Pictured above, is a wonderful example of subtle marketing vs in your face marketing. In this window, you see 3 dogs and a puppy playing pool or billiards. There are three pieces of merchandise displayed. The tie around the dog wearing a striped shirt, the hat on the black and white dog, and the jacket on the hook.
When marketing luxury real estate, or any other segment of real estate many choose the "In Your Face" style of marketing the homes they have listed or for that matter themselves. Depending on the clientele you want to attract, these two forms of marketing as displayed by two famous stores in Beverly Hills will work for some and repel others depending on their psychographics. "Psychographic segmentationis dividing your market based upon consumer personality traits, values, attitudes, interests, and lifestyles. Segmentation will allow you to better develop and market your products because there will be a more precise match between the product and each segment's needs and wants."
The subtle version attracts those who are confident in themselves and do not to flaunt the origin of their purchases. They do not delight in letting you know which store they bought it in, and what they can afford. And the last thing, they would do is wear the initials of said store on their clothing. The Hermes brand is a perfect example where this psychographicis more likely to shop. Since Hermes is fully aware of their clientele values and personality traits, they market accordingly.
Right next door to Hermes is Bijan'swindow display, which is an example of in your face marketing. As you looks at this window, the bulletin board which is the background is full of photos of famous people who shop here, fabric swatches and scissors. The table displays all kinds of items for sale. Your eyes go all over the window. There are apples, flowers, ties, bags, etc..
Bijan is appealing to those who express themselves and gain their confidence from the objects they can afford to buy.. (If you got it flaunt it mentality!)They will tell you that "This famous person" buys their clothes and accessories here! And Bijan'sson took a picture of them also, which will be displayed in the window along with actors, presidents and heads of state. And with that, they are establishing their importance in their social world.
We are not critiquing either company's products, nor the people who prefer one or the other, nor are we saying that one marketing form is better than the other.. We are not saying that an individual may be attracted to both places. We are just saying that the majority who will shop at Hermes will be more attracted to their stores than to Bijan's. And the same is true for Bijan. The majority who are attracted to Bijan will not necessarily be trotting over to Hermes...
Our advice: Know the pyschographicsof your marketplace and market accordingly. Neither is good or bad, they just are the way they are. And you will be more successful if your personal psychographics match your clientele's. People like to do business with people like themselves.