Branding Moment: Not so Puritan Taboo Slogan near Hot Springs Rd!

Ron and I spotted this truck from Puritan Bakery with its slightly racy slogan of "Best Buns In Town". The word "puritan" means: one who practices or preaches a more rigorous or professedly purer moral code than that which prevails.  The slogan can be interpreted in so many ways. We leave that to your imagination. 

The juxtaposition of the truck with the exit of Hot Springs Road was a moment of synchronicity.  We were wondering if they were going to take the Hot Springs Exit to deliver best buns to the Von's grocery store there...They did not!

According the their website, which has an image of a man in a Puritan costume and slogan, this is the secret to what makes best buns:

Puritan Bakery is committed to baking our bunsand breads the old fashioned way -- the way you would if you were making bread from scratch at home. Because of this commitment, we still use a sponge and dough process, rather than the faster and cheaper brew dough, straight dough or modified sponge systems. The sponge and dough process takes 7 hours, but we believe that the best things are still worth waiting for.

This brand caught our attention and gave us a chuckle.  We will remember the name, no doubt about that.  The bakery started in 1930, and they are still going strong. The right market is still buying.Just like in Real Estate, there are many brands and markets for each one as long it lasts.

We would definitely mention them if someone asked us what kind of hamburger or hot dog buns to buy. Their baking method is impressive.

However, we are not their customer.  If we are going to indulge in bread of any kind, we would buy artisan bread made locally.  

Win More Listings Through the Power of Relaxed Concentration

As a luxury real estate marketing professional, once you identify an opportunity to dominate an uncontested or underserved niche your primary job is giving your undivided attention to that niche. You will win more listings than your closest competitors because you are harnessing the Power of Concentration, and they are not. If you price those listing correctly you will out-produce them all.

Focus and concentration of action are the key ingredients for the “secret sauce” that everyone is looking for but few actually implement. One of our clients in Northern California became the market leader and earned over $1M in gross commissions per year by applying this important principle.

Our client only listed homes that had been owned by only one owner. Thus, they were relatively new homes. This significantly reduced the frequency of thorny inspection issues and virtually eliminated title issues. 

With her stellar reputation as the niche market leader she was in the position to refuse taking listings that she could not price at market value. Time on market was thus kept to a minimum because she did not waste time with unrealistic sellers ratcheting down the price. She put systems in place to handle a high volume, high-trust practice while maintaining excellent customer service.

All of these factors reduced the stress of the transactions, which allowed her to concentrate on getting more listings. That is a balancing act that can only be accomplished with total concentration, the same kind of relaxed concentration that a potter must have when throwing a pot. 

P.S.  She was a single mom!

Embrace the Power of Relaxed Concentration!  You will win more listings if you do.

Luxury Real Estate Branding: Leaving the Plastic Flamingo Flock Behind!

Imagination and creativity is one of the cornerstones of a successful luxury real estate marketing practice. Imitation and luxury really do not belong together. Too often we see luxury real estate professionals copying the branding or marketing strategies of their closest competitors and forgoing the competitive advantage of being original and authentic. It becomes a case of the hot pink plastic flamingo!

One of the most beautiful birds on our planet is the flamingo.  This brightly colored bird caught the imagination of Don Featherstone who designed a plastic hot pink flamingo as a lawn ornament, sold in pairs (one upright the other feeding.) This plastic creation was awarded the “Ig-Nobel Prize for Art (a parody of the Nobel Prize). Plastic pink flamingos have become part of the American pop culture. Original Featherstone’s are marked as such on the bird’s underside.

American Flamingo, Photo by Fritz Geller Grimm

However, copy cats swarmed in and reproduced the flamingos in mass. This caught the imagination of students at the University of Wisconsin who “flamingoed” (the verb) a hill near their campus with over 1000 plastic flamingos on the first day of classes one year. Their prank sparked similar episodes around the country.

Plastic flamingos are now considered in the art world as kitsch. " Kitsch is a German word denoting art that is considered an inferior, tasteless copy of an extant style of art or a worthless imitation of art of recognized value."

Authenticity in personal branding will strike the right chord with your ideal clients.  Phoniness will repel them like plastic pink flamingos. It is not that there isn’t a market for these hollow birds.  It is just a question of knowing who you are and who you want to attract.

Is your personal brand original or is it kitsch?

Check Out Personal Branding Case Studies and Company Branding Case Studies

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