Welcome to Part 2 of our article series on provenance. In Part 1, we established that provenance comes from the French provenir, "to come from", referring to the chronology of the ownership, custody or location of a historical object. Here we will discuss how provenance can also become an added value in luxury real estate personal and company branding.
Consumers like to do business with people and companies who are like themselves, those they feel they can trust. Successful luxury real estate personal and company branding accelerates the speed of trust. It does so by succinctly and authentically communicating that your brand’s values and personality is a match to the values and personalities of your ideal clients or customers.
To speed up the time it takes for consumers to recognize that your brand is a perfect match for them your brand messaging must clearly establish what you or your company stands for and how that position is sharply different from what your competitors stand for. This is known as communicating your brand position. If you were challenging a market leader the ideal brand position would be the polar opposite of your competitor’s brand position.
Brands that have provenance are called heritage brands. Provenance establishes lineage, pedigree, i.e. roots. It provides a history and a story that adds a traditional vs.. contemporary context to a brand making it more valuable in the mind of consumers who appreciate traditional values.
Heritage brands communicate their sincerity, authenticity, wholesomeness, and caring. On one end of the spectrum of luxury heritage brands with provenance is See’s Candy that began in 1921 in Los Angeles. Mary See symbolizes the old-fashioned values of homemade quality and friendly service.
One the other end of this luxury spectrum is the gentrified brand, Hermès. This French firm, established in 1837 specializes in leather (traditionally, saddles and riding accoutrements), lifestyle accessories, perfumery and read-to-wear clothing.
A local independent real estate firm that has been around for some time could be considered a heritage brand with provenance. For those consumers who appreciate the local roots and traditional values of such a company this would be their brand of choice.
If you wanted to challenge this established company of this nature, you would want to position your firm as young and progressive vs. old and traditional. As such, you would not need to waste your time or marketing dollars trying to win over traditional-minded consumers. Instead, you would focus on those whose values and personality resonates with your contemporary brand position.
But, what if your competition is young and progressive. How can you position yourself or your firm as a heritage brand with provenance? Stay tuned for Part 3 where we showcase a successful, high-end blue jeans company that has recently done just that. If this company can stand out in an extremely over-crowded clothing category, there is hope for you to do the same, as a luxury real estate marketing professional or company.
View the Entire Series: The Added Value of Provenance
Part 1 l Part 2 l Part 3 l Part 4 l Part 5 l Part 6 l Part 7
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