Luxury Real Estate Branding: Branding is Like the Wizard of Oz

The most common misconception that luxury real estate marketing professionals have about personal  and company branding is that it is as simple as creating a new look.   Given that the average age of most real estate websites is five years old (35 years old in internet years) , a new look can be helpful.  But, your brand will not become your “silent salesperson” if it does not reflect your entire package--the soul of your brand.

To quickly grasp the vital importance of what we mean by the soul of your brand, consider the classic story of the Wizard of Oz.  Dorothy wanted to get back home.  The Scarecrow wanted brains.  The Tin Man wanted a heart and the Cowardly Lion wanted courage.

Your personal or company brand must have brains.  Your knowledge of your marketplace, your negotiating skills, and your educational background are all logical reasons to do business with you. 

Your brand needs a heart.  These are the emotional reasons to do business with you. What you stand for, what you value most, what you are passionate about: all of these things must be reflected in your brand.

Although, your superior marketing savvy must be reflected in your brand both intellectually and emotionally it is your courage to be different, to be distinct from your competition and to stand out from the crowd that is the soul of a market leader.

But, the most important aspect of your brand must be authenticity. That was Dorothy’s quest: to get back home.  If you are not “at home” with yourself, if you are not totally comfortable within your brand because it does not reflect who you really are, you will not attract your ideal clients.  Ideal clients are people like you who recognize that you are a match faster because you exposed and expressed your brain, your heart and your courage within your brand.

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Happy Thanksgiving

The First Thanksgiving. Painting by Jean Gerome Ferris

Once again we are at that time of the year that we take a break and celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday.  It is one of our favorite holidays because we pause to notice everything we are thankful for, and draw strength and pleasure as we reflect on the world around us.  This is also our moment to thank all the readers of the LOL Blog. We especially appreciate your comments and discussions. 

We wish you and your loved ones a very happy Thanksgiving. 

Cheers to your continued success!

Ron and Alexandra Seigel 

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Luxury Real Estate Marketing:Reputation Outperforms Google Ranking

As a luxury real estate marketing professional it is even more important to be the Google of your marketplace (the first to come to mind) than it is to rank #1 on a Google search results page. The world famous restaurant, Lawry’s –The Prime Rib, in Beverly Hills, California, over 70 years old, exemplifies this essential principle of branding. You may not have been to one of Lawry’s restaurants (now with multiple locations around the world), but you may recognize the ubiquitous Lawry’s Seasoning Salt brand found in most markets in the US today.

Growing up in West Los Angeles, Ron was fortunate to be a close friend of a granddaughter of the Lawrence Frank family. The family still owns the restaurants to this day (they sold the condiments business several years ago).  Their first restaurant opened in 1938. For many years it was unique among restaurants because they just featured one entrée on their menu: standing rib roast. This was their uncontested market niche. Many restaurants copy their style, but Lawry’s still does it better than any other restaurant. And, their passion is palpable.

In 1953 Lawry’s added something special. Their menu claimed to be "the first to feature a green salad as an integral part of every meal." The salad bowl is placed on a bed of ice and spun by the server while she shakes the bottle of salad dressing and ceremoniously pours it into the bowl from about two to feet above the bowl. This ritual is a unique part the restaurant’s brand identity, in the same way that consistently and promptly, answering emails and phone calls can be a part of yours.

In 1956 just prior to the playing of the 1957 Rose Bowl Game between the Oregon State Beavers and the Iowa Hawkeyes, Lawry's entertained the two competing teams. This started an annual tradition of hosting a prime rib dinner for both of the teams bound for the Rose Bowls. By the early 1960s, the event had become known as the "Lawry's Beef Bowl." It is often covered by the media.

If you Google “prime rib restaurant in Los Angeles” all ten search results on page one refer to Lawry’s -The Prime Rib. They do not have an SEO strategy. The 9 results that follow their number one ranking on page one are all social media/restaurant reviews citing Lawry’s as the best prime rib restaurant in town.  Lawry’s does not have a social media strategy.  What they do have is an impeccable reputation and the mind share of the market leader.  They occupy the #1 place in the minds of their target market: Prime rib lovers.

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Luxury Real Estate Branding: Empower Your Silent Salesperson

photo by Shawn Lipowski

Venus de Milo in the Louvre,aka Aphrodite de Milo

Considered One of the Finest Examples ofClassic Greek Sculpture

How important is aesthetics in presenting your luxury real estate marketing services?  The answer is: very important. In fact, aesthetics represents an entire branch of philosophy dealing with the nature of beauty, art, and taste.  The aesthetics of visual presentation can be your “silent salesperson” and play a much bigger part than you may realize in the success of your luxury real estate practice.

There is a whole psychology of color alone; certain colors evoke very predictable emotional responses and personal values judgments of sentiment and taste.  That means you can connect with your target market on a deep emotional level by incorporating the right aesthetics in your personal or company brand.  What are the right aesthetics? The right graphic images are those images that represent your authentic brand.

If you neglect this essential component of brand strategy you are missing an extraordinary opportunity and you are vulnerable to potential competition.  We live in a new online world where you have a nano-second to make a strong first impression and engage your website visitors through the emotional connection of aesthetics. 

Think of walking down Madison Avenue in New York or any major retail street in cosmopolitan cities that feature luxury stores.  Window displays must grab the attention of potential customers or they just walk on by.  Now, think of the speed at which a website visitor, with a single click of their mouse, can move on to your competitor’s site.

So much attention has been paid to driving traffic to your website. You may be spending considerable time and money to get potential buyers and seller there.  But, are you engaging them with the power of aesthetics when they arrive?

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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?

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Authenticity vs. Masquerade in Luxury Real Estate Personal Branding

Authenticity is perhaps the most important concept in personal branding for luxury real estate marketing professionals. Without authenticity, you live in a masquerade. What is at stake if you forego authenticity? Quite simply, it is your own happiness.

Recently, Andre Agassi published an autobiography in which he admitted to be caught up in a masquerade.  He was forced by his father, who recognized his extraordinary talent, to become a champion in a game that Agassi would come to hate.  In his recent TV interview it was obvious that he suffered a life of quiet desperation during the time when his brand was perceived as being the “rock star of tennis”.  Canon, the camera company, capitalized on his brand image of being a rebel (which was the brand name of one of their models).

Reactions have been mixed from his contemporaries and fans.  Resentments have been expressed by some.  At the root of these resentments is the feeling of having been duped by Agassi’s charade. 

Many people might say that this is a sign of the times. But, there is a deeper lesson to be learned, which is what Agassi, the staunch supporter of education, is now trying to tell the world.  That is, there may be much to gain by living a fake existence, but in the long run it is your own happiness itself that is at stake.

As brand strategists, it is our job to assist our clients to drill down to their core identity, identify what is truly important to them, what they stand for, what their genuine values are, not the values of others. Only then can you make explicit, in the form of a graphic representation and a genuine marketing message, the authentic personal brand. 

We ask our clients what they can do better than anyone else in their marketplace. But, they also must be truly passionate about doing it. An authentic pursuit cannot be one based on seeking the admiration of one’s father or the crowd at large.

It was only when Agassi admitted to himself that he was caught up in a masquerade that he shaved his head and discontinued wearing a wig (his mask).  He chose tennis on his own terms and became passionate about the game.  No one can minimize his extraordinary accomplishments. But, the best accomplishment of all was choosing an authentic life.

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Luxury Real Estate Marketing: The Secret Advantage of Being The Popular Choice

 

The advantage to being top of mind, as a luxury real estate marketing professional, in your marketplace is getting the lion’s share of the business.  There is also a secret advantage of being the popular choice. Although, Cherry Garcia ice cream, from Ben & Jerry's, has many raving fans vanilla, chocolate and strawberry ice cream are by far the favorite choices with vanilla winning hands down as "most popular".

Ranking top of mind in luxury branding is even more important that ranking #1 on a Google search, because the overwhelming majority of affluent consumers rely on referrals from friends, family and colleagues when choosing products and services.  Any real estate agent with enough funds can hire a search engine optimization expert to help him or her secure the #1 position in a Google search query.  But, will the website visitor who clicks through the top listing actually hire the top ranking agent on Google at the end of the day if they are not accomplished and competent--or popular?

There is a lesser known factor that influences the choices of high net worth consumers when selecting a luxury real estate marketing professional.  That is, taking into consideration what others will think of them based on the agent they select.  While some consumers are “inner-referred”, meaning that they rely on their own judgment more so  than others, a significant number of people care more about what others think of them.  The “outer-referred” consumer will bypass their gut instincts (and taste buds if they prefer Jerry Garcia) just to look good in the eyes of their peers, neighbors or family (who prefer vanillla).

Have you ever been in a restaurant when the server suggests a menu item and adds, “This is a very popular choice”?  Studies have shown that when it comes to choosing brands of food to serve at a party the host will purchase the “popular choice”, e.g., Coke vs.. Pepsi even if the host prefers the taste of a generic brand that is cheaper.

To summarize, if you want to gain or sustain market leadership you need to stand out and achieve “top of mind” status for three important reasons: 1) most potential referral sources can only remember a few brand names (vanilla, chocolate and strawberry) when asked for a recommendation for a luxury real estate agent ( see more detail on this); 2) Top of mind generates more leads than qualified search engine leads because affluent consumers rely on personal referrals more than Google, and; 3) The popular choice is a hidden influence in selecting an agent

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Luxury Real Estate Branding: Connecting through Emotional Branding

 

As a luxury real estate professional, it is important that your brand resonates emotionally with your target market.  If you strike an emotional chord with potential clients and referral sources they will remember you much better especially if you tell a compelling story.  Here are two example of what Pepsi has done to reach its target audience on an emotional level.   One works better than the other.

This commercial is very funny, but did it connect with the people who are viewing it?  Will they go out and be moved to buy Pepsi next time, because they identify with this story?  Are there enough young people in ashrams practicing martial arts?

In contrast, this second commercial, produced a few years back, hits a bull’s eye.  It also has a humorous side to it. However, it makes a strong emotional connection with its audience.  Music is an important part of the lives of teens and young adult.  This story also speaks to adults who grew up in the sixties and are still young at heart.

Do you remember the Pepsi slogan: “Come Alive—you are in the Pepsi Generation?  Pepsi out-sells Coke in the younger demographic.  They need to stay firmly on this sweet spot to continue this trend.  The first commercial was nebulous about this important brand position which needs to be communicated and amplified with laser sharp precision in order to strike the right emotional chord.

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Luxury Real Estate Marketing: Syndicate YOU! Part 2

Photo by byj

In Part 1 of this blog series we covered the wonderful opportunity to not only syndicate your listings as a means of generating leads for your luxury real estate marketing practice, but also syndicating YOU by leveraging the power of the new media tools. 

By creating a name for yourself on the internet,  a one-woman or a one-man brand, focusing on publishing content that you are passionate about (not necessarily real estate), you can significantly expand your sphere of influence. What is truly exciting about this opportunity is the relatively low cost of entry into the field and the potential for tremendous return on your investment.

Recently, a movie that was produced for $15,000 generated $7.1 within the first two weeks of its release.  The film’s buzz on Twitter and Facebook propelled it to #5 at the box office.  Word-of-mouth advertising via social media also helped to make the movie, Julie & Julia (Julia Child) a hit.  Barnes & Noble reported that they temporarily ran out of Julia Child’s, Mastering the Art of French Cooking because of the renewed interest that the movie triggered. And, the book is once again a best seller.

An important key to becoming a one-woman or one-man brand, as a luxury real estate marketing professional, through new media syndication (blogging, video, podcasting, article distribution, etc) is finding an uncontested niche.  If you carve out a newsworthy market space and generate compelling stories, others will help you spread the word because they are excited to “join” your brand.

Here is an example of a potential uncontested niche that you could cover as a syndicated columnist and also, contribute extraordinary value if you are passionate about the subject:  Local sports.  This does not include major league baseball, basketball, football, soccer, etc. It does include the little league, the high school sports scene, beach volleyball, the ultimate Frisbee league and more.  

The entire purpose of this exercise is to engage more and more local community members to interact with you and each other, and also become well known and well thought of in the process.  You will be surprised at how much real estate business can flow from syndicating YOU, without ever mentioning a thing about real estate. Just feature your real estate credentials along with some calls to action (to contact you for specific real estate needs, e.g., a CMA).

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Luxury Real Estate Marketing: Syndicate YOU!—Part 1

Become a One-Woman or One Man Brand

There is no getting around it! To gain the competitive advantage in your marketplace, as a luxury real estate marketing professional, you need to embrace the evolving media of the internet.  To accomplish this you need to delve fully into and understand the concept of syndication both listing syndication and the syndication of YOU.

Those agents who focus on listing properties understand the advantages of syndicating their listings on as many web sites as possible.  That way they achieve maximum exposure for their listings by reaching consumers wherever they begin their property search.

Coldwell Banker, for one, promotes that their listings are now distributed to more than 350 web sites. A single listing can become a workhorse to generate leads.  Point 2 offers listing syndication to dozens of web sites. In both of these cases, once the luxury agent uploads a listing (something that an assistant can easily do) the rest is automatic.

But, what about syndicating YOU?  Personal syndication via blogs, videos, pod casts, articles, e-magazines and more enables you to reach even more potential clients and referral sources, providing you have something that is interesting to show and/or tell.  Being interesting, newsworthy and buzz-worthy is the key. But, you need to make it easy for others to find your publications in a sea of content.

To syndicate yourself via the internet, you need to become a one-woman or one-man brand.  You need to become synonymous with a specific niche or category in which consumers are interested. And, you do not necessarily need to publish content about real estate as long as it is clear that real estate is your “day job”.  It is perfectly OK to follow your “other passion” and become famous for something apart from real estate. 

An example of a one-woman brand in the culinary arena is Clotilde Dusoulier. Her name may not sound familiar, but her blog, Chocolate & Zucchini, has become quite well known. The brand name itself is memorable and buzz-worthy (you just want to tell others about it). The logo and website/blogsite stands out visually and is easy to navigate.  Plus, the content is excellent.

Ms. Dusoulier explains, “It is a good metaphor for my cooking style: the zucchini illustrates my focus on healthy and natural eating: fresh produce, artisanal goods, and a preference for organic and local ingredients. And the chocolate represents my decidedly marked taste for anything sweet in general, and chocolate, glorious chocolate in particular.”  She began writing her blog in September 2003, in both English and French.  Since then she has written best selling cookbooks and received national and international awards.  Her recipes and commentaries on food appear on several web sites. 

So, luxury real estate marketing professionals, we encourage you to take some risks. Discover and explore your passions beyond real estate. Dive into the new world of syndicating YOU! Be sure to read Part 2 of this series for more details.

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Chocolate photo by FIR0002, Zucchini photo by Jake 7401

The Antidote to The Social Media Dilemma

Photo courtesy of Swanepoel Social Media Report 2010

The Titanic shift from traditional media to social media has confounded businesses of every type. Luxury real estate marketing professionals are no exception. With the Do Not Call laws, telemarketing is no longer an option. People are tossing direct mail in the garbage more so now than ever, without even looking at it. The ability to record TV programs and “zip through” commercials while on mute has significantly reduced the effectiveness of advertising on broadcast TV.  Even banner ads are being ignored online. 

All of these major changes pose this important question: How do you effectively reach your targeting market? The answer: You do NOT reach your target market. You allow them to reach to you by being accessible and offering extraordinary value. 

The Social Media Dilemma:  A Plethora of Choices, plus a Scarcity of Time

In the not too distant past we had three basic choices in the US when viewing TV: CBS, NBC and ABC.  With the advent of cable TV, suddenly there were over 500 channels. Today Direct TV has about 130 HD (high definition) channels alone.  Now, with YouTube and the ability for just about anyone to produce and publish video there are literally millions of choices for viewers to watch.

While viewers have a plethora of choices for online entertainment, they ironically have a scarcity of time.  This means that in any given category of entertainment they only can retain a couple of names of websites or other media channels in their minds. The same holds true for any category of product or service. 

The Antidote: Become the Break-Away Brand

The plethora of choices coupled with the scarcity of time poses what we have coined as the primary marketing ultimatum: Stand Out or Bow Out!™ If you do not stand out, and occupy the top of mind location on a short very short list of brands in a specific category, you might as well settle for crumbs at best when it comes to market share. 

Here is an example of how this works.  What is the first adhesive cellophane tape that comes to your mind? Can you think of another brand in this category?  Do you have time to research more brands? 3M’s Scotch Tape is the “category killer” in cellophane tape category.  To become the category killer you must become the bread-away brand.

To stand out and become the break-away brand, as a luxury real estate marketing professional, you need to select an uncontested category or niche in your marketplace that you can dominate with passion by offering extraordinary value, better than anyone else. That is how you get your target market to reach to you and recommend you to their friends. Being remarkable in a specific category triggers word-of-mouth advertising or buzz which can be amplified through traditional media and also spread virally through social media.

Take the antidote to the social media dilemna or settle for crumbs. Stand Out or Bow Out!

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The New Imperative of Personal Branding in Social Networking

English Astronaut Piers Sellers, Photo by NASA Astronaut, Michael Edward Fossum

The key to building a high-volume luxury real estate marketing practice is developing an abundance of high-trust relationships.  The more you make the more you earn. Personal branding accelerates the process of building trust in cyberspace.

According to a recent survey by the Luxury Institute, about the ‘Social Networking Habits and Practices of the Wealthy', 7 out of 10 affluent consumers are now members of social networks. If you want to connect with more potential clients and referral sources, reach out and invest more time on these sites. It can yield big dividends if you go about it in a focused manner so that your valuable time is well spent.

With the right focus you can “stack the deck” in your favor to develop more high-trust relationships in less time. Developing a strong personal brand accelerates the attraction of high-trust relationships and referrals through the power of focused communication.

Personal brand done right harnesses the power of focused communication by making your core, authentic identity, i.e., who you are and what you stand for, explicitly and instantly clear to your target market.  Sharpness of focus quickens matchmaking because you and your target market can tell, right off the bat, if you are on the same wavelength.

Like-minded people like to do business with people like themselves because it feels so good to be on the same page.  The faster you can let your potential clients and referral sources know that you are a match, the faster you can build trust.  The faster you build trust, the faster the referrals flow provided there is reciprocity in the exchange of value for value. That is why personal branding in social networking is an imperative for luxury real estate professionals who seek market leadership.

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Leveraging Public Relations to Stand Out

Photo by Valerio Capello

As a luxury real estate marketing professional, how can you achieve top of mind status in your marketplace, overnight? One word: Publicity! The right publicity can help you stand out from the crowd.  Here is an example of how one Italian restaurant leveraged public relations to stand out.

Italian restaurants represent the largest population of ethnic restaurants in the U.S.   For example, several years ago the famed Golden Triangle in Beverly Hills (a few short blocks surrounding Rodeo Drive) was home to 18 Italian restaurants.  New York has the most number of Italian restaurants in the world outside of Italy.

Two years ago, Nino Selimaj, who runs six restaurants in New York, introduced the “Luxury Pizza,” which sells for $1,000 for a pie, or $250 for a single slice. This outrageous 12-inch pizza is lavished with crème fraiche, six kinds of the finest caviar available and thin slices of lobster.  It is sold exclusively at Nino’s Bellissima restaurant in New York.   The luxury pizza must be ordered 24 hours in advance. 

Nino’s luxury pizza may seem extravagant, especially today, when high net worth consumers are shying away from conspicuous consumption, at least in public.  But, it is the newsworthiness of the story that is at the core of the real message here.    We recently caught the story on the Travel Channel which means that the story has “legs” (longevity).  It was covered on many TV news features.

For those who travel to New York, having heard about the $1000 pizza, but have not spent a lot of time there, it is very likely that Nino’s restaurants may very well occupy top of their mind when selecting an Italian restaurant. What can you do, as a luxury real estate marketing professional to generate this kind of buzz in your marketplace by leveraging public relations?

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The Significant Advantage of being the “Top-of-Mind Brand”

 Photo by Francesco Sgroi

Which luxury real estate marketing professional would be the first to come to mind, for the majority of consumers, in your marketplace? The “top-of-mind” brand in any category of product or service enjoys a significant competitive advantage:  the lion’s share of the business.   In real estate, that professional would most likely do the highest volume of business.

 Therefore, an important strategy to consider, as a luxury real estate marketing professional is, if you want to gain top-of-mind status, is to discover a niche or a specific sub-category of the marketplace where you can be the dominant player.  Then focus your entire marketing efforts on becoming identified with that niche or category.

 Here is an example of how top-of-mind works in branding terms.  In Napa Valley there are over 500 wineries (and over 500 real estate agents).  If a consumer wanted to select a great Sangiovese wine only a few wineries come to mind.  These wineries found a niche that was not crowded with competitors, at least in California.

 Sangiovese's claim to fame is its role as the heart of Chianti, Brunello and many Super Tuscan wines though it is gaining ground as a varietal wine around the globe. When grown in a suitable location the grape's soft tannins, succulent acidity and moderately intense cherry and herb flavors make Sangiovese very easy to drink as well as supremely versatile at the dinner table.

 One of the first wineries to come to mind for most Sangiovese fans who know Napa wines is Luna.  Luna is one of the first stops heading north along the famed Silverado Trail and is well worth the stop.  

 Another outstanding, but perhaps lesser known winery that produces Sangiovese is Benessere.  Many feel Benessere is the finest Sangiovese in the region.   But, Luna might come to mind first because of its high visibility along the famed Silverado Trail (location, location, location).  The position known as top-of-mind is what we call the prime “real estate of the mind”—a good position to own.

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The Art of Creating A Brand

Lake Itasca, Minnesota , the source of the Mississippi

In luxury real estate marketing, creating a brand is an exercise of finding your essence as an individual or a company. It must authentically reflect your core values and what you are passionate about. Ultimately, your brand must express, explicitly what is distinct and inimitable about your identity.   Here is an example that illustrates this point.

The University of Minnesota (one of Alexandra’s alma maters) sends a quarterly journal which often features a story that illustrates life on campus.  The latest issue tells of a fine arts student who devised an ingenious program as part of her master’s thesis.  In the process she discovered her unique voice, carved out a new distinctive, uncontested niche as an artist, and thus established her personal brand. Anna Metcalfe is a passionate artist as well as an environmentalist.  She combined both of her passions in her master’s thesis and created a newsworthy story that is both heartwarming and creative.

Inspired by Mark Twain’s classic,  The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn on the Mississippi  River [the Mississippi also flows through Minneapolis] she enrolled 50 teenagers who had summer jobs through an organization known as the Green Team, to join her on an adventure exploring life on the Mississippi.   

When she met with the teenagers, they discussed the importance of the river and its function in their lives: watersheds, transportation, pesticides, the health of the river, and how it connects millions of lives in the United States.  She also asked them to write their own stories about the river with drawings.  These stories were silkscreened on porcelain boats that Metcalfe had molded and fired.  Some students told illustrated stories about their first boating adventure with maps of the river. Others included stories about indigenous river plants that they were growing in the Conservation Gardens.  One of the most poignant stories was about a student’s family escape across the Mekong River in Thailand contrasted with their crossing of the Mississippi River into a new land of opportunity.

The students met to launch their boats in the Mississippi.  Later, the boats were gathered and exhibited in a studio, where the teens were encouraged to regale the visitors with their stories.   Metcalfe says.  “They were excited to see their drawings turn into objects.”

For the students it was a defining moment in their lives as they may never look at the Mississippi in the same way.  For Anna Metcalfe it was a remarkable expression not only of art as a means of communication and enrichment, but also as a definition of her unique brand.

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Luxury Real Estate Marketing: Speak to Me in My Language! Part 1

One of the most important aspects of personal and company branding for luxury real estate marketing professionals is messaging. That is, how you tell the story of your brand of doing business.  The key is to be authentic, be genuine and speak to your target market in their language.

The clearer you are about your ideal client’s psychographics, i.e., what makes them “tick”, the easier it is to connect with them in a way that is personally meaningful to them.  Your potential clients are saying “please speak to me, to my personal needs, in my language, and I will give you my business”. 

Recently, Ron was looking for a new hair salon in Santa Barbara to get a great cut and found exactly what he was looking online, because the hair salon spoke his language on their website.  Having lived and worked in Los Angeles for most of his life he was used to the “cutting edge” in haircuts, a standard that is demanded by the entertainment industry in L.A. and many big city dwellers in general. 

 In big cities the competition in most services sectors is fierce, which is a good thing for consumers because choices are plentiful.  Here, innovation is the norm in order to stay ahead of the game.  Outside of the metropolitan areas there is plenty of talent but less of a demand for what is ‘current’.  Finding this “big city” level of service can be more challenging in smaller towns.

 River Blue in Montecito (Santa Barbara) used the magic words on their website to describe their salon: “Before coming to Santa Barbara, Tuan and Suni (husband and wife salon owners) were stylists in San Francisco.   River Blue Salon is a full-service, high end, boutique salon.  With its exposed brick walls, chic decor, and full lines of Bumble and Bumble, Yon-ka, and Youngblood products, River Blue Salon feels like the best of San Francisco or New York right in Montecito”.

 Think of River Blue when you craft your luxury real estate marketing message. The messaging on the website got Ron in the door with an appointment. The web lead was converted. But, did Ron become a convert—a raving  fan,  once he experienced the actual service?   Watch for Part 2 of:  Speak to ME in my language! What followed in his appointment exemplified another extremely important principle in marketing: Be Congruent!

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Luxury Real Estate Web Design: Is Your Online Presence Distinctive?

We often talk about the imperative of personal branding, in the highly competitive world of luxury real estate marketing. Now, with social media leveling the playing field your website is accessible more than ever before, and the need to stand out is mission critical. Having the best “packaging” is often the determining factor in selecting an agent online because consumers are pressed for time and they have the power to quickly move on to check out your competitors in a single click.

Today, we were in the book store. Alexandra was looking for a book and I snapped this picture of the “Women’s Interests” section in the magazine racks. The layout of the covers on just about every magazine in this category looked almost identical. With the exception of one magazine, every cover has a picture of a model surrounded by words intended to hook buyers. Doesn’t this remind you of the plethora of agent websites with head shots that look so much alike? Even the content is the same.

Statistics show that most books and magazines are selected solely based on the cover, the graphic imagery and the messaging. It is the same online. Think of your personal brand as your book cover or your magazine cover. Certainly, there is much more to your brand than this. But, if you are looked over because you blend in like the majority of magazines in any given category your shelf life is going to be limited and you will not have a chance to deliver your valuable service as often as you would like.  

It is important to understand that in blending in and looking like everyone else in the luxury arena you are not demonstrating your marketing savvy. More than ever the luxury seller is looking for the individual who understands the importance of standing out in an ocean of me too.

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Luxury Real Estate Agent Personal Branding : Promote the Community & the Lifestyle More than You

Visit www.LivingInWineCountry.com

Personal branding for luxury real estate marketing professionals should center around the promotion of the community and the lifestyle of your marketplace more than you. If you are passionate about your marketplace you will sell yourself in the process. Here is a video that we produced with our partner, The Institute of Luxury Home Marketing that conveys this concept.

Check out the benefits of earning the prestigious CLHMS designation offered by The Insttute for Luxury Home Marketing. Recognized as the mark of accomplishment in luxury markets around the world, the Certified Luxury Home Marketing Specialist designation assures affluent buyers and sellers that the agents who have earned it have the knowledge, experience, competence, and confidence they require.

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Is Your Brand Bland Or Remarkable? What’s at Stake for You?

Château Mouton Rothschild, photo by Benjamin Zingg

It is generally agreed that the best attributes of luxury real estate marketing professionals are integrity, market knowledge, listening and negotiation skills. Quite often these qualities are considered to be what differentiates one agent from the others. But, these traits and talents are merely the price of admission into the top tier of the real estate field.  If your competitors all embody these characteristics, using words like integrity to set you apart from the pack, simply fail. They become bland and do not define your brand.

You may be great at what you do! However, being great is not enough, if you are not perceived as being great by your target market. In the world of perception "remarkable" is what your are reaching for because remarkable sparks word-of-mouth advertising. Here are some questions to consider:

• How does the market perceive you? Are you remarkable?
• Does your brand identity package truly stand out?
• Does your website look like a luxury store? Does it reflect the prestige of your marketplace?

Like it or not, your website and your marketing materials reflect your superior marketing savvy or your lack thereof. A stunning, consistent brand identity, that makes your competition pale in comparison at first glance, is your best weapon to gain an immediate edge in a listing presentation. It instantly becomes obvious to potential clients that you pay attention to details and you are eminently capable of showcasing their home, which is perhaps their most important asset, in the best light.

The old adage, “never judge a book by its cover” may be good advice when making friends. But, it does not hold up in the business world. Many book publishers spare no expense when designing book covers that are embossed and gilded with attention grabbing colors and titles. They know that the vast majority of people buy books entirely based on their covers. In the United Kingdom approximately 130,000 books are published in one year. In the U.S. the number is 190,000. Brand or Bland? What is at stake?

The question of Brand or Bland? is also asked repeatedly in the wine industry. The overwhelming majority of people buy wine based on the label alone. In Napa Valley and the surrounding region, the design of a wine label can cost as much as $80,000 for a 3” X 5” symbol of good taste. With a glut of wines on the market, and competition heating up from all corners of the globe, wine makers know what is at stake! Consumption of red wine in the US alone is 1.47 billion liters with endless choices.

One of the most notable labels in international wines is Chateau Mouton Rothschild Bordeaux, Pauillac. Since 1946, the Rothschild family has commissioned well known artists and sculptors to design their labels. Each vintage year features a new label by a famous artist such as Miro, Chagall, Picasso, Jean Cocteau, Andy Warhol and Salvador Dali. This became a remarkable differentiator of the brand. At auction, comparable wines sell for far less than Chateau Mouton.

The label says it all. What an extraordinary promise of value! Not only is the wine ambrosia, the label keeps giving because it appreciates in value.  

Is Your Brand Bland Or Remarkable? What’s at stake for you?

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Luxury Real Estate Marketing : Discovering Your Spots

Kevincollins123 photographer

We are often asked to describe the process of developing a personal or company brand for luxury real estate marketing professionals.Our very first step is what we call the discovery process. Our job is to transcend the layers of superficiality where it is next to impossible to detect distinctions between real estate agents and companies within the same marketplace.With a battery of very pointed questions and two-way communication we reach for and identify the authentic brand signal, the core identity.

The philosophy behind this quest is the notion that things cannot change their innate nature, NOR SHOULD THEY.Instead, one's innate nature (or the nature of your company) should be proudly amplified and expressed vividly so that those who value, and are thus attracted to this core identity can readily recognize that they have found their match.

Have you ever heard the proverb that a leopard cannot change its spots?Nor, can a leopard spotted moth be a butterfly. Some people look at this as a limitation. But, in fact, there are infinite ways to express your core identity.

Furthermore, there is no scarcity of potential clients who would be attracted to your authentic brand signal if you clearly bring it into focus, sharply differentiate it from your competition, and simply make it obvious.Those who seek the impossible task of trying to change their “spots” are trying to be all things to all people and will fail.

The art of branding is tuning into the deepest concerns of your target market and expressing your core identity as the solution to their problem, their challenge or their predicament in an inimitable way.This is a very creative process and we love doing it.

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