Real Estate Agent Personal Branding: Learning from American Idol - Part 2

Part 2: The Importance of Your Background Story

This is part two of our blog series entitled: Real Estate Agent Personal Branding: Learning form American Idol. It is a fun and easy way to learn the principles of personal branding. You do not have to be an Idol fan to enjoy!

The key to real estate personal branding is finding a way to stand out and engaging the emotions of your target market. The role of your background story is very important. You want to present your personal brand in such a way that potential clients can identify with you. Then you want to turn them into “raving fans”.

When you think of Martha Stewart what emotional associations come to mind? Wholesomeness, down to earth, helpfulness, cheerfulness, comfort food, hearth and home are some. Emotional bonds with Martha’s loyal fans are so strong that they were able to readily forgive for her past indiscretions. Rating for her show actually improved over time.

The American Idol judges look for the stand outs in the initial selection process. To build empathy the opening shows begin featuring background stories of candidates especially if there is pathos or they have a particular human interest story. Certain themes emerge which begins to create personal brand categories:

The single mom on her own

• The blue collar workers who audition because they want a better life for their family
• The young man whose wife died
• The guy who gave up his life to take care of his mother
• The country girl living on a farm

These aspects contribute to the entertainment value of the show, and also influence the voters’ selection of the best performers. Prior to each performance, the viewers are reminded of the lives of the individuals and their initial auditions. This reinforces these brand categories. You will see in the next post just how important brand categories become in the competition.

This season’s first selection included a young mother of 20 with pink hair and a sizzling performance, an oil rigger, and a widower. Each struck a chord with the voting audience, and they received the highest number of votes.

Watch the video performance of Danny, the young man whose wife died. The talent is definitely there. But, the interesting background story definitely helped him win. What is your background story?

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Real Estate Agent Personal Branding: Learning from American Idol - Part 1

Jennifer Hudson

Part 1: If You Have Talent, You Have Marketability

This is part one of our blog series entitled: Real Estate Agent Personal Branding: Learning form American Idol. It is a fun and easy way to learn the principles of personal branding. Requirements: Watch American Idol and follow along! Not an Idol fan? That's OK. No problem: we will post some brief videos that illustrate the principles of personal branding. But, don't be surprised if you get hooked!

It all begins with the selection process. First, the American Idol judges look for talent and marketability. The top ten are usually good enough to sign record deals. Some have gone on to become actors. Jennifer Hudson won an Oscar and a Grammy for Best Album.

If you are going to form your own personal brand that will endure over time and stand out from the crowd you need to start with talent and a strong desire to rise to the top. So many American Idol candidates who really do not have much talent have been encouraged to pursue a career in music by well meaning friends and family. They are actually shocked to find out that they have been sold a bill of goods. They cannot even hear themselves sing off key. Take a good look at yourself in the mirror. Ask yourself these questions:

• Do you really think you have the talent to be a star?
• Is this something you want for yourself or to please others?
• Are you truly passionate about becoming a standout in your marketplace? Or, are you looking for approval?

Answering these questions can save you a tremendous amount of time and aggravation as a real estate professional. Use this video to help you answer the questions.

Click here to view the entire American Idol- real estate agent personal branding blog series

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Luxury Real Estate Agent Personal Branding: Create Your Own Brand Category

The most important principle involved in creating a luxury real estate agent personal brand is to find a brand category that you can own like Cesar Millan, the Dog Whisperer. People think in terms of brand categories. The key is to be the first person to come to mind, rather than your competition, in a brand category and become the category “killer”.

Here are some examples of brand categories and the most dominant brand in the category or the category killer:

Category	Category Killer
Facial Tissue	Kleenex
Copiers	Xerox
Cola	Coke
Internet Search	Google
Window Cleaner	Windex
Adhesive Tape	Scotch Tape
Spreadsheet	Microsoft Excel

The easiest way to claim ownership of a brand category is to create a new brand category. That is exactly what Cesar Millan did by proclaiming that he is the “Dog Whisperer”. He took a general category, dog trainer, created a new category of one and became the most famous dog trainer in the world. Anyone else that calls themselves a dog whisperer automatically becomes a “me too” and is dismissed as unoriginal.

The original horse whisper was Daniel Sullivan, a horse trainer who made a name for himself in the 19th century by rehabilitating horses that had become vicious and intractable due to abuse or accidental trauma. He kept his methods secret, but people who managed to observe him noticed that he would stand face to face with the troubled horse. They seemed to think that he must be saying something to the horse in a way the horse could understand and accept.

Cesar Millan borrowed this concept from the horse training world, a concept that was already familiar to the general public because of the Horse Whisperer book and movie. Now, he owns the category of dog whisperer. Cesar is obviously the category killer. No one can come close to competing with him.

How can you stand out in the general category of luxury real estate agents?

1. Do some soul searching and identify something you can do better than anyone else in your marketplace

2. Create a whole new category where you can provide extraordinary value

3. Promote the new category that fills a unique need in the mind of your target market and your market will promote you!

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Real Estate Agent Personal Branding: What’s In a Name?

Luxury Real Estate Marketing Professionals must pay close attention to word associations when choosing a personal brand name, a domain name for their web site or blog, and also a brand name for their team. Sometimes it is helpftul to look at some luxury brand name disasters to avoid pitfalls. Here is an example of what some experts consider to be a disaster waiting to happen by the ultra-luxury division of Mercedes Benz—Maybach-- that produces limited production models of 100 cars priced between $522K and $609K.

The newest model has been named Maybach Zheppelin. With the crash of the Hindenburg (a Zeppelin airship) and the 1970’s iconic heavy metal rock group from England, Led Zeppelin, what were they thinking? These two word associations spell disaster! The marketing department intended to refer the newer model group to its ancestors built in 1932-34, the Maybach DS8 Zeppelin. The Zeppelin name was chosen to honor the experience gained from designing the Zeppelin airship engines.

In 1937, the Hindenburg caught fire and was destroyed within one minute while attempting to dock. This accident destroyed public confidence, and ended the reign of rigid airships. The cause of the fire is still unknown. It may have had nothing to do with its engineering. However, reviving the name evokes the inescapable association with the crash and burn of the Hindenburg disaster.

Led ZeppelinDoes Led Zeppelin mean luxury to you? The manufacturer’s credo is “to create nothing but the best from the most advanced materials, cars of lasting value, manufactured to the highest level of perfection. The Maybach Zeppelin is the ultimate answer to automotive wishes, with a distinctive character, and the highest levels of elegance and power. “-(From a Maybach 1934 leaflet)- Check out this video, then reflect on the Hindenburg and Led Zepplin? Get the picture?

When choosing a name do your homework by making sure it reflects well on the image you are trying to convey to your clients. Don’t get caught up in history and romance of the past. In today’s world, it is easy to investigate the different meanings of a word and their associations by using the internet. Happy Naming!

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Luxury Real Estate Branding and Marketing Essentials: If the Shoe Fits…

The World's Largest Clog

This is part two of “Hug Your Clients”, one of the best business models we have found that can help luxury real estate marketing professionals distinguish their brand from their competitors. It can help you to increase client and employee/team member loyalty. So, if the shoe fits...

Have you heard about Zappos, the $1 billion online shoe company? Zappos , a take-off on the word zapatos, which means shoes in Spanish, specializes in footwear, handbags as well as niche shoes (vegan shoes and narrow and wide shoes). It has a central warehouse and two brick-and-mortar outlet stores. Zappos really understands how hugging their customers and their employees translates in to big profits.

The Zappos business model is based totally on loyalty and relationship marketing. A loyalty model means that a company focuses its resources so customers’ expectations are consistently met or even surpassed. Relationship marketing is also about the long term value of keeping customers but is focused on the importance of triggering word-of- mouth advertising as a means of acquiring new customers.

How do they do that? They hug their customers! Zappos builds the culture of the company and promotes its brand through superlative customer service. Their slogan is “Powered by Customer Service” The result is 60% of Zappos’ customers are repeat customers, and the rest have come from word-of-mouth marketing. Naturally this business model reduces marketing costs.

Zappos puts the “WOW” in every customer interaction. They do so through free shipping both ways (receipt and return), a 365-day return policy, a 24 hour call service. Hugs!

Zappos also hugs their employees! New employees, regardless of position are required to attend a 4-week Customer Loyalty Training course. This includes two weeks of talking on the phone with customers: hug training. After the first week of training the new employees are offered a “quit now” bonus of $1,000 to leave the company immediately, no strings attached. This ensures people are there for the love of the job and not just the money. Over 90% turn down the buyout.

Tony Hsieh, the CEO, is somewhat of a celebrity in his own right. You can follow him on Twitter along with over 62,000 others (as of this writing). If you called Zappos customer service over the Holidays, chances are you reached Tony himself. Personal CEO hugs!

In your luxury real estate marketing practice, how can you put the wow in your service and hug your clients today?

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Luxury Real Estate Branding and Marketing Essentials: The Importance of Differentiation Part 2

Whether its luxury real estate marketing or product marketing, differentiation sells! This is an update to our previous post regarding the Superbowl and the case for differentiation as a means to drive sales back to you, the advertiser.

NBC sold out its ads spots for the game and set a record for revenue at $206 million. The key selling point is that 100 million viewers watch closely during the game breaks. Furthermore, these ads could be viewed on NBC.com, Hulu.com, and SuperBowl.com, for additional viewers who were not interested in football.

One ad stood out for its differentiation. The Teleflora ad stated simply that their flowers come arranged in a vase, and not in a box. Their slogan was clear and concise. “There is a difference”. Although, the part when the talking flowers critique the recipient was in poor taste, they got the point across: Boxed flowers are for losers, and arranged flowers are for winners.

Can you see the power of differentiation? Associating just ONE word with your brand that distinguishes you from your completion is the ultimate marketing achievement: Box or Vase? , ProFlowers or Teleflora?

It makes you think about who you send flowers to. If your recipient does not have a vase, or does not like to arrange flowers themselves, or is pressed for time and just wants to be able to take the flowers that arrive in a vase and put them right down on a table. Teleflora is the right choice.

What one word differentiates you from your completion? If you simply answer “service”, think again. It is a service, to those who have their own vases and enjoy arranging flowers, to receive gifted flowers in a box. Both Telflora and Proflowers offer outstanding customer service. The word must describe a fundamental difference that you can own and your competition cannot.

See Part 1 of this post

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Luxury Real Estate Branding and Marketing Essentials: The Importance of Differentiation

As a luxury real estate professional, you must examine what makes you different from your competition. Then, focus all of your promotion around that single concept. Follow the example of market leaders in other fields who really get this concept. For example, Southwest Airlines has low fares and no hidden fees. In just three words, “no hidden fees” Southwest simultaneously differentiates itself from its competitors and clearly communicates one of the company’s strongest values: Transparency.

Just a few days prior to Super Bowl Sunday 2009, 67 commercial spots remained unsold. Before Labor Day, the network was getting advertisers to pony up for a record-high $3 million-per-half-minute spots. When the economy did an about face, so did the advertisers because ad spending came under close scrutiny.

In his latest book,” In Search of the Obvious, The Antidote for Today’s Marketing Mess,” marketing guru, Jack Trout, critiques the mindset of most Super Bowl ads as being entertaining rather than communicating competitive advantages to gain customers. Here is what he said:

“Consider the beer business. No one has poured as much money into Super Bowl ads as Anheuser-Busch. Over the years, we’ve seen Clydesdales playing football, frogs talking funny gag, after funny gag. The latest features a Clydesdale working out so as to join the team.   Has it helped sell beer? Not that I can see, the beer business has been flat and declining for years. ‘

This year, Anheuser Busch’s competitor, Miller, is doing a series of one second pregame ads. They are emphasizing saving money because, according to Miller, “it takes one second to promote its beer as “common sense in a bottle”. But, Miller falls into the same trap. Neither beer company is differentiating itself from its competitors.

Clydesdales or “common sense in a bottle” is a meaningless reference. What is the clear difference between the two products? Do you buy beer because you like Clydesdales? How does common sense and alcohol relate?

Once you find your primary differentiator, continue marketing it, and don’t be lured by catchy phrases or furry creatures for their entertainment value. Stay true to your distinct signal and you will attract plenty of business as luxury real estate marketing professionals.

See Part 2 of this post...

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Luxury Real Estate Agent Branding: Find Your Balance

Here is a question from Doc Reiss of Port Angeles, WA. Doc is one of the members of our Language of Luxury group on Broker Agent Social. We wanted to share this with you because this question comes up quite often.

Doc: We have about 800 homes in our two town MLS with only about 16 priced from the mid-fives to about 2.6 million. Affluent buyers want someone who is very well-versed in luxury homes, but with so few available, is it wrong to also be a great agent for lesser priced properties? I don't want to be all things to all people, but I don't want to lock myself solely into a niche that may not have sufficient inventory to maintain a viable business. Your feedback would be greatly appreciated.

R&A Seigel: We understandi what you are reaching for. It's a matter of striking the right balance. The key is to develop an upscale personal brand that is sophisticated but not pretentious. Whereas Macy's appeals to a wide range of customers, Nordstrom’s is more upscale. However, Nordstrom's does not intimidate Macy's customers. That is the balance you are looking for.

Hope this is helpful to you as well. And, thanks, Doc, for bringing it up!

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Luxury Real Estate Marketing Essentials: How to Increase Your Market Share

Just because it seems that the market is dwindling, it doesn’t mean that people have stopped buying luxury real estate. What it means, is that they are choosier about where they buy and with whom they do business. The luxury market is conservatively estimated to be 220 billion dollars and growing. To significantly increase your market share you must sharply differentiate yourself from your competition. How? Offer REMARKABLE customer service.

Every study from Harris Interactive to the Wharton School of Business emphasizes building a lasting relationship with your clients. Prospective clients are looking for a positive, memorable experience. They expect you to exceed their expectations. They may like your brand. But, what will solidify their loyalty is the amazing service you give.

Even in they don’t buy the first time, find ways to keep them engaged as to what is happening in the market they were interested in. Don’t just send updates on new homes; send interesting articles about the community, new restaurants or gallery openings. Better yet invite them to an art gallery opening, or a special museum exhibit. The world of luxury is small. Word will get out that you are strikingly different. A warm and friendly experience increases trust which means they are more likely to recommend you to a friend.

Do the same with existing and previous clients. Make them a part of your “in” crowd. Share with them your special secrets and insights. They will see you as the go to person.

For example, the designer Kate Spade reveals what inspired her designs with her “special clients”. She has a section on her web site called, “Behind the Curtain” that catalogues her influences, her interests and what she thinks is “hot”. Her comments serve to build relationships with her customers and engage them in conversation.

Harley Davidson did the same by creating a community. This revived a dying brand and made it profitable once again. They have added activities and meet ups as part of the brand, and as a result created a customer base that is fiercely loyal to the brand.

Apply these ideas, and you will be delighted by your loyal following.

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Luxury Real Estate Marketing Essentials: What is the Luxury Buyer Looking For in 2009?

Luxury buyers are still alive and well. Here is a capsule of the new spending habits of high net worth individuals. Luxury real estate marketing professionals take heed!

Exclusivity. The desire to have something better and less known to the mass audience remains strong. New niche labels can prosper in these circumstances, such as limited editions or homes with extraordinary architectural features.

Quality, Dependability and Authenticity. The 2009 consumer will want to know the provenance of the goods they are buying. They will want the manufacturer to stand by the product and take care of it, if something goes wrong. Social and environmental responsibility is an important key in the purchase making decision. If it’s “green”, they will part with their green bucks. In the days of “shop till you drop”, consumers were fascinated by novelty. Now they want the “real”, the authentic. They are no longer interested in high end reproductions or anything with “faux” in front of it. Along with authenticity is transparency. How someone does business, their ethics, has become an important part of the process.

Translating this to luxury real estate marketing is simple.

1. Refresh your brand. Make sure your website and all your materials have the look and feel of luxury, and do not look like everyone else’s site. Remember they are looking for the exclusive feel.
2. Make sure you demonstrate your transparency in terms of your customer relationship management. Your word MUST BE your bond. Go out of your way to provide excellent service. This makes you easy to refer via word-of-mouth advertising.
3. Describe your listings by emphasizing the quality and the durability of the home’s appliances and finishes. Make sure that those finishes are the “real” thing. If they aren’t, point it out. If you are not sure, find out. This furthers your authenticity and your transparency.

In the long run remember. “A calm sea does not produce a skilled sailor. We cannot direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails. Anyone can hold the helm when the sea is calm.” Tom Culve

Luxury real estate marketing professionals: Happy Sailing and Selling in 2009!

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Luxury Real Estate Marketing Essentials: The Video Phenomena

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Video communication is here to stay.

• 13 hours of content is uploaded to You Tube every minute of every day
• Downloading Internet videos from events such as the Olympics and political conventions caused some host sites to crash due to unexpected demand
• The continued growth of video over the Internet will increase the debate for mass internet access
• President-elect Obama regularly broadcasts a 4 minute long video as his way staying in touch with Americans and the world at large

What is happening is that online communication is the new mode of community. It is easy to upload a video and it is easy to send someone a link to the video. Furthermore, in four minutes you can easily get a message across.

As a luxury real estate marketing professional you can use a video to differentiate yourself from everyone else. For instance, you can record your blogs rather than write them. You can have videos of your listings, and also a video bio. There is no end to what can be done with video. It is an opportunity to communicate with your clients in a personal way.

Here is a creative example. Check out the YouTube Symphony, dubbed ”the world’s first collaborative online orchestra”. All you have to do is submit a video performance (any instrument, amateur and musicians of all ages) of a piece of music written by Chinese composer Tan Dun. The winning performer will be chosen to play in Carnegie hall under the direction of Michael Tilson Thomas.

Of course, in the field of luxury the quality of the video is important. You want to represent your brand as a luxury brand, and you want to make sure that the player on your site is compatible with the most number of browsers in current use. That way everyone has easy access to viewing your message.

Remember less is more. Don’t bore; inform and entertain.

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Luxury Real Estate Branding: Personal Branding Goes International

It is no longer enough for luxury real marketing professionals to create local personal brand. Becoming well know to foreign buyers is now a necessity. Think INTERNATIONAL! You not only need to be the stand-out in your marketplace to consumers, you also need to become the best known local professional to other agents in 50 states and around the world.

Watch for our series on the best ways tp build an international personal brand and also a global referral network of agents in other countries.

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This is part of our series on Luxury Real Estate Marketing and Real Estate Branding.

Luxury Real Estate Branding: Getting Started in Niche Marketing

Luxury real estate marketing professionals frequently ask us the followy question. We hope this is of help to you as well.

How do I get started in marketing to this niche?

First, pick a niche:

1. Castles, mansions & ultra-luxurious trophy estates
2. Golf properties
3. Eco luxury
4. Ski properties
5. Ocean waterfront properties
6. Historical properties
7. Downtown Condos & lofts
8. Lakefront properties
9. Luxury Investment Properties

Then...

1. Identify the movers and shakers within the niche and find a way to meet them.
2. Create a website that demonstrates that you are a specialist in this niche. Narrow the search criteria on the site so that is it easy to just search for properties within the niche.
3. Provide extensive information about the niche, via blogging and articles
4. Find out what is needed and wanted by asking home owners in this niche how you can help in the community or by offering some information or service apart from just selling homes (e.g., start an online community calendar and promote it to homeowners via postcards).
5. Create your personal brand around your niche. Become synonymous with the niche (e.g., The Waterfront Properties Expert)

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This is part of our series on Luxury Real Estate Marketing and Real Estate Branding.

Luxury Real Estate Branding: Find Your Niche

For luxury real estate marketing professionals, the easiest way to become the market leader is to select a niche within your marketplace and become the expert in that niche. A niche is a category or a sub-category in which you can specialize. The first step in niche marketing is selecting a niche.

What Are the Major Niches In the Luxury Real Estate Realm?

1. Castles, mansions & ultra-luxurious trophy estates
2. Golf properties
3. Eco luxury
4. Ski properties
5. Ocean waterfront properties
6. Historical properties
7. Downtown Condos & lofts
8. Lakefront properties

How Do I Select the Right Niche?

Here are five guidelines for selecting the right niche:

1. Select a niche in which you are personally interested, ideally passionate about.
2. Select a niche that no one is currently dominating or is not doing a very good job
3. Select a niche that you can represent better than anyone else in your marketplace
4. Select a niche where the properties are selling and the prices are substantial so that your commissions are significant
5. Select a niche where you can easily identify the major opinion leaders, community leaders and also vendors who are also interested in acquiring these home owners (and buyers) as customers/clients.

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This is part of our series on Luxury Real Estate Marketing and Real Estate Branding.

Luxury Real Estate Branding: Be the Category Killer

One of the very best ways to achieve market leadership as a luxury real estate markeing professional is to discover a niche in your marketplace that you can dominate. A niche is a category or sub-category of the entire market like waterfront properties, equestrian properties, high-rise condos, etc. The whole idea is to become establish your personal brand as the "category killer" in that niche.

An example of a category killer is iPod in the MP3 category of electronic devises that play music. In online auctions, eBay is the category killer. Yahoo, number 2 in auctions had to concede to eBay in all markets across the globe except Japan where eBay bowed out (for now).

In the entertainment field Terry Fator is the category killer for ventriloquism. He is so dominant in his category because he offers extraordinary entertainment value and no one else has a chance to reach is level of celebrity. He just secured a $100 Million contract in Las Vegas for his show. Check out the video and you will see why he is the best in his niche, the category killer.

In which niche can you become the category killer?

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This is part of our series on Luxury Real Estate Marketing and Real Estate Branding.

Luxury Real Estate Personal Branding: Know Your Personal Brand Values

iPhone's Touch ScreenOne way to help clarify your personal brand values as a luxury real estate marketing professional is to clearly define your own preferences as a consumer. Here is an example of how you can put this into practice.

Have you noticed lately how many companies are gunning for Apple’s iPhone to compete for the coveted smart phone market? The iPhone with its elegant touch screen is way cool. But, is it for everyone?

Just in case you do not already know, a smart phone sends and receives email, text messages and instant messages. It has a web browser and can do many things your desk top computer can do via various “applications”. Some applications are for business and others just for fun. For example, you can store photos, take photos, listen to music and watch videos. It knows where you are via a GPS system, so it can show you how to get from where you are to where you want to go as if you are using a similar system in your car.

I found it difficult to type messages on a flat surface and that was my biggest issue with the iPhone. I often typed a key that was next to the one I wanted, e.g., an N instead of an M. Being able to type a quick email response while on the go is my personal priority in terms of functionality. So, I looked for a smart phone with a great keyboard.

Blackberry BoldI discovered the top of the line Blackberry Bold that has a smaller screen than the iPhone but equally vivid. It is non-touch screen, but it has many of the same type of toys as the iPhone. Plus, it has a keyboard with contoured keys that clicks like the driver’s door when it closes on a fine Mercedes Benz. Now, that got my attention!

Take the time to think through your own buying decisions. What attracts you to certain products and not others? That will help you define your personal brand values.

This is part of an ongoing series about luxury real estate personal branding. Get Fluent. Get Affluent! Subscribe to The Language of Luxury by Email or RSS Feed. Comments? Please use form in left column.

Luxury Real Estate Personal Branding: Client Acquisition

As a luxury real estate marketing professional, can you quickly, clearly and succinctly state how your personal brand is different from your closest competitor's brand of doing business? The faster you can communicate this in words, in graphics, in video, in other media and also in the way you do business, the faster your potential new clients will know you are the one with whom they want to do business.

Confusing messaging slows down the client acquisition process. The clarity of your brand message speeds up sales. Get your message right if you want to increase the rapidity of client acquisition.

Apple Computers really gets it. Have you ever seen one of their Mac vs. PC TV commercials? Each commercial has one goal in mind: to get PC users to switch to Mac. The primary differentiator is Cool (Mac) vs. Stodgy (PC). Check out the video and see for yourself. Can you state how your personal brand is different in just one word?

This is part of an ongoing series about luxury real estate personal branding. Get Fluent. Get Affluent! Subscribe to The Language of Luxury by Email or RSS Feed. Comments? Please use form in left column

Luxury Real Estate Marketing Essentials: Thinking Outside the Jewelry Box

As luxury real estate marketing professional it is important not to underestimate the extent to which high net worth consumers enjoy shopping and searching online. Think of ways to surprise and delight these consumers on your website and you will win more clients. Here is an example of how a fine jewelry firm “thinks outside the jewelry box” when courting big spenders.

Luxury goods have been reluctant to join e-commerce, because Internet shopping has been associated with bargain hunters and discount goods. The high end goods market has been cautious in exhibiting their valuables online, feeling that no one would buy a very expensive piece of jewelry without physically seeing it. Here is an example of someone who challenged this assumption.

In September of 2007, the House of Boucheron, a worldwide leader in the High jewelry market, unveiled their European e-commerce site. Unlike other jewelry stores that have some of their products on sale online, they decided to differentiate themselves by displaying their entire collection of jewelry online. Every item in the store is online.

Their forward looking CEO, Jean Christophe Bedos, understood that high net worth consumers are, indeed, willing to spend online. He also realized that, for these shoppers, time is luxury and they can shop online 24/7. The success experienced in the first year, led them to launch their US site in September of 2008. Another differentiator is that you can custom design a jewelry piece such as a ring online by clicking and dragging different stones into the ring setting. That way you can immediately see if the result is pleasing.

Their online clientele did buy the high end pieces while the traffic in their retail stores increased. Often, clients would come in with their computer printouts of an item they wanted to see or try on. Some of them bought them in the store, while others chose to return home and purchase it online.

Here is what Mr. Bedos feels he has learned from this online venture. He feels that you cannot be prejudiced towards a consumer’s behavior, and that the internet shatters prejudices. When marketing is approached by segmenting a clientele (by income level in this case), it breaks down because he feels, each individual is a marketing entity.

This is part of an ongoing series about luxury real estate personal branding. Get Fluent. Get Affluent! Subscribe to The Language of Luxury by Email or RSS Feed. Comments? Please use form in left column

Luxury Real Estate Personal Branding: Out-think! Don’t Out-Spend Your Competition

The current housing market represents an unprecedented opportunity for luxury real estate marketing professionals who are interested in catching their competition off-guard and capturing market share. But, the key is to out-think your competition not to out-spend it. By out-think we mean you must stand out from your competition in the minds of your target market. You must be distinct. In fact, our motto is “stand out or bow out”!

A powerful lesson in the parcel delivery service industry can be learned about the pitfalls of out-spending and not standing out from the crowd. After investing and losing 10 billion dollars in the U.S. over the past five years in the domestic express-delivery industry German owned DHL is bowing out of this market segment. DHL is the number one international logistics and express service provider in the world. But they could not successfully break into the US market that is dominated by UPS, Fed-Ex with United States Postal Service as a distance third.

MARKET SHARE
U.S. market share for express mail and ground parcels, for the third quarter 2008

• UPS: 52 %
• FedEx: 31.5%
• U.S. Postal Service: 11.7 %
• DHL: 4.8 %

Source: SJ Consulting Group

Historically UPS was known primarily for its domestic ground-based delivery services and faced competition primarily from the United States Postal Service in this category. Then, in 1998 FedEx expanded into the ground parcel delivery market by acquiring Roadway Package System and rebranding it as FedEx Ground in 2000.

FedEx was founded in 1971 when they introduced express-delivery service. Over a decade later UPS began offering Next-Day and 2^nd Day Air Service. With virtually identical services and identical pricing how does the customer choose between UPS, FedEx and USPS? What was DHL thinking by adding yet another identical service at the same price?

Jack Welch, of General Electric had a philosophy about entering a new business category. Basically, he felt that if GE could not be #1 or #2 in the category he would not even bother.

What category of your real estate market can you own such as Waterfront properties, Equestrian estates, or downtown condos? What can you do better than anyone else? In what category can you stand out as a market leader?

This is part of an ongoing series about luxury real estate personal branding. Get Fluent. Get Affluent! Subscribe to The Language of Luxury by Email or RSS Feed. Comments? Please use form in left column

Luxury Real Estate Branding: Emotional Branding

Forming a strong emotional connection with your target market is a sure way to increase your market share as a luxury real estate marketing professional. Southwest Airlines really gets this notion of forming emotional connections with its customers. They even send birthday cards to loyal customers.

If FedEx wants to gain a major competitive advantage over UPS in the parcel delivery service industry, it will need to identify a new category to own in the minds of its existing and target customers. With identical services and prices one of the companies will need to make a stronger emotional connection with decision makers in the companies they serve in order to win and retain customers. It all comes down to this question about the brand’s relationship to its customer: Which company feels the best to work with?

The US Postal Service, a distant 3^rd (in market share) behind #1 UPS and #2 FedEx, is definitely on the right track as far as emotional branding is concerned. It has positioned itself as distinct from UPS and FedEX by claiming “greener delivery” on parcels. The assumption is that letter carriers already deliver to US addresses every day of the week (except Sunday). Therefore, they offer the industry’s lowest fuel consumption per delivery. This has given eco-conscious consumers a compelling reason to choose the post office over the other two carriers.

UPS did the green thing in 2005 by recalculating its routes to reduce left turns which cause drivers to waste fuel while standing idle in intersections. Although, it eliminated 464,000 miles from its travel and saved 51,000 gallons of fuel within Washington D.C. alone, due to more efficient routing, it cannot compete with the post office as the most green parcel carrier.

How can you make a stronger emotional connection with your clients and become the breakaway emotional brand in your marketplace?

This is part of an ongoing series about luxury real estate personal branding. Get Fluent. Get Affluent! Subscribe to The Language of Luxury by Email or RSS Feed. Comments? Please use form in left column