key to successful business networking interactions is having it be equally important to give as it is to receive. Sometimes there is only giving on your part. But, it all balances out if you keep an abundant mindset, which is worth acquiring and maintaining in the field of luxury real estate marketing.

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Luxury Real Estate Marketing Tip: Study the Pursuits of High Net Worth Clients

Studying the pursuits of your clients is extremely important to your success as a luxury real estate marketing professional. Although this may not apply to all of your clients or to all luxury real estate markets, the quest to possess the finest and the rarest objects in the world is definitely one of the exciting sports of high net worth individuals.

For those of you and your clients who fancy fine champagne, here is some interesting news. A group of divers exploring a ship wreck in the Baltic Sea happened upon a bottle of champagne that is believed to be produced in the late 18^th century. It could very well be the oldest champagne in the world!

The divers were hoping to determine the year the ship sank by dating the champagne. Experts believed that, based on the shape of the bottle, it was made in the late 18^th century. They were 98% certain that it was one of the first vintages of Veuve-Clicquot that was established in 1772.

Remarkably, when the bottle was opened, it was drinkable and retained its very small bubbles. It was suggested that the vessel was most likely on its way to St. Petersburg, which was then the capital of Tsarist Russia.

Researching those subjects that interest your clients the most and then speaking their language can make the difference between getting the listing or not. Knowledge is not just power. It can translate into gold.

Speaking of gold, you may also be interested that a white gold covered 3 liter bottle, a jeroboam, of Dom Perignon sold for $17,000 in 2008. At the time, it was the most expensive bottle of champagne in the world.

Dive deeper into the pursuits of your high net worth clients. This is a requirement for those of you who seek to achieve top-of-mind status in your luxury real estate marketplace.

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Luxury Real Estate Marketing: Shoot for the Moon!

As a luxury real estate marketing professionals studying examples of niche marketing done right in the luxury realm can give you tremendous insight on how to position yourself and standout from your competition as a luxury real estate marketing professional. Luxury books are a case in point.

Amazon popularized the relatively new niche category of e-books. They announced that its Kindle e-bookstore is now selling 180 e-books for every 100 hardcover books. The sale of Kindle devices have tripled since it lowered the price, despite the competition from multifunctional devices such as the iPad. Is there any wonder why most niche book stores, such as those that specialize in selling architectural or design books have become extinct?

However, a handful of luxury book publishers are thriving by selling limited, innovative editions, for thousands of dollars. Taschen Books, with exclusive brick and mortar stores in upscale cities like Beverly Hills, London and Paris, has tapped into a very narrow, but lucrative, niche. Twelve copies of their massive photography book on the lunar landing were sold with actual pieces of the moon. One such edition that came with a lunar rock was sold for $112,500, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Although, these extravagant showcase books are beyond the reach of most consumers they create a tremendous amount of buzz for Taschen and help sell less expensive premium edition books. For example, a $7500 book on Muhammad Ali is sold with several signed photographs of the boxer.

Shoot for the moon! Express your personal flair. Use your imagination to out-think your competition. Zero in on a niche and become well known within your marketplace as the best in that niche. This is the way to market leadership!

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Luxury RealLuxury Real Estate Marketing Tip: What is a Personal Brand?

Photo by Alan Light

To stand out from the crowd as a luxury real estate marketing professional, just think like Oprah. She is a one woman brand.

A personal brand is a statement of who you are, what your preferences are, what your values are, and what you stand for. It must be specific enough to reflect your core, yet broad enough to stay fluid. Your personal brand should allow you to adapt to the times and also the changes we all experience as we grow, hopefully wiser and kinder.

Your brand must express your authentic self in all situations. You need to feel comfortable in your own skin whether you are having tea with the Queen of England, discussing the ripeness of peaches with the produce person, or negotiating a multimillion dollar deal with a titan of industry. It is like wearing comfortable clothes that fit perfectly and you love how you feel in them.

Your personal brand speaks for you. It tells people exactly who you are every time it is encountered, like a polished presentation. It gives them a lazy way out, because you are doing their mental work for them; the work of figuring out how they should categorize you in their mind.

A personal brand must be consistent in all aspects. If your signal is clear, it will attract people who identify with it, the right people. When your signal resonates with your target market on an emotional level they become passionate about supporting you, because your brand expresses that which is near and dear to them.

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