Luxury Brand Strategy: How to Find out What Google Knows About You

The privacy debate rages on.  In yesterday’s a Wall Street Journal article, titled, Google’s Data-Trove Dance Internal Debates Over Using Collected Information and Protecting Privacy, journalist Amir Efraty notes,

“The breadth of Google's information gathering about Internet users rivals that of any single entity, government or corporate. The Web search and advertising giant continues to expand its collection and analysis of data, turning its mission to index the world, its people and their interests into a roughly $50 billion-a-year advertising business”. 

Here is how you can you find out, what Google knows about you.  Thanks to Tom Gara, WSJ journalist whose Google data graphic accompanies the above mentioned article, wrote, My Life, and Past, as Seen through Google’s Dashboard, here are the instructions: Go to Google.com and search for “Google Dashboard”.  You enter your password, and   view all the data about you.  Google gives you the option to turn the collection off, and delete archived data. 

We recommend that you read the article, as Mr. Gara has both a negative and positive spin on this.  The negative is digital blackmail and identity theft if anyone has your password, and the positive, “Our online histories, in the long run, could become one of our most cherished memories. In 20 years time they will paint a picture of our past more detailed than anything our brains are capable of.”

Enjoy your journey through your archives.

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Luxury Brand Strategy: Is Privacy the New Luxury Expenditure? Part 3

MEERKAT SURVEILLANCE TEAM

Personal privacy on the Internet is one of the most important topics in current events today.   Is privacy truly the new luxury expenditure?  Would you pay for a subscription to Google or the social media platforms if your privacy was guaranteed, and all ads were on an opt-in basis? Or would you hire a pair of meerkats?

The Snowden affair is an indication of the state of privacy on the Internet.  “Snowden was an employee and technical contractor for the United States National Security Agency, and a former employee of the Central Intelligence who leaked details of several top-secret United States and British government mass surveillance programs to the press.” (Wikipedia)  This surveillance included information obtained from Google, Verizon, Facebook, Yahoo, Amazon, and Microsoft.

His disclosures have fueled a variety of debates branding him a hero/whistleblower or a traitor.  His stand is “to inform the public as to that which is done in their name (the war on terror) and that which is done against them”(the 4^th amendment).

Here is the excerpt from the Bill of Rights, and is known as the 4^th amendment.

“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”

In an article in the Guardian, a British newspaper, John Naughton (a newspaper columnist) writes in an editorial piece, that the media is telling the wrong story: “the story here is where the proper balance between freedom and security lies”.   The most important outcome of this he feels is that the days of the Internet as a truly open global network are numbered if governments can demand wholesale information on its citizens activities.  And, how do you divide the Internet and which country is watching what and whom?

In conclusion, Mr. Naughton quotes Neelie Kroes, vice president of the European commission, "If businesses or governments think they might be spied on," she said, "they will have less reason to trust the cloud, and it will be cloud providers who ultimately miss out. Why would you pay someone else to hold your commercial or other secrets, if you suspect or know they are being shared against your wishes? Front or back door – it doesn't matter – any smart person doesn't want the information shared at all. Customers will act rationally and providers will miss out on a great opportunity."

What do you think?

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Luxury Brand Strategy: Is Privacy the New Luxury Expenditure? Part 2

Mining Your Personal Data

In Part 1, we discussed the effects of digital footprints or tattoos, and the impact of “free” usage of social media.  Here is the latest way to mine your data by Facebook.

As companies are reporting earnings for the last quarter, it is important to note that Facebook’s earnings have improved because companies are willing to spend money advertising on the social network.  Facebook has recently expanded its mobile ad strategies by spending time with its potential ad buyers and listening to what they need and want. 

The facts are that marketing budgets are eager to participate in mobile ads, because so many are connected to their mobile devices.  Facebook by virtue of its numbers is the logical place for these ads.   Com.score reports   “American consumers spent 225.4 billion minutes on Facebook mobile app and mobile Web pages in the second quarter, about double from a year ago.”

According to the Wall Street Journal, “What advertisers particularly like about Facebook mobile is to advertise on the news feed-the spot on member’s pages where they post their own news and read what their friends are posting.  The ads, with colorful photos are hard to miss, right in the middle of the scroll of updates.”  This fall they are planning to enhance this feature with video advertising.

How does that affect the average consumer?  Facebook has teamed up with Datalogix,  “which identifies people who have been exposed to an ad on Facebook and then mines credit-card and retailer purchase data to determine whether those people bought the product.” Wall Street Journal

 What do you think of this practice?

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Luxury Brand Strategy: Is Privacy the New Luxury Expenditure?

This question was posed at the e-luxe conference in Paris.  What many of us don’t realize is that every time we interact in a digital environment such as: TV, mobile phone, the World Wide Web, and social media, we create a digital footprint (some have dubbed it a digital tattoo). Wikipedia defines it as “the size of a person’s ‘online presence’ measured by the number of individuals with whom they interact.”

When social media came on the scene, many rushed to make and interact with as many friends as possible without discriminating as to whom they were associating with.  The theory was: it is free, and perhaps something will come of it, the more, the merrier!  Fast forward to 2013, we are all realizing, that we may have given too much information in return for “free”.

In an article written by Jeffrey Lambert, titled, How to Erase Your Digital Footprint,

Mr. Lambert says, “Like stepping in wet concrete, these trails we unwittingly leave behind can be tough to erase. With the rise of identity theft, corporate tracking, and the ability of “Big Brother” to access our private data, it is more important than ever for Internet users to be aware of how past and future data can be erased and controlled more effectively.”

One of the recommendations he gives to understanding your digital footprints are several tools, when added to your computer will monitor what Google gathers in terms of data to allow them to search and target advertising. 

“Download the free software offering Google Alarm, created by F.A.T. Labs, which is available for both Firefox and Chrome browsers. This add-on will notify you each time you are sending data to Google. Just make sure you disable the sound option for this. I jumped out of my chair the first time the (very loud) alarm went off, and kept going off almost every time I visited a new site.  Unless you have a serious love for air horns or are trying to induce a heart attack don’t forget to do this!”

Go ahead and read this article for additional suggestions for monitoring your privacy.  In the end the most expedient and time saving procedure may be paying someone to switching your concrete prints for some cloud light slippers.

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Luxury Brand Strategy: No More Naked Popcorn

“Small Indulgences” is an important product and service area of luxury brand strategy and marketing.  It does not mean that the item has to cost a lot. The cosmetic industry thrives on this principle of small indulgences. Starbucks built a global empire on it. 

Not long ago, a college student from Chicago made it big by identifying an uncontested small indulgence market niche. He dominates a product category that he himself defined and is passionate about. Meet Brian Taylor, CEO of Kernel Season’s the popcorn seasoning company.  

Brian has a mission:  To rid the world of naked popcorn.  He started out by getting a local movie theatre to test-market his products for free.  This grew into a multi million-dollar business based on Brian’s love for popcorn and his curiosity about seasoning it. Now you can find Kernel Season’s (cleverly similarity to Colonel Sanders of KFC chicken fame) in the popcorn isle of most supermarkets. 

The brand name itself tells you what the brand is. It even has an avatar like the Colonel.  The slogan, “No More Naked Popcorn”, tells you, in just four words, exactly what the brand stands for.  

There is no mistaking what this new product category is or in which larger category this niche belongs. It is also intuitive where you would find the products in your local market-right next to the popcorn. 

Type in the search term, “popcorn seasoning”, in Google and this brand will come up first. But, not because of brilliant SEO work. There just is not much competition in this field.  That is the beauty of identifying an underserved or uncontested market niche as a luxury brand strategy.

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Marketing Luxury Real Estate: Brand Names and Their Darn Good Stories

When thinking of branding yourself or your luxury real estate firm, one thing to keep in mind is that some of the best brands often have the best stories.

On a recent visit to the Carpinteria Wine Store, we discovered this wine, at a modest price of $14.99.  As brand strategists and students of brands, these thoughts popped into our minds:

Who produced this wine and why?  Herman Story Estate, Russell P Rom (owner of and grandson of Herman Story,)  decided that after "having one too many bottles of bad wine at friends' weddings, I had to come up with a solution to this insidious problem..."

What does it taste like, or what is the consensus of opinion of this wine in wine world? Here is a review from winediscount.center.com,

"90/100 - Our score.There is just no excuse for drinking bad wine, especially at a wedding! Damn Good Wedding Wine is silky and rich with flavors of black plum and blackberry along with a touch of black pepper spice and alluring oak on the finish. Like his Herman Story wines, production on this wine is tiny. Whether you are getting married or not, this wine is worth checking out!"

Where is it from?  Here is an explanation and a recommendation from Robert Parker, a leading US wine critic who wrote,  "Readers looking for super-concentrated, extroverted, exuberant, powerhouse wines from California's Central Coast need look no further than the Herman Story estate. For those who love the wild side of Rhone varietals pushed to the limit (but not over), these are highly recommended. Moreover, prices are  exceptionally fair for this level of quality."

The winery is located in Paso Robles and the fruit is sourced from various vineyards in the Central Coast.

The most memorable brands have the best stories, regardless whether they are luxury brands or any other brand.  And, we are not suggesting that someone brand themselves, as "Damn Good Luxury Real Estate Agent"!  LOL

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Luxury Real Estate Personal & Company Branding: Is Your Brand Formal or Informal?

In luxury real estate personal and company branding, brand positioning is determining how best to amplify and clearly communicate the difference between you and your closest competitors. In general, your brand position is the summation, in a couple of words, of what you stand for in the minds of your target market. 

Owning the very opposite brand position of your competition is a very effective way to accomplish this.  In the realm of luxury marketing you are typically dealing with sophisticated consumers or those who are aspiring to become more sophisticated.  So, how do you find opposite brand positions within the spectrum of sophistication?  Here are two French brands that illustrate this extremely important principle of personal and company branding. 

Two heritage brands, Ladurée (founded in 1862) and Bigot (founded in 1913) are famous in France for chocolate and pastries.  The quality of their products is legendary.  Ladurée is predominantly located in Paris, while Bigot is located in Amboise, in the Loire Valley.  If you did a blind taste test you might discover some very subtle differences in the taste of the chocolate.  However, the quality is indisputable in each case. 

Personal preferences in the taste itself may be the deciding factor in choosing one brand over the other.  But, more likely than not the buying decision would come down to the brand position.  Ladurée is FORMAL and Bigot is INFORMAL.  

If you new that both brands would satisfy your sweet tooth, without tasting the actual chocolate, to which brand would you personally gravitate? Why?  

People like to do business with people and companies like themselves. They purchase products based on their personal values.  That is why branding is about facilitating a match in preferential values between purveyors of goods and their very specific target market. 

In the realm of real luxury real estate, the buyer must be in upper demographic to be able to afford a luxury home. Therefore, understanding the precise psychographics of your buyers and sellers, (their priority values and attitudes), is of paramount importance when it comes to branding you or your company.  Just be sure that your brand position authentically represents you and is not assumed just to be the opposite of your competition.  Your ideal clients will see right through that!

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Luxury Real Estate Personal & Company Branding: Genie Branding

As a luxury real estate marketing professional, it is important to take every opportunity to promote your brand no matter how small it may be.  Here is an example we found in Paris.

Yesterday, after an amazing lunch at a Thai restaurant, we found an eclair store.  The store was small inviting, and every eclair was practically screaming, "Buy Me".  The loudest one was the chocolate eclair.  As we were happily munching our eclair, Ron noticed that one of the little chocolate bits on top of the chocolate ganache had branding on it. The Genie did it!

The store is called L'Eclair du Genie, which means the eclair of the genie, a supernatural creature who inspires the owner of the store, Christopher Adam, to create enchantment with an eclair.  Some of the eclairs are decorated to celebrate the seasons,and special days such as Bastille Day. It was so good, we just had to have another one.

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Wishing everyone a delightful weekend, Cheers Ron & Alexandra Seigel

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Luxury Real Estate Personal & Company Branding: Two Great Ways to Select a Brand Name - Part 2

In Part 1 of this articles series we mentioned a technique used in personal and company branding:  associate the brand name with something people already know; then, use a play on words to engage them in your brand so they remember it after the initial contact. 

While in Paris we got hungry for fresh oysters. There are dozens of seafood restaurants in this fabulous culinary mecca that serve oysters.  How on earth can you get yours to stand out and be easily remembered?  This is a dilemma faced by luxury real estate marketing professionals in markets where many agents and companies vie for top of mind status. 

We found a terrific restaurant on the Left Bank with a catchy name in French:  Huitrerie Regis.  The word huitre in French means oyster. Creating a new word by adding the letters “rie” was a play on words because it created a new category of food purveyors.  Boulangerie means bakery, charcuterie means purveyor of cold cuts (ready to eat meats). A patisserie is a pastry shop.  

But, their branding genius was evidenced by the fact that they not only named a new category they defined a new restaurant business model.  This is a tiny restaurant with only seven tables that turn quickly because of a very limited menu. There is no kitchen and just a single restroom.  They serve a very limited selection of wine, oysters and shrimp, with bread, desert and coffee. They have one server and two food preparers. The entire restaurant was less than 400 square feet.  Everything was fresh and delicious. 

Naming a new luxury real estate category then owning that name as part of your brand, can make you stand out from your competition.  

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Luxury Real Estate Personal & Company Branding: Two Great Ways to Select a Brand Name

Selecting the right brand name can make all the difference in the world in marketing luxury real estate.  If you can help people remember your personal or company brand name after just one impression, so they contact you directly or readily recommend you to others, your chances of surpassing your competition is significantly enhanced. 

In Paris we encountered a bookstore called Mona Lisait (pronounced lee zay), which means Mona Read.  This is a great name because most everyone who reads is somewhat familiar with the painting, Mona Lisa, by Leonardo da Vinci. 

They are able to use the image of the painting in their branding because it is in the pubic domain in the United States and those countries with a copyright term that is over 100 years.  Now all you need to remember is to add “it” to the name and voila! It makes you smile like Mona and it is almost impossible to forget afer just one impression.   

The play on words is a great memory trick for branding because it immediately engages your target market and sparks word-of-mouth advertising. Combine that with a word or phrase that is already familiar and you have a “home run” in luxury real estate personal or company branding. 

In Part 2 of this article series we will cover another Parisian brand that uses a play on words to accomplish the same effect.

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Luxury Real Estate Personal & Company Branding: Do You Need a Sub-Brand?

One of the biggest concerns that we hear from luxury real estate marketing professionals is the fear of narrowing their niche to the top tier price range homes because it may alienate some of their friends or previous clients in lower price homes.  However, by diffusing your focus and attempting to be all things to all people, you run the risk of diluting your brand position, i.e., what your brand stands for and what you are known for.

One global luxury brand has done a masterful job of compartmentalizing its various sub-brands with their multiple price points. By identifying its brand with sports in general (beyond polo, “the sport of kings”) Ralph Lauren has managed to attract not only high net worth consumers but also those who aspire to be wealthy. 

The key here is that Ralph Lauren created separate sub-brands that stand for different things and focus on different target markets. For example, the Ralph Lauren Black Label Staor Tan Motorcross Jeans is priced at $495; their basic denim jean, sold at Macy’s, is $90. 

Yet, for some, wearing a shirt or other clothing embroidered with the ubiquitous polo pony logo has completely lost its appeal.  Apparently, a significant number of customers felt this way because Ralph Lauren made an ingenious move to lure disenfranchised customers back to the brand and keep others from switching. 

On their interactive website, you can customize their signature polo shirts, terrycloth bathrobes and other articles of clothing with YOUR OWN INITIALS instead of the pony! On certain items, the embroidered Polo logo has been moved to the bottom hem of the shirt. That way if you tuck it in it does not show.

You can choose from many color combinations of fabric and embroidered logos and several different font schemes for your initials. Once you make your shirt selection, your color choice and your font choice, it displays that combination on the model’s shirt.

Quality of manufacturing is not the question here because Ralph Lauren has built a strong reputation as a brand you can trust.  Blending in and “leaving the brand” is the issue.

In the luxury services arena, some banks have figured out how to offer two levels of service without alienating any of their customers. To accomplish this they too created sub-brands. For example, there is definitely a world of difference in the level of service between Chase Private Banking and their standard banking services.  The amount of dollars entrusted to the bank (for investment purposes with J P Morgan in this case) is what separates the two sub-brands.

There is a huge lesson here for luxury real estate marketing professionals. Bespoke (tailor made) or customized service is what your top tier customers have come to expect.  If you or your company wants to be known for more than one level of service, you must differentiate the two levels by creating sub-brands.

Crafting and developing your sub-brand is just as important as building your primary brand.  Do you need a sub-brand? 

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Luxury Real Estate Personal & Company Branding: In the Pink

The proportions and combinations of colors used in your luxury real estate personal or company branding is an important aspect of communicating your marketing message.  Certain colors have strong emotional connotations and also cultural bias that can work for or against your brand.  

For example, red, white and blue can stir the deep emotions of patriotism. Several regional and national American real estate brands have used this color combination to their advantage. 

This color palette was sampled from the photograph of the peonies above. When you think of the color pink what associations come up in your mind? 

Various shades of pink can be used in personal and company branding to communicate a range of thoughts and feelings from subtle to bold.  Mary Kay Cosmetics, known for their pink Cadillac rewards to sales people, has shifted their brand to a more sophisticated feel by making black and white the dominant colors of their brand with a pale pink as the accent.  

T-Mobile has used shocking pink as an accent to black, charcoal gray and white. Whereas, world-renowned Fauchon, purveyors of fine gourmet foods in Paris, unabashedly uses pink as their primary brand color with black and white as the accent. 

Pink is a color that has long been associated with the female sex. Today, more men choose to boldly embrace pink and ignore this cultural bias. 

The famous British traditional shirt maker, Thomas Pink (80 stores worldwide) is part of the Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy group. Pink’s luxury brand color scheme incorporates black, white and gold with pink as the accent. Their mascot is the “Cheeky Fox” and their brand story is quite interesting. Mr. Pink was the 18^th century tailor who invented the iconic scarlet red hunting coat. But, it was referred to as PINK in honor of its originator. 

One of our clients, Courtney Ranson, specializes in the Washington Park area of central Denver, Colorado, also known as “Wash Park”.  Her ultimate favorite color is fuchsia, a very strong pink.  We used this color deliberately as an accent (with deep plum as the dominant brand color), to communicate her passion for her beloved neighborhood and also to romanticize the area.  Her slogan (incorporated in her logo) is Denver Wash Park -“ The Heart of the City”. Watch this Video Case Study.

Colors plays a big role in luxury real estate personal and company branding. Your personal color preferences need to be balanced with what is appropriate within your marketplace and also what makes your brand stand out from your competitors’. 

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Luxury Real Estate Marketing: Open New Channels of Creativity - Part 2

As a luxury real estate marketing professional do you find yourself relying on the same sources of business to sustain your practice? It is easy to get complacent.  But, by staying on this course you run the risk of getting stale or even stagnant. One of the key habits of successful market leaders is staying sharp by continuously reaching for new channels of creativity. 

Sometimes new paths simply appear and you just need to move forward. But, sometimes it takes consistently chipping away to open a new channel of business.  Other times it may even require a bulldozer to clear the way. We discovered a perfect metaphor for this that we wanted to share with you. 

Recently, while taking a walk on our Carpinteria beach here in Santa Barbara, California, we encountered an unusual phenomenon. The latest tides washed up a surplus of sand that blocked the “ever-present” channel between our salt marsh and the ocean, which threatened the entire ecosystem. It has occurred only five times in the last fifteen years. 

Adjacent to our sandy beach, sub tidal rocky reef, and kelp beds is the Carpinteria Salt Marsh Reserve. It contains a critically important Southern California estuary, which supports many sensitive plant and animal species.  The site includes extensive wetland, sub-tidal channel and emergent upland habitats. The reserve provides habitat for migratory waterfowl along with several species of plants and animals listed as endangered, threatened or of special concern. 

When this blockage occurs members of the Land Trust of Santa Barbara County and several volunteers work together to open a new channel between the marsh and the ocean.  Please take less than one minute to watch the video we created to document this process. 

 Find ways to open up new channels of creativity and business. To gain or sustain market leadership you constantly need to keep your creative juices flowing by trying new things. 

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Luxury Real Estate Personal & Company Branding: Open New Channels of Creativity

A major part of our luxury real estate personal and company branding practice involves developing strategies to help our clients gain or sustain market leadership and also coaching them to execute their strategies. From our perspective, the art of coaching is essentially this: 

Encouragement to shift from reacting to current conditions to proactively creating new channels of creativity through which inspired, innovative action can flow.

Contrary to the majority of business coaches we believe that holding our clients accountable for anything is an utter waste of time-theirs and ours.  For those of you who seek to consistently command the lion’s share of your marketplace, or a niche therein, there is absolutely no need for motivation tactics from your coach.

If you feel the need to be held accountable to achieve a goal of this caliber, motivation is the last thing that will work.  It may be a quick fix at best, and it will not produce enduring results. Your passion and your competition should keep you engaged in the game and on your toes. Or, you might as well get out of the game, altogether.

There is no amount of wheedling, prodding, cajoling, coaxing, persuading, sweet-talking, enticing, invalidating, flattering or intimidating that will get you where you want to go.

Unwavering support and encouragement to dissolve your own self-doubts (the only thing that can stop you from consistently realizing your dreams) is the “secret sauce” that is required from your coach.

In this article series, we will discuss how proactively opening new channels of creativity can not only be the catalyst to attract new and exciting opportunities, but also to open the flood-gates of bountiful career satisfaction and self-actualization.

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Luxury Real Estate Personal & Company Branding: Say Artisan Organic Cheese - Part 4

Chèvre with Peppercorns - Made with Goat's Milk

-BRAND POSITIONING-

In Part 3 of this Luxury Real Estate Personal & Company Branding article series we discussed how Cowgirl Creamery, the Northern California (Sonoma County) producers of artisan organic cheeses, does not actually compete against global, mass-produced cheese brands, like Kraft’s Velveeta or Cheese Whiz. Their ideal customer is a sophisticated consumer with a discerning palate. We further clarified that the Cowgirl Creamery brand is sophisticated yet down to earth which resonates with the values of their ideal customers.

Red Hawk by Cowgirl Creamery - Made with Cow Milk

Many luxury real estate marketing professionals attempt to claim a similar brand position as they wrestle with their competition for the same target market. So, we posed this question: 

“How can YOUR marketing message stand out in a sea of very similar communications from your competition who also claim they stand for the same thing?” 

The answer is, get out of that wrestling match, all together!  Find an uncontested or underserved lucrative market NICHE that you can serve better than anyone else and do so with passion. Here is a great example of another successful producer of artisan cheeses from the same county as Cowgirl Creamery. 

Goat Milk Cheese VS Cow Milk Cheese

Goat cheese, or chèvre as it is called in France, has grown considerably in popularity in the United States. Laura Chenel is the recognized “pioneer” of American goat cheese production.  From its humble beginnings in late 1970’s, Laura Chenel’s Chèvre has been acknowledged as America’s first name in chèvre. 

The company’ state-of-the-art GOAT MILK ONLY creamery is located in Sonoma County’s famous Carneros region bordering Napa Valley. In 2006 Laura sold the company to the Rians Group, a French family of artisan cheese producers with a commitment to the same level of quality, tradition and artisan technique that Laura herself held.   

Both Cowgirl Creamery and Laura Chenel’s Chèvre appeal to sophisticated consumers. Yet, like with Kraft cheeses, they are not really in direct competition with each other. 

However, in relationship to OTHER GOAT CHEESE MAKERS, the harmonious blending of French technique and Sonoma terroir (geographic, geologic and climatic conditions), place Laura Chenel’s Chèvre more in the “highly sophisticated” end of the sophisticated spectrum for its brand position (see Part 3).  Being the “first mover” in a new brand category further strengthens the authoritativeness of this brand position. 

Your brand position is that part of your luxury brand identity and promise of value that you must actively communicate to your target market in such a way that it establishes a distinct advantage over your competition.  

We hope you have enjoyed this article series on brand positioning and have understood the importance of articulating your own brand position. If you would like our assistance in clarifying and communicating your brand position in relationship to your competition, we would be delighted to be of assistance. That is our expertise.

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Part 1   l   Part 2   l   Part 3   l   Part 4

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Luxury Real Estate Personal & Company Branding: Say Artisan Organic Cheese - Part 3

-BRAND POSITIONING-

In Part 2 of this article series we offered a definition of a brand position.  Your brand position is that part of your luxury brand identity and promise of value that you must actively communicate to your target market in such a way that it establishes a distinct advantage over your competition.  Sharply defining your brand position as a luxury real estate marketing professional is essential! 

We explained that Cowgirl Creamery, the Northern California artisan organic cheese maker, is not actually competing with the likes of Kraft cheese.  Their target market is sophisticated, discerning consumers, not those who prefer mass-produced products.So, how does Cowgirl Creamery stand out from their direct competitors-other artisan cheese brands who also target sophisticated customers?   That is where the fine-tuning of one’s brand positioning comes into play.

People like to do business with people (and companies) who share their values and have compatible personalities. Yes, companies have brand personalities, too!  What are some of the qualities that come to mind when you think of a cowgirl? 

A cowgirl is a woman who tends cattle. She is a woman with true grit:  determination, bravery, tenacity, fortitude, and courage. 

If you value these characteristics you certainly can identify with Sue Conley and Peggy Smith the co-founders of Cowgirl Creamery.  They both came to San Francisco, “on a hippie trip” in 1976 after completing their degrees at the University of Tennessee and established careers in some of San Francisco’s most famous kitchens. 

Their brand story, their background, their provenance in the culinary industry, establishes a brand position of down to earth sophistication. To express the down to earth dimension of their brand, their logo uses a “western” font and a silhouette of a cowgirl on a horse.  

To amplify their expertise you can find all of the awards their cheeses have won on their website. To communicate their authoritativeness and also to extend their online offerings beyond their own menu of cheeses, you can find an extensive library of cheeses that the company sells on a wholesale basis. 

The entire purpose of clarifying your brand position is to make it quick and easy for your IDEAL CLIENTS OR CUSTOMERS to recognize that you are like them so they will be inclined to do business with you.  

On the opposite end of the spectrum of down to earth sophisticated consumers are the highly sophisticated consumers who want to distance themselves from the more down to earth variety.  To many this may come across as “snooty” or pretentious. But, this is not necessarily the case. 

In the late 1970s through the 80s, The Helmsley Palace Hotel in New York ran an advertising campaign that communicated brilliantly to this segment of the luxury hotel market. In one ad owner, Leona Helmsley, was pictured with the plush Turkish towels they provided to guests with a quote that went something like this:  “I would not settle for anything less than the finest Turkish towels, why should you?” 

Brand positioning is all about clearly conveying your extraordinary promise of value to your ideal clients with an emphasis on how your value proposition is more advantageous than your competitors’.  But, as a luxury real estate marketing professional, how can you get your message to stand out in a sea of very similar communications from your competition.  Stay tuned for the answer in Part 4. 

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Luxury Real Estate Personal & Company Branding: Say Artisan Organic Cheese - Part 2

Brand Position, Continued

A common concern expressed by our luxury real estate personal and company branding clients is coming across as too pretentious with their new brand identity.  Some have trepidation about alienating prior clients whose homes may not be in the top tier of the price range in their marketplace.  Others just do not want to be perceived as “snooty”. 

One of the reasons we selected the cheese makers, Cowgirl Creamery, as the focal point of this article series is because they exemplify a luxury brand that is down to earth.  Their brand is definitely sophisticated, but by no means pretentious. 

In Part 1 we discussed how, unlike Kraft cheeses that are mass produced for a global market, Cowgirl Creamery is a local  (Northern, CA) artisan and they use only organic milk.  These two companies have entirely different target markets.  Local, artisan and organic represent, in a nutshell, their brand position that they actively communicate to a sophisticated and discerning target market. 

One of our favorite dining experiences was in a restaurant in the town of Parma, Italy.  As soon as we were seated at the table, huge chunks of delicious, locally produced, aged Parmesan cheese was served along with freshly baked hot crusty Italian bread, compliments of the house.  

Once you have an experience like this it is next to impossible to even consider sprinkling pre-grated, non-aged Parmesan cheese from a green cardboard container, on your pasta.  Yet, there is a huge target market that is delighted with the convenience of Kraft’s boxed Parmesan cheese. 

Your brand position is that part of your luxury brand identity and promise of value that you must actively communicate to your target market in such a way that it establishes a distinct advantage over your competition.   In the case of Cowgirl Creamery they are not actually competing with Kraft.  They compete with other cheese artisans.  

In marketing luxury real estate, when your competition is also sophisticated you may need to refine your brand position even further. There are many levels of sophistication, a full range within a spectrum from completely unpretentious to highly sophisticated. That is what we will cover in Part 3 of this article series.  You may be surprised to discover that what some may consider “snootiness”, in some cases, can work very much to your advantage.

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Luxury Real Estate Personal & Company Branding: Say Artisan Organic Cheese

Recently, a website was called to our attention, in the realm of luxury goods and services, that exemplifies many of the principles that we focus upon in our luxury real estate personal and company branding practice. In this article series we will cover the principles that make Cowgirl Creamery a candidate for our Brilliance in Branding Award.  In Part 1 we will discuss the principle of brand positioning, the importance of which often alludes luxury real estate marketing professionals in their personal and company branding. 

- Brand Positioning -

We were first introduced to Cowgirl Creamery several years ago when we visited one of their retail stores located in a San Francisco culinary hot spot, the Ferry Building. On our first encounter, we thought the clever attention-getting brand name stood out and we immediately knew what that brand stood for.  Their brand position is crystal clear. 

When you think of Kraft cheese, Velveeta or Cheese Whiz (both made by Kraft Foods) do you think of a luxury brands? Cowgirl Creamery stands for local (Northern California) artisan organic cheeses.  In just three words they differentiate themselves making it impossible to confuse them with the global conglomerate’s brands.   

You can find Cowgirl Creamery cheeses in Whole Foods Markets.  But, you most likely will not find their products other large food market chains.  Kraft stands for consistently reliable, people-pleasing cheese for the masses.  This does not imply that their cheeses are inferior.  They just appeal to a different target market. 

Your luxury real estate brand and your website provide the best opportunity to communicate your extraordinary promise of value and how you are distinct from your competition.  If you do not instantaneously let your target market and potential referral base know your brand position, that is, what you stand for, how you are distinct and also how you want to be perceived, they will pigeonhole you by default.  Once that happens it becomes very difficult to get them to re-categorize you in their minds on your own terms. 

In subsequent articles in this series we will cover more principles of branding that are exemplified in Cowgirl Creamery company branding. 

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Personal & Company Branding: The Added Value of Provenance - Part 7

Pacific Design Center on Melrose Avenue -  Adjacent to Beverly Hills, CA

Stay on the Leading Edge - Don't  Sit on Your Laurels!

In this article series we explored an essential principle that can play a big role in adding value to luxury real estate personal and company branding.  Your provenance, which is your history, background, lineage, pedigree, or heritage, can contribute mightily to the story of your brand. It is where your brand “comes from”.   

If you are the market leader in your area, one of your core strengths in relationship to your closest competitors is your track record, which is a key component in establishing your provenance.  A strong track record is virtually irrefutable and it is intimidating to your challengers. 

With a strong track record, however, it is very easy for market leaders to become complacent. To sustain market leadership it is extremely important that you do not “sit on your laurels”.  You must stay current and relevant.  You must keep innovating to stay on the leading edge ahead of your competition. 

In our strategic branding practice we work exclusively with those luxury real estate marketing professionals and companies who are bent on gaining or sustaining market leadership in their marketplace or a niche therein.  True brand strategy is a battle for mind-share and market share between incumbents and challengers.  Our clients take this seriously because, at this level, it is the lion’s share of business in their area or niche that is at stake. 

We coach our market leading clients to stay on the leading edge and not to sit on their laurels. We also help them to amplify the provenance of their brand story, by clearly displaying their formidable track records in their Gallery or Portfolio of Sold Homes on their web sites.  Just one look at their track records can be enough to instantly convince a home seller to list with them, and not even bother to investigate the competition.   

Here are two examples of how our market leading Santa Barbara clients communicate their provenance.  Linda Lorenzen Hughes is the market leader in the Hope Ranch area and Chris Palme is the market leader in the Santa Barbara Riviera niche. (Click on their names)

We hope you enjoyed our 7 Part  series on the added value of provenance.  If you are a market leader in your area of expertise or you are serious about challenging the incumbent, check out our track record (Client Testimonials) and contact us.

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Personal & Company Branding: The Added Value of Provenance-Part 6

Morgan's at the desert - La Quinta Resort and Club

Great luxury real estate personal and company branding is all about telling a great story that engages your target market, establishing trust by building credibility and sparks word-of-mouth advertising. High net worth consumers are interested in knowing about your history, your roots; they want to know about your provenance.  Here is a story within a story, within a story about personal and company branding that exemplifies the added value of provenance. 

Recently, we had the privilege of staying at one of the most storied California hotels, La Quinta Resort & Club, the longest running resort in the Palm Springs area. It originally opened in 1926 as a quiet hideaway for the Hollywood elite – including film legends Greta Garbo, Katherine Hepburn, Frank Capra and Clark Gable; and today is a host to a number of other celebrities.  During our stay many of the world’s top tennis celebrities were there for the ATP Tournament, which took place in the adjacent town of Indian Wells. 

When we booked our stay we had the choice between La Quinta Resort & Club and the Hyatt Indian Wells Resort & Spa.  Both have golf courses, a spa, and a signature restaurant.  Both  are in the same price range. The Hyatt, a multi-story building with a giant pool, has a very contemporary, austere design. In our opinion, it lacks charm, warmth and character.  La Quinta Resort is a legendary getaway with unattached Mediterranean style haciendas (no more than two stories). It has 41 individual smaller pools, each with hot pools with water jets, this, in addition to a large pool adjacent to the spa and tennis stadium. 

Although, La Quinta Resort & Club retains its own brand identity, it is one of the Waldorf Astoria Hotels and Resorts, now a sub-brand of Hilton Hotels. The original Waldorf-Astoria hotel in New York was the first hotel to offer room service, which changed the industry completely. It was also influential in advancing the status of women, who were admitted singly without escorts.  Can you get the sense of La Quinta’s provenance and the added value that a heritage brand can provide? 

People can have provenance, too. And, that is one reason why personal branding is so important.  As a luxury real estate marketing professional, you must clearly let your target market know what you stand for so they can quickly assess if you are a match to their personal values. 

During our stay, we dined at the signature restaurants of both La Quinta Resort and Club (Morgan’s in the desert) and at the Hyatt Resort and Spa (Lantana). The food at both restaurants was excellent.  But, Morgan’s, (magnificently remodeled to reflect its history), offered a remarkable dining experience with exceptional service and a menu that was masterminded by a celebrity chef. 

Chef Jimmy SchmidtChef Jimmy Schmidt is a one-man-brand who has his own provenance. In 1977 he became executive chef and executive general manager of the London Chop House in Detroit, where he became one of the first chefs to win Cook’s magazine’s 50 Leaders in American Food and Wine Awards (which was later renamed the James Beard Awards). He then moved to Denver in 1985 to open his first Rattlesnake Club, for which he was nominated for the James Beard “Best Chef Southwest” and “Best New Restaurant” Awards. 

Chef Schmidt is one of the pioneers of “Farm-to-Table” dining. He sources the best local products to create deliciously simple, rustic and healthful dishes at Morgan’s. We enjoyed his Pistachio Crusted Rack of Colorado Lamb immensely. 

The history, the physical setting, the architecture, the celebrity chef, the service and the ambiance all contribute to the personal and company branding stories of La Quinta Resort & Club. Watch for Part 7 of this article series where we showcase two market-leading luxury real estate professionals in Santa Barbara who have established their unique provenance as part of their personal brand story.

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