Marketing Luxury Real Estate: The Quest for the Best!

On August 20,2008, we wrote about the best in class of taquerias in Santa Barbara.  It is still one of our favorite places here.  Friday, we were there for lunch and marveled that each time we go, it is as good as we remembered from the last time we were there.  This restaurant has existed since the early 80's and each time we leave there is a line forming out of the door, and it continues to form down the block daily.  

We used this example as being the best in class in their niche and consistently getting the best results and the best word of mouth referral.  When tourists are in town, we make sure we get there just before they open at 11:00 AM, and get in line with the other smart locals...

La Superica is the best in its class, the best Mexican food in town at any price. The Robb Report, known as “the Global Luxury Source”, listed La Surperica as one of the top 100 restaurants in the world. We call this practical luxury. It’s not about the money. It’s about the quest for the best!

Wishing you all the best in 2013, Cheers, Ron & Alexandra

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Luxury Real Estate Marketing Tip: Try Basecamp for Listing and Marketing Coordination

Sometimes you need to go outside of the real estate industry to find the best (and simplest) systems for luxury real estate marketing coordination and listing coordination.   We highly recommend Basecamp, a cloud-based project management software-as-a-service. 

Basecamp lets you create a custom template with To Do lists in your own words.  Save the template and use it for all of your listings (you can always make modifications for specific listings).  Each listing becomes a project. Because it is web-based your entire team (e.g., your assistant, your photographer, co-listing agents, etc.) can all have access to it from anywhere. 

Documents and photos can easily be uploaded to any To Do item (or the project in general) and shared. To Do’s can be assigned and added to a calendar which all can view. Emails are sent to the person assigned to the task with a link back to the specific To Do for that specific listing in Basecamp. 

Task specific discussions for any given listing/project are all in one place.  You do not have to search through your email inbox to find related items that may not be identified in the email subject line. 

Nothing gets lost!  If someone accidentally deletes something, you the owner, can easily retrieve it.  

We thought we lost a detailed description of a new marketing project in our own strategic branding and marketing consulting practice. We worked for almost two hours on this.  It was after hours on Christmas Eve.  We wrote to tech support not expecting to hear back until December 26th.  But, on Christmas morning there was our answer. We retrieved it instantly.  WOW!

Customer service and tech support at Basecamp is superlative!  That is so important given the need for speedy response on something that is at the core of your luxury real estate marketing practice: Listings and marketing! 

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Luxury Real Estate Personal & Company Branding: The "Hailo" Effect

Luxury real estate marketing professionals often ask us about the importance of selecting the right brand name.  It really comes down to how fast and easy you want to make it for your potential referral sources to remember your name, because top-of-mind status IS the name of the referral game. 

In marketing luxury real estate, previous conventional wisdom focused primarily on your “sphere of influence”, those people who know you directly and think highly of you.  But, with the advent of the Internet and social media the very concept of your sphere can change radically.

The fundamentals of staying in touch with your immediate sphere still apply.  But, now there is a potential to have a continuously expanding  “peripheral sphere of influence” comprised of people you have never met!  And, the aggregate of that sphere can literally become a significant source of referrals. 

Here is an example:  A couple comes to your town on vacation, has a great time and is inspired to purchase a second home in your marketplace. They ask a local, a stranger, “Who is the best real estate agent or broker in the area? Now, if you can get your name to come up first for that local person, even if that person is not in the market to buy or sell their home right now, that person is in your peripheral sphere of influence. Don’t you think it is important to make it easy for that person to remember your name, first? 

Some of the best brand names are those that you hear once or see once and never forget.  Here is an example of one of those great brand names: HAILO, the taxi app or iPhones and Androids.  This name may be more significant for those of you who live in a major city and frequently use taxis for transportation.  But, once you have heard about it once you are very unlikely to forget it.  

With just a couple of taps of your phone you hail a cap and it tells you what your wait time will be.  No more flailing arms to summon a cab!  Then, as soon as you step out of the cap at your destination, it sends you a receipt, because your credit cards are on file for immediate payment with the app.  The service is available in New York, London, Tokyo, Chicago and five other cities so far. 

Graphically, the logo is very simple. HAIL on one line, O just below. Black letters with “yellow cab” yellow background. It is a better way to hail a cab in just one word. 

There are many tried-and-true principles and approaches that can be applied in crafting a great brand name. Selecting the right approach for your luxury real estate practice or your company in your marketplace is the key.  It must fit the essence of who you are.  And, it must help you differentiate you from your competition. 

Is it worth taking the time to make the right brand name choice? It is if you want to capitalize on and expand your peripheral sphere of influence.

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Luxury Real Estate Marketing Tip: Adopting a Beginner's Mind-Part 3

 

In this third post about the beginner’s mind, we leave you with a single, highly focused thought, in the Zen tradition, for those who market luxury real estate. 

When Kobe Bryant, the famed Los Angeles Laker, was just 8 years old he shot 82 successful free throws in a row. When asked how he did it he simply answered, “I did not know I couldn’t do it”.

That is the true secret behind a beginner’s mind.

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Luxury Real Estate Marketing Tip: Adopting a Beginner's Mind-Part 2

How to Begin a New Client Relationship

 As a luxury real estate marketing professional, the best way to begin a new client relationship is with a beginner’s mind.  That is, with no preconceived ideas, a readiness to help and most importantly, an eagerness to listen and learn as if you had the ears of an elephant. 

You may be the leading authority in your market niche. You may have built a strong reputation as the leading expert in your area.  But, the more advanced you become in your field the more it becomes necessary to adopt the beginner’s mind because the tendency is to rely just on past experience.   By assuming that you know better or by not being genuinely open to hear the nuances of what your new clients need you may miss the mark all together. 

Take the time to discover exactly what is needed and wanted.  Some clients are not yet clear about their answers.  In this case, your job is to guide them in discovering what they need by asking questions that lead to their own self-discovery. 

Ask what your new client expects of you.  Listen for unrealistic expectations.  How you handle them will set the course of your relationship.

If this sounds too fundamental to you, you may currently not be in your beginner’s mind.  It is really easy to live on “auto-pilot mode” especially if you are an accomplished professional.  That is why championship caliber athletes practice the fundamentals over and over again.  

We recently sat through a meeting with a successful loan broker (with a 30 year track record) and his potential client.  The loan broker spent more time talking about himself and his own financial situation than he did listening to the client’s needs. We were amazed!  

After wasting our time, it turned out that he could not help this client, a fact that could have been determined in five minutes. Finally, he was able to refer the client to someone who possibly could help, which is doubtful if the “birds of a feather flock together” rule applies.  But, he lost two potential referral sources for himself in the process simply because he talked too much instead of listening more! 

Listen and learn with a beginner’s mind whenever you meet with a new client.  Even if you are not the right professional to help them, you may gain a potential referral source that you previously did not have. Remember to put on your elephant ears!

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Personal & Company Branding: Adopting The "Beginner's" Mind

Using technology and Internet marketing has increasingly become a mainstay in the field of marketing luxury real estate.  It is humbling, to say the least, to discover that your competitors have been the first to adopt the latest and greatest technology and you just at the beginning of the learning curve.  Instead of wallowing in frustration here is a tip to help you get up to speed faster: Embrace a “beginner’s mind”.

A “beginner’s mind” is a term often used in Zen. It is a state of mind that is free of pre-conceptions about a new subject, free of pretending that you know, and also free of self-criticism for not knowing or doubting that you can learn the subject easily. It is a state of genuine curiosity and eagerness to learn.

It is easy for adults to become jaded.  To understand this state of mind better, think of the perspective of a child who is discovering ice cream for the first time.  What would it be like to rediscover your own marketplace with this mindset?

In our strategic branding and marketing consulting practice for luxury real estate agents and brokerage firms, each time we take on a new client we start our consulting engagement with a trip to their marketplace at no extra charge to our clients. This gives us a chance to have some real face time with clients. It also makes it possible to quickly study and thoroughly learn about their marketplace

By being there, with beginner’s minds, we invariably discover exciting nuances about these markets and find non-obvious business development opportunities that can give our clients a competitive advantage.

We advise our clients to continuously take a fresh look at their marketplace through the eyes of their new clients who are discovering it for the first time.  With a beginner’s mind, you can more readily discover the best way to serve your luxury real estate buyers and sellers.

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Luxury Real Estate Personal & Company Branding: Sensory Branding

Some of the most successful examples of luxury real estate personal or company branding are those brands that strike an emotional chord with ideal clients. One of the best ways to engage prospective buyers and sellers is through repetitive sensory impressions that make you stand out from your competition. 

Most people associate branding with a visual symbol like the Nike “swoosh” or the silhouette of a rabbit (Playboy) or the LV monogram (Louis Vuitton). Some products have a distinct smell that creates and positive olfactory memories. With enough repetitive sensory impressions consumers can often identify a brand from a great distance, by sight (without words), or with just one whiff. 

Auditory branding is another way to create an indelible impression of your brand. Joel Beckerman has actually won awards for “sonic branding” and has a roster of Fortune 500 clients who believe in this brand strategy.  You may have heard his “whoooosh” when you have sent email on an iMac or any other email enabled Apple product.  If you heard that “auditory logo” while watching a TV show in which the character was sending an email, you would instantly know that the computing device (even if it were not visible on screen) was an Apple computer or device.

Engaging the senses in your branding creates an emotional connection with your target market that can give you a significant competitive advantage. But, it must communicate your unique brand personality and also be consistent throughout your communication channels.

For one of our lender clients, who brokered jumbo loans for luxury real estate, we created a motion website graphic of his logo zooming down a road and coming to a screeching halt in the foreground, with full sound effects.  He was obviously into cars.   This resonated perfectly with his ideal clients who could appreciate it.(See Case Study)

 What are some ways that you can incorporate sights smells and sounds into your own branding in order to create a strong, positive emotional brand for yourself or your company?   

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Marketing Luxury: Christmas in Beverly Hills-Where is the Joy?

The theme in the bright colored pennants in Beverly Hills this Christmas season is "Live Joy".  Bijan. known for dressing moguls and royals, was the only one to express this sentiment as seen in the lead photo.  Here is a tour of what we saw:

Ralph Lauren's window was beautifully composed. The mannequins looked bored. X-mas Ennui (French for boredom)

Tom Ford's windows featured Christmas in gray with gray boxes and mannequins dressed in gray.

Cartier had its signature playful panther batting the red boxes. Even the cat is subdued.

Louis Vuitton's good wishies came in 4-leaf clovers...

and in wishbones displays, but the message was way too subtle  and understated for the SEASON of JOY. 

An origami wreath at David Yurman was innovative, but against a bleak background?

Rodeo Drive's median had bare fake white trees (between the live palm trees) with white lights (you can barely see them in the photo). There are also  a few hanging white stars (again, you have to look carefully to find them here) as its only other  decor apart from the red pennants that proclaim, "Live Joy".  But, with the exception of Bijan, none of these purveyors of luxury on Rodeo Drive exemplified the primary marketing message.  Where is the Joy?

Cheers, Ron & Alexandra

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Luxury Real Estate Marketing Tip: Fight or Take Flight?

As a luxury real estate marketing professional it is essential that you understand that luxury is a relative term.  The word has been strongly associated with the lifestyles of the rich and famous and primarily with conspicuous consumption and being ostentatious.  But, there is so much more to the meaning of luxury than glitz and glamour.

Perhaps you saw the recent 60 Minutes TV show that featured two extreme stories about luxury.  One story was about a Korean prison camp escapee whose concept of luxury was eating boiled chicken because he was only fed cabbage and gruel his entire life.  Certainly, we have heard of extreme poverty in underdeveloped countries.  But, never have we heard of three generations of prisoners who were being punished for the political crimes of their forefathers. 

The other story was about a psychiatrist who realized a dream of creating the first airplane powered solely with solar energy, one that could fly at night using the stored solar power from the previous day. To this visionary, luxury was the satisfaction of achieving his individual potential. 

It is utterly amazing to conceive that such extremes can co-exist in modern times.  But, such is the current state of human nature.  How is it possible that one man can fight so fiercely just for the right to find nourishment, while another man can let his imagination take flight, beating all odds to make the impossible, possible? 

Abraham Maslow was best known for creating the hierarchy of human needs. He addressed these extremes when we expounded upon the spectrum between the need for physical health and safety through the need to belong, the need for self-esteem (and the esteem of other) and the need for self-realization.   

The upper tiers of this hierarchy is where you find most luxury real estate buyers.  Yet, throughout each tier is the yearning of the human spirit to take flight, to rise above it all, physically, mentally and emotionally. The rewards of satisfying one’s needs, each step of the way, is what true luxury is all about.  

Take the time to genuinely understand the needs of your clients. Understand what luxury means to them. This will serve you well and will enable you to serve your clients better than ever.

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Luxury Real Estate Marketing: The Luxury of Eggs/The Gift that Keeps Giving

One of the most important aspect of gift giving, as a luxury real estate marketing professional, is knowing what is meaningful to your clients. It is easy to listen for the clues about the things they like, the hobbies they are involved in or the ideas about which they are passionate.  These listening moments will surely lead to finding the perfect gift that keeps giving.

As we were perusing the various gift catalogues that fill our mailbox this time of the year, we were intrigued by Williams Sonoma’s offerings under “Made By Hand:  Agrarian celebrates a lifestyle of healthy living, and all things homegrown and handmade.”

This offering is no doubt in response to the healthy living trend.  Our favorite is the chicken coop  (or in this case a luxury two story chicken manse with a glassed in veranda).  It reminded us of our Napa friends who have a chicken coop with beautiful Ameraucana chickens whose eggs shells are a bluish green.  Occasionally our friends would call us on a Sunday morning and asks us to join them for omelettes made with their chicken’s eggs.  Fresh picked eggs are one of the most delicious and luxurious treats

The other gift we loved is a beehive.  We recently had dinner with new friends who have a beehive in their yard.  The honey is unlike any honey they have ever tasted (and they are real foodies). By keeping a beehive, they are helping to increase the waning bee population.  Their neighbor reported to them that since their bees arrived, his avocado trees are improving.  To view these healthy lifestyle delights which include a cold frame for your edible garden, gardening tools, cheese making kits as well as various honeys, go to the agrarian section of their website.

If you give someone what he or she really is interested in (fresh eggs, etc.) you can consider yourself a great gift giver.  Listening to your clients all year-round, not just at Holiday time, and making a note under their name in your contact records is the key.  It is so much fun to see someone smile as they say, “Thanks, this is one the best gifts I have ever received.” That in and of itself is a delightful reward. But, the buzz you generate as a great gift giver can also lead to excellent referrals because you will most likely be on their mind whenever they cook with eggs.

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Marketing Luxury Real Estate: One Way to Stay on Top of Your Game

 

One of the ways to stay on top of your game when it comes to marketing luxury real estate is watching HGTV when they feature extraordinary homes and million dollar rooms. It will help you expand your “vocabulary” in the Language of Luxury.  

For example, in a recent episode of Extreme Homes, an absolutely stunning custom designed, multilevel home was featured that was built on a cliff overlooking the Southern California coastline.  The homeowners are truly passionate not only about fine architectural design but also automotive design. In fact, when they drive one of their cars into the garage (on the upper level) the floor of the garage can descend into the lower level of the home where the car can be showcased like a work of art.  (See the photos above).

Understanding what your clients are passionate about can help you find them the home of their dreams.  It can also give you a competitive edge in a listing presentation when you can connect with homeowners on their level.

The more you are familiar with the many facets of the luxury realm the more you will have in common with your ideal clients.  The faster you can build rapport the faster you can build trust.  This also translates into the acceleration of referrals. And, that is a great way to stay on top of your game.

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Luxury Real Estate Marketing Trends: My Kitchen has Bedrooms

As a luxury real estate marketing professional you understand the importance of an outstanding kitchen design when it comes to marketing luxury homes. You would be the first to advise your seller to remodel or upgrade the kitchen in order to get maximum value for their home.

An interesting trend has emerged in building or remodeling high-end homes.  According to the National Association of Home builders, the average square footage of kitchens has increased by about 50% in the last 30 years (from 303 to about 450 square feet on average). In the fourth quarter of 2011 the American Institute of Architects Home Design Trends Survey also noted that the size of the kitchen’s footprint in a home was growing.

Joanne Hudson, a Philadelphia based kitchen designer, says: “This trend is partly driven by a shift toward a more casual lifestyle, where people often want to prepare food with company either watching or helping them cook the meal. More people are cooking at home for health reasons—as well as wanting to show off the latest in increasingly pricey commercial-grade home cooking appliances.”

Toll Brothers has added an option for a 440 square foot kitchen in their model homes. Other builders, such as KB homes and The New Home Company have remarked that kitchen sizes, on average, account for about 15% of its homes' total floor plans in a typical 4,800-square-foot model. This is up from 10% of a similar home's plan seven years ago.

What comprises a supersized kitchen?  These kitchens now include a great room, a family room and are often connected to an outdoor kitchen. It is as if the kitchen has bedrooms and that make it a home.

How much does a supersized kitchen cost? Investing in a major kitchen remodel in an upscale home costs $111,000, on average. 57.4% of the costs typically are recouped in a resale, according the most recent annual Remodeling magazine report.

An extreme kitchen home in Beverly Hills is currently in escrow with an asking price of $58 million.  The home has a 5,000-square-foot kitchen with seating and dining areas, a glass walk in refrigerator and freezer as well as a butler’s pantry.  The entire room opens on to a beautifully manicured formal garden.

Become knowledgeable not only about kitchen design but also about top-of-the line appliances.  That way you can advise your clients about the potential value they can add to a home either as a buyer or a seller. Your expertise in this arena will also add value to the service you provide and enable you to run circles around your competition. 

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Luxury Real Estate Marketing Tip: Pick Your Niche Wisely!

 

Courtesy of Microsoft

Identifying an undeserved or uncontested market niche, then dominating that category is the fastest route to market leadership in the field of luxury real estate marketing or any field of business for that matter.  To be successful in your chosen category, however, it must be a category that you or your company, can serve better than anyone else.

When Steve Jobs first introduced the iPad he presented perhaps the best demonstration in the digital age of this fundamental principle of brand strategy.  On the screen behind him was an image of the iPhone and a MacBook laptop, with a space between them.  He posed this very important question:  “Is there room for a third category of device in the middle?

In this article we are going to use Steve’s logic to analyze whether there is room for yet another category in the middle between a smartphone and a laptop. This is the question to which Microsoft answered, “yes”, with their new Surface device.

According to Jobs, to qualify as a legitimate third category the iPad would have to do some things far better than either of the other two devices.  For example, browsing the Internet, or using the device for email, photos, video, games and eBooks would have to be a far better experience than doing the same thing with a smartphone or laptop.  

At the time netbooks were selling like hotcakes.  But, Steve summarily dismissed the netbook as a “cheap laptop” not a new category.  With over 100,000,000 iPads sold to date consumers have confirmed the need for this distinct third category. 

When you are on the lookout for a luxury real estate category to dominate keep this netbook example in mind:  You need to define a niche that is clearly distinct from other categories, a niche to which you or your company can add extraordinary value. 

Microsoft’s Surface is their first foray into the category of tablets and laptops. In fact it is a hybrid of the two categories.  A flat keyboard (which costs extra) can snap into the tablet, while the tablet is in standing mode, and turns the tablet into a laptop.  But, at the end of the day, doesn’t that turn their tablet into a netbook—another cheap laptop? 

No doubt Microsoft is following in Apple’s footsteps in attempting to control the entire user experience from hardware to software.  Surface runs on Windows 8, which is a completely overhauled version of their flagship product that now works with touch screens.  

Windows 8 may help Microsoft become a distant third major player in the tablet arena in the same way that #2 Google became a challenger to #1 Apple with their Android platform used by multiple manufacturers of tablets But, the Surface itself does not create a new product category because it does nothing far better than a laptop (that can also run Windows 8) or any other tablet on the market.  As such, it confuses consumers as to which devise category it belongs.  Is the Surface a tablet or a laptop? 

Select your luxury real estate marketing category wisely.   Pick an underserved or uncontested market niche that you can serve better than anyone else! 

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Luxury Real Estate Personal and Company Branding: Are You a Jack of All Trades?

Brand positioning is one of the most misunderstood concepts in marketing.  Yet, it is, by far, one of the most important concepts for you to understand as a luxury real estate marketing professional if your quest is market leadership.  

To accelerate word-of-mouth advertising, you need to make it clear to your target market exactly what category of services (or market niche) your brand stands for. The goal is to be the first brand name that comes to mind in your chosen category or niche.

Positioning your personal or company brand in the minds of your target market enables YOU to establish the brand category with which YOU want to be associated in their minds. If you do not make your brand position abundantly clear by staking a claim to a specific category, or if you try to be all things to all people, they will undoubtedly pigeonhole you in the wrong category.

We know a very talented real estate agent who dabbles in many categories including investments, single family homes, condos, REOs, fractionals, foreclosures, international, commercial, etc. She is a “jack of all trades” and not a master of one. To her credit, she makes a decent income by most standards.  But, she does not even come close to realizing her full potential as a market leader, which is easily within her reach if she were to focus on a single profitable category or market niche.

Companies spend millions of dollars each year trying to get their products’ brand names to come to your mind first when you think of their product categories.  Here is an example of brand positioning that illustrates the importance of “owning” a single category.

Did you ever hear the commercial about a couple arguing over the subject of mints? One says,  “Certs is a candy mint”. The other says, “Certs is a breath mint”. Then, the announcer says, “Stop! You are both right. Certs is the only mint that is two, two, two mints in one”.  Obviously, the company positioned their product in two categories.

Here is the challenge: If you personally wanted to buy a candy mint would you think of Certs first?  Or, if someone asked for a recommendation for candy mint would Certs come to your mind first? Ironically, this product does not contain even one drop of oil from a mint plant.

Later, they focused their ads on a single brand category (breath mints) with laser sharp communication. They magnified the pain of having bad breath and also the need for their product with a crystal clear value proposition in this brilliant slogan: “ If he kissed you once, will he kiss you again? Be certain with Certs!”

In marketing luxury real estate you already have narrowed your category in the overall real estate field.  Now, narrow your category further. Position yourself or your company as the expert in that niche!  Become the big fish in a smaller pond, provided that the category has the potential to generate the income you desire. Go for the lion’s share of a smaller category and “own” the category in the minds of your target market.  Only then can you capitalize on the amazing economic benefits of word-of-mouth advertising, because your brand comes to mind first in that category.

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Luxury Real Estate Marketing Tips: These Boots Are Made for Sparkling…

Co-branding is a synergistic marketing strategy involving two or more brands that can each benefit by expanding their marketing reach because they share the same target market and the same brand values. The challenge of successful co-branding is picking your co-branding partners wisely so that you do not confuse your ideal clients or customers. Co-branding is an excellent strategy for leveraging  your marketing dollars and it is underutilized by luxury real estate marketing professionals.

The idea behind co-branding is to act cooperatively and leverage the strengths of each brand. It is a great way to differentiate products and services in a highly competitive marketplace. 

We offered an example of successful co-branding in our post about two Italian brands, Pellegrino and Bulgari, who teamed up to create colorfully bejeweled bottles of the sparkling water at holiday time.    An example of a co-branding fiasco was covered in our post about Barney’s (an edgy New York based high fashion brand) and Disney (traditional family brand) who triggered extreme controversy that tarnished each of their brands in the process.

This picture (above) is an example of a co-branding that is harmonious and works extremely well.  Stuart Weitzman is an international high end shoe company.  This company is known for using unusual materials in manufacturing shoes such as cork, vinyl, Lucite, wallpaper and 24kt gold.  Their attention to detail has created a worldwide following.

Stuart Weitzman teamed up with Swarovski, the premier manufacturer of crystal.  Swarovski is well known for their sparkling crystals designs in sculpture, chandeliers, and jewelry.  This is a perfect match.  Adorning evening and holiday footwear with Swarovski crystals fortifies the unique shoe perspective of Stuart Weitzman and also promotes the sparkle of Swarovski.

How can you co-brand with luxury services and products that are harmonious to your luxury real estate marketing practice and leverage your marketing dollars by doing so?

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Marketing Luxury Real Estate: The Big Reveal in Beverly Hills, Before & After

In April, we wrote a post illustrating how remodeling is creatively camouflaged  in  Beverly Hills.  We featured the Bulgari jewelry store who, in keeping with their brand identity, had designed a bright golden opulent camouflage while remodeling their store.  True to their identity, the store board was colorful and attention getting. We feel it is spot on its brand signal.  It is perfect for who they are!

And now, here is the big reveal.  They still have work to do.  The windows were being washed early this morning.  Paper is covering the front door and the windows.  No doubt they are working on the finishing touches.

Below is the side view on Brighton Way and Rodeo Drive, and these windows are paintings of the latest brooches they are selling.  We thought it was a beautiful store.  Here is the detail of what is creating the pattern behind the glass.

These are made from metal colored  platinum, silver, and gold.  The very center has a polished  line and there are hung on metal lines positioned to create a pattern. We feel the look is in keeping with their brand, elegant, innovative, and edgy.  What do you think?

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Personal & Company Branding: Strategic Partnerships- Pushing the "Skinny" Brand Envelope

As a luxury real estate marketing professional if you are thinking of co-marketing with another company, organization or individual be sure to pick partners that have the same demographics and psychographics (values, attitudes, interests and lifestyles).  Otherwise, you will dilute your marketing message, and also confound and confuse your target market.  Here is an example of how two well-known brands created a PR fiasco because they did not follow this important branding principle.

In an effort to attract foot traffic to its flagship store in on Madison Avenue, Barney’s, the luxury retail store, has partnered with Disney to promote high fashion.  There could not be a better example of a co-marketing mismatch both in the demographics and psychographics of their target market.

Disney morphed the bodies of their iconic female characters into size 0 models wearing designer clothes in their Electric Holiday Moving Art exhibit.   Minnie Mouse is now elongated like a runway model. (See pictures).  What were they thinking?

The skinny Minnie and other Disney characters such as Daisy Duck have infuriated some of the public.  Change.org is raising awareness to the negative effects of shrinking Minnie and Daisy. Here is what they shared:

According to sources cited on the non-profit National Association of Anorexia and Associated Eating Disorders website:

•47% of girls in 5th-12th grade reported wanting to lose weight because of magazine pictures.

• 69% of girls in 5th-12th grade reported that magazine pictures influenced their idea of a perfect body shape.

• 42% of 1st-3rd grade girls want to be thinner.

• 81% of 10 year olds are afraid of being fat.

Here is the statement released jointly by Barney’s and Disney:

 “They have deliberately ignored previously released information clearly stating this promotion is a three-minute ‘moving art’ video featuring traditional Minnie Mouse in a dreamlike sequence set in Paris where she briefly walks the runway as a model and then happily awakens as her normal self wearing the very same designer dress from the fashion show.”

To this, Change.org replied, “

Girls have enough pressure to be thin; now the beloved Disney mouse of their childhood has to add to the message that the only good body is a tall, size 0 body? Enough already. Let’s give girls a chance to celebrate the actual bodies they have instead hating them for not fitting into a Lanvin dress. Then maybe enough girls will get together and demand dresses that look good on their actual, non-digitally altered bodies and designers will just have to become talented enough to design a dress that looks good on them.”

What do you think about this? 

Avoid PR debacles like this at all costs. Be sure to pick your strategic partners wisely.  Make sure you are aiming for the same target market both from a demographic and psychographic standpoint. 

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Luxury Real Estate Marketing Tip: The Luxury of Consistency

luxury real estate marketing

We just got off the phone with our SEO/SEM expert, and he mentioned that consistency and fresh relevant information is the key to maintaining a high ranking on Google.  That made us think of one of our favorite restaurants in Santa Barbara, which is Cielito in the La Arcada center.  Last Friday, after an arduous week, we decided to have dinner there.  They exemplify consistency and fresh relevant interesting food. 

The picture you see above is of their new appetizer, a crostini with avocado mousse topped with "uni"  aka Santa Barbara sea urchin, topped with microgreens and tobiko (fish roe) with a wasabi dressing. They change the menu to reflect the season's availability, and whatever is on the menu is brilliantly prepared.  We also tasted their chicken mole, and we both agreed it was the best mole we have eaten.  It had just the right hint of chocolate and spice.  We have been there for lunch and dinner, and we always walk out delighted and surprised at another new taste.  Of course, the service is superb, the wait staff works as team and they are all knowledgeable.

As a luxury real estate marketing professional, your web content/blogging has to be relevant, fresh and consistent, so that your readers will look forward to the next installment.

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Luxury Real Estate Personal and Company Branding: Can a Brand be Saved?

Recently, I (Alexandra, here) was reading an article written by the Knowledge@Wharton from the Wharton business school at the University of Pennsylvania.  This article discussed the fate of the Lance Armstrong brand as well as his charitable organization, Livestrong founded to support cancer survivors.  The discussion was well thought out and made sense.   Here is an excerpt, to read more...

 “Livestrong was built on the cult of Armstrong’s personality,” Katherina Rosqueta, executive director of the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for High Impact Philanthropy.  “That personality has now gone from being an asset to a liability. If Livestrong can show meaningful impact for the funds it has raised, then it can probably survive this. If it can’t, it won’t”

Over time, Americus Reed, a Wharton marketing professor, predicts that Armstrong’s image as the face of the charity will fade. “People will always remember he started it, but it’s not clear to me right now that there will be a long-term negative impact on Livestrong,” he says. “As this goes on for Lance, however, with no statement and continued denial, his brand is going to continue to decay.”

What impressed me most was a comment made by a reader. Christopher Lambert:

If we say Lance is irredeemable aren't we passing the same sentence on the worst parts of our self?

One of the risks of being a celebrity is the fact that the media is just as capable making you an overnight success as it is capable of instantly destroying your reputation. It leaves little room for redemption. What the media is counting on is that their audience does not think for themselves like Christopher Lambert did.

What do you think?

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Luxury Real Estate Personal and Company Branding: Can a Brand be Saved?

Recently, I (Alexandra, here) was reading an article written by the Knowledge@Wharton from the Wharton business school at the University of Pennsylvania.  This article discussed the fate of the Lance Armstrong brand as well as his charitable organization, Livestrong founded to support cancer survivors.  The discussion was well thought out and made sense.   Here is an excerpt, to read more...

 “Livestrong was built on the cult of Armstrong’s personality,” Katherina Rosqueta, executive director of the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for High Impact Philanthropy.  “That personality has now gone from being an asset to a liability. If Livestrong can show meaningful impact for the funds it has raised, then it can probably survive this. If it can’t, it won’t”

Over time, Americus Reed, a Wharton marketing professor, predicts that Armstrong’s image as the face of the charity will fade. “People will always remember he started it, but it’s not clear to me right now that there will be a long-term negative impact on Livestrong,” he says. “As this goes on for Lance, however, with no statement and continued denial, his brand is going to continue to decay.”

What impressed me most was a comment made by a reader. Christopher Lambert:

If we say Lance is irredeemable aren't we passing the same sentence on the worst parts of our self?

One of the risks of being a celebrity is the fact that the media is just as capable making you an overnight success as it is capable of instantly destroying your reputation. It leaves little room for redemption. What the media is counting on is that their audience does not think for themselves like Christopher Lambert did.

What do you think?

WATCH VIDEOS

 Buzz-Worthy Luxury Real Estate Websites 

 Personal Branding Case Studies   Company Branding Case Studies 

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 - JOIN THE LOL COMMUNTIY - 

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