Luxury Real Estate Marketing: Make A Scene/Luxury Brand Personalitty

 

 

Marketing Luxury Real Estate: Levitating for Euros or Selling a Dream?

Taking a walk after an excellent lunch near the Trevi Fountain, we came upon this levitating meditating duo...And they had a basket where the believers could drop their Euro donations, and they did!  

As Ron was explaing the trick to me, another gentleman was explainng in Italian to his little girl how this worked.  I was translating it to Ron.  

Can you figure it out?  Sometimes, marketing luxury real estate is selling the dream, it takes a little magic!

 

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Luxury Real Estate Marketing Brand Strategy: How to Erase Your Unwanted Online Tracks

Identifying an under served market niche that you can service better than anyone else in your marketplace is a surefire luxury real estate marketing brand strategy that can help you achieve to top-of-mind status, fast. Here is an example of this principle from a company in the UK that addressed a pressing need of web users worldwide.  

Taking charge of your online privacy has become a big challenge because most companies want to keep your personal data on file. But, what if you want to completely erase your account? 

Some companies like Facebook, Skype, Craigslist and Ticketmaster make it difficult to delete accounts that you no longer want to use. Others, like Google’s Picasa, Netflix, Pinterest and Starbucks make it impossible to delete accounts online. 

By far the quickest way to extricate yourself from unwanted online accounts is JustDelete.Me.  This brand new, free service has received massive amounts of international press coverage, almost overnight, because they found a simple way to save you time and aggravation while solving the problem of your online privacy. Essentially, JustDelete.Me is a list of links to the precise page on numerous websites where you can delete your account. 

The topic of online privacy struck a nerve for us and we have been sharing our finding with our Language of Luxury audience all summer. If you have not already read our posts on this topic here is a set of links to the articles. We hope you find them helpful. 

How to Stop Companies from Tracking You Online

How to Find out What Google Knows About You

Is Privacy the New Luxury Expenditure? Part 3

 Is Privacy the New Luxury Expenditure? Part 2

 Is Privacy the New Luxury Expenditure?

 The Luxury of Freedom: New Rage or Outrage?

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Luxury Real Estate Marketing: The Many Faces of Luxury

As a luxury real estate marketing professional, it is important to understand the many faces and accompanying personalities that define a luxury brand.  The above Beverly Hills camouflage is on Rodeo Drive which is "the" street for the big brands, and now for the soon  to open Tory Burch store. This particular store front camouflage billboard shows the color of the brand and the image of the brand.  We would refer to it as sophisticated luxury, as are the next door neighbors, Cartier and Roberto Cavalli.  In luxury real estate marketing materials, this type of look translates well to metropolitan and urban areas.

This next camouflage facade is located on Beverly Drive, which is one street beyond Rodeo Drive. Beverly Drive retail differs a different experience from Rodeo Drive.  We would refer to it as casual hip relaxed luxury.  It makes sense that Lucky Brand chose to locate there, right next to Nate N Al delicatessen, which has been a Beverly Hills icon for over 65 years.  The other side of the site is Z Gallerie, a  contemporary furniture and home accessories shop.  In marketing materials, this type of look would translate well to the mid luxury range which differs in each marketplace.

In future posts, we will point out more luxury faces and brand personalities.

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Luxury Real Estate Marketing: Luxury is Attention to Details!

As a luxury real estate marketing professional, it is important to pay attention to details.  Attention to details is what give an item or a marketing piece that luxurious feel...

Whenever a store is remodeled in Beverly Hills, the business creates a beautiful structure to camouflage the constructing inside.  Here is the Hermes version on Rodeo Drive which is one of the famous luxury retail streets in the Beverly Hills triangle.

Hermes is one of the finest luxury brands known for their uncompromising craftsmanship. They started as a saddle shop in Paris in 1837.  Because of their exquisite work and their royal clientele, they became known as the “saddle makers of kings.”   Since then they have expanded into fashion, lifestyle and home products.

One of their specialties is silk  scarves.  The scarves have hand rolled edges and the same intensity of color on both sides, their attention to detail is unparalleled. They often issue a limited number for a special celebration or country, and their most recent scarf celebrates the Indian look of the maharajahs.  

This barricade is a large scarf, three stories high with palm trees which celebrate the look and feel of Rodeo Drive.  Note how the palm trees on the scarves blend in with the real palm trees and create a harmonious look of painting and reality.

The brilliance of erecting an aesthetically pleasing camouflage is that it creates visibility and anticipation for the new store.  At the same time it markets the Hermes brand in a way that clearly defines their luxury brand strategy! The picture above is from November 9, 2012.

Here is the pre-grand opening shot.  The windows are detailed to look like they are frames to accent their beautiful products. The attention to details says it all.  Next month, we will follow up with the big reveal when they are ready for their close up!

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Luxury Real Estate Marketing Tip: The Courage of Kindness

“Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see” Mark Twain

Whenever we are asked to define what it takes to be a great luxury real estate marketing professional, our answer is: “Cultivate the courage of kindness”.  Kindness (and a good sense of humor, of course), is the ultimate luxury.

Courage is defined in the dictionary as: “The state or quality of mind or spirit that enables one to face danger, fear, or vicissitudes with self-possession, confidence, and resolution; bravery.”  Kindness is defined as: “the quality of being friendly, generous, and considerate.”

It takes courage not to react when someone is disagreeable, or to automatically assess someone as being less than you, incompetent or one of “those” people.  Our minds are constantly labeling and pigeonholing people and situations into categories.

For instance, while driving. someone honks at you or tries to cut you off. It is natural to react by honking back and letting out a stream of expletives, etc. 

How can you stop your mind from doing that?  Perhaps, you could entertain the thought that the reason they are going crazy is that they may be having the worst day of their life.  It does take courage to for you to let them pass you, instead.

Here is an example of the courage of kindness in luxury real estate.

One of our clients sold a lovely estate to a couple.  The couple was very happy.  Several months later our client received a call from the wife saying the house was haunted! The ghost was telling her, in the middle of the night, “Get out of my house, or else!”  She wanted our client to put the house on the market, immediately. Her husband did not want to sell; nor did he hear the ghost.  

Our client knew that selling the home would be a colossal mistake.  Instead of trying to talk her out of the sale, she came up with a brilliant solution.   Knowing the wife was a devout Catholic she sought the help of the local priest. With the client’s permission, the priest came over to bless the house.  After he did that, the ghost disappeared. 

This instance of courageous kindness developed its own momentum.  Our client regularly gets referrals from the couple, as well as from the priest, even though she is not a member of his church.

Taking a moment to practice kindness by overriding the mind’s automatic evaluations, takes courage.  In the long run if we all did that we would be better people for it. We would also become outstanding luxury real estate marketing professionals.

“There is no need for temples, no need for complicated philosophies.  My brain and my heart are my temples; my philosophy is kindness.” Dalai Lama

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Luxury Real Estate Marketing: Do You Have a Local Brand Strategy?

In presenting your luxury real estate marketing plan to your sellers, you should emphasize your strategy for marketing locally as well as globally.  Do you have a local brand strategy?

We have found, in working with luxury real estate marketing professionals, that even in the most desirable luxury real estate markets, the global buyers represent a miniscule percentage when compared to local buyers.  There is no question that there is an increase in global buyers especially in Hawaii, Florida and some major US cities.  But, the global buyer statistics are not commensurate with the emphasis that much of the luxury real estate media is touting.

To win big in luxury real estate marketing, concentrate on building your local brand!  Aim for achieving top-of-mind status.

You may have heard of the Central California wine brand, Firestone.  It was made famous when the son of the winery owner was on the TV show, The Bachelor.  Firestone originally produced only beer, and then branched out into wine. Recently, they sold the winery, but created a new local beer brand, “805” which is the telephone area code for the three adjacent counties that include Santa Barbara.

Focusing, with laser sharp precision on the local market, 805 signs are starting to be proudly displayed in local restaurants, in the local Trader Joes markets and on local billboards.  Achieving brand recognition at an accelerated pace is what great brand strategy is all about.  The entire exercise is geared to catapult a brand with zero brand recognition to top-of-mind status, fast!

How can you accelerate the pace at which your local brand achieves top-of-mind status?

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Luxury Real Estate Marketing: Even Beans Have Brands

In marketing luxury real estate and working with luxury real estate marketing professionals, we constantly look for opportunities to illustrate what a brand is.   Several dozens of books are  annually written explaining branding, because,it is one of those obvious things that are not noticed and therefore hidden from our consciousness.

This past Saturday, we were drawn to these beautiful cranberry beans.  It is one of the many variety of beans.  What you are seeing in the photo is their outer shell and the inside bean is white with deep red specks.  They are mild tasting and may be compared to chestnuts.  When they are in this fresh state, they are wonderful cooked slowly in liquid, and seasoned with garlic, lemon and anchovies.   

So, in defining your brand and your brand preferences, stop a moment and look how nature shows her brands...and your reaction to it.  It should give you clues on defining your own brand.

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Luxury Real Estate Marketing: The Power of Top of Mind Status Part 2

As we stated in part 1, those  luxury real estate marketing professionals who are bent on gaining or sustaining market leadership, achieving top-of-mind status is the ultimate goal.  The first brand name that comes to mind commands the lion’s share of the business in a brand category within a given marketplace or niche therein.  But, dominating a brand category requires the consistent execution of brand strategy.

In our recent travels, we noticed how people are willing to wait in line for a particular brand or service.  The first shot was taken at the Louis Vuitton store in Paris on a Sunday afternoon.  This was the second time we had seen lines there.  No other luxury brand had a line. The Louis Vuitton brand is the #1 brand in the world.  Buying a Louis Vuitton product in Paris (the origin) means even more to the people standing line, than buying it in their hometown, even though Louis Vuitton had stores worldwide including one in Outer Mongolia.

This shot was taken on Rue des Rosiers at “The Ace of Falafels” whose slogan translate as ”always imitated, never equaled”.  We had read in several guidebooks about this restaurant and rave reviews abound.  Just to make sure of the accuracy of these reviews, we asked one of the local merchants, and she was equally enthusiastic about this place.  So, we got in line and had one of the best Middle Eastern lunches.  Waiting in line was worth it.  Right across the street was another falafel place, and no one was waiting there.

Lines create buzz.  It makes one want to find out what all the fuss is about.  When Krispy Kreme was at its peak, and went public, we reported that people were lined up outside at their stores, and prior to the opening of the store in Australia for 48 hours.  Those lines are gone now.  Was it a fad? Or, Was it a lack of consistently executing brand strategy?  What do you think?

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Luxury Real Estate Marketing: The Power of Top of Mind Status

As a luxury real estate marketing professional bent on gaining or sustaining market leadership, achieving top-of-mind status is the ultimate goal.  The first brand name that comes to mind commands the lion’s share of the business in a brand category within a given marketplace or niche therein.  But, dominating a brand category requires the consistent execution of brand strategy.

In the California Central Coast wine country (Santa Barbara to Monterey) one winery, Palmina, stands out as a category leader.  The category is Italian varietals.  Palmina applied the winning branding formula to achieve market leadership:  They selected an undeserved, potentially lucrative market niche about which that they are very passionate and knew that they could serve their target market better than anyone else.

Recently, we took off for an adventure to the Central Coast wine country to visit a town called Lompoc (45 minutes up the coast, north of Santa Barbara). You may know Lompoc as the home of Vanderberg Air Force Base where a space shuttle landed a few years back. 

In search of the best restaurant in town for lunch, we decided to stop by one of the local wineries, thinking that they would likely be “foodies” too and have a suggestion for us.  Driving along the “Wine Trail” we spotted Palmina, a brand we know and trust.  The choice was clear. We did not need to look further. And, we were right; they recommended Floriano’s, which had absolutely fabulous fresh Mexican food.

Delighted with our meal we returned to Palmina for their wine tasting which was excellent. The man who poured our wine was very passionate and knowledgeable about his wines and Italian varietals in general.  He told us the entire Palmina brand story, which is rich with local lore.

We left with three bottles of outstanding wines that we look forward to paring with the types of meals he recommended.  Now, we are “brand ambassadors” who are eager to share our experience of this fine winery. 

In a sea of wine brands, one name stands for the category of Central Coast Italian varietals, in our minds. Now that we have visited the winery, Palmina also stands for remarkable hospitality simply based on our personal experience at the winery itself. And, that is the power of achieving top-of-mind status.

Who are Your Brand Ambassadors?

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Luxury Real Estate Marketing Tips: The Value of Unexpected Appreciation

Many successful luxury real estate marketing professionals have a core referral base.  It is important to acknowledge these individuals often and thank them for their patronage and support.

Here is a case in point:

Yesterday, at our front door, we found two packages, addressed to each one of us, from Fed Ex.  We were delighted to each receive a books specifically selected for each of us.  The books were a gift from the service professional that we work with. The accompanying note, written on beautiful linen stationary read:

“I am pleased to share with you one of (the company’s) favorite traditions, the Summer Reading List.  This year’s selection represents some of the most compelling titles of the past year ranging from art, learning to lead, finding success and latest trends, as well as stories of giving back, rising to the top and survival. The books were chosen from hundreds of submissions from our colleagues around the world, and as I looked through the list, I thought you (Alexandra) would enjoy Lean In, by Sheryl Sandberg”. Ron’s note read, “ I thought you would enjoy The Soundtrack of My Life, by Clive Davis”.

It was an unexpected appreciation for the value we bring to this person and his company.   We did not need a gift to continue to treasure this relationship, however, this gesture was a reflection of the value we bring to each other’s lives.  We loved the fact that he took the time to make an individualized selection.   Receiving a hard cover book in the day of e-books made it a stand out.

What can you do that is an unexpected appreciation those who comprise your core referral base?

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Luxury Real Estate Marketing Tip: Let Them Eat Cake, And…

We are often asked for creative luxury real estate marketing tips.  One of the ways to get new listings or buyers is to create an event.  Among the many emails we received this morning was this one from Williams-Sonoma.  Here is an excerpt:

Happy Birthday, Julia

Join us in celebrating Julia Child’s 101st birthday, August 15th, with all-day tastings of Beef Bourguignone and birthday cake!  The legendary chef was a frequent visitor of Williams Sonoma store and a good friend to our founder, Chuck Williams.

Julia Child is an iconic figure in the culinary and foodie world.  Many credit her for bringing French cuisine to America.  

“Her first cooking show on television in 1963, was called, The French Chef on WGBH.  The show ran nationally for ten years and won Peabody and Emmy Awards, including the first Emmy award for an educational program.  It was also the first show captioned for the deaf.” Wikipedia

Here is great example of a fine luxury real estate marketing event  that generates great results for one of our clients.  One of our wine country clients has a regular wine and food event in their office.  Local chefs and wineries are invited to create a hors d’oeuvres party, and pair wines with those morsels.  Even if your marketplace is not in the wine country, this type of event can produce great results providing your clientele enjoys wine and fine cooking.

What will you do for your next event?

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Luxury Real Estate Marketing: Do You Know Your Core Value Proposition?

If you are a luxury real estate marketing professional who is intent on gaining or sustaining market leadership ask yourself this important question:  “What can I do better than anyone else in my marketplace?” Tap into your core value proposition and you will discover how to out-smart your competition.

Facebook’s stock recently jumped 30% because they are getting their mobile advertising act together. Ad revenue jumped 75% over the previous quarter.  Google has seized market dominance with their Android operating system with over 70% market share. This enables the company to put more ads on more screens, which is their core value proposition.

Smart phones enable advertisers to find you based on your present location. Geo-positioning makes smart phones the perfect vehicle to deliver local ads (and special offers for goods and services available locally). We think Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon, is concerned about that!  And, that is why he is willing to personally spend $250 million on the Washington Post.

Mr. Bezos must have asked himself the key question about the strengths of Amazon in relationship to Facebook and Google when it comes to local commerce via mobile devices because both of those companies have the potential to siphon off Amazon’s core business—ecommerce.  Billions of dollars are at stake here!

Traditionally, the bread-and-butter revenue of newspapers has been classified ads.  Intermediaries, like Craig’s List, demonstrated that they could get consumers to go directly to their brand of classified ads FIRST.  With a singular focus, Craig’s List became synonymous with classified ads and was catapulted to top-of-mind status in that advertising category.  

NAR conducted a study years ago that demonstrated that homebuyers are more likely to work the first agent they contact when they were ready to buy a home.  That is why Trulia and Zillow want to be the FIRST place home buyers go to search properties rather than on YOUR website. Agents pay these companies to get these leads before you do.

What if Mr. Bezos could convince local merchants to set up stores on Amazon’s affordable Webstore platform (Amazon’s no long-term obligation, robust, eCommerce technology and fulfillment services) and monetize the journalistic content of the Washington Post with transaction-based advertising? A profit sharing model between Amazon and the Post would drive revenues for the newspaper.

Already built into Webstore’s platform are available features for consumers to opt-in to special offer alerts, coupons, etc. Amazon’s peer rating system allows consumers to know which local merchants to trust and ranks merchants based on best current prices on a particular item.  Consumers who already have Amazon accounts could go shopping locally with one click or create a new Amazon account.

What if the newspaper's act of championing the "Shop Local" cause attracted all of the top local merchants? What if the Washington Post e-commerce/mobile commerce/local commerce model proved to be a fiscal winner in the long run? Wouldn’t other local newspapers around the world beat a path to Amazon’s door?

Contemplating your core value proposition and focusing on what you do best as a luxury real estate marketing professional can give you the competitive advantage. Your market leadership is at stake, here!

Do you know your core value proposition?

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Luxury Real Estate Marketing Strategy: How to Take Care of a Brand Crisis

There are times when employees or agents in a luxury real estate marketing company do not comply with the ethical standards set forth by real estate governing bodies and your brand becomes at risk.  As a company owner, how are you going to handle this crisis?  Take a page out of Apple’s play-book when it comes to crisis/risk management.  A recent event in China is a case in point.

Some Chinese entrepreneurs are manufacturing and selling faulty, counterfeit Apple power adapters. One woman was electrocuted as a result of using a counterfeit charger and another is in a coma. Is Apple at fault? No, however, their brand name is stamped on the faulty products!

Apple treated this crisis as an opportunity to turn a rotten apple into a golden public relation coup. The following excerpt from their website announcement applies to anyone in the world who has encountered a counterfeit Apple charger:

“Starting August 16, 2013, if you have concerns about any of your USB power adapters, you can drop them off at an Apple Retail Store or at an Apple Authorized Service Provider. We will ensure that these adapters are disposed of in an environmentally friendly way.

If you need a replacement adapter to charge your iPhone, iPad, or iPod, we recommend getting an Apple USB power adapter. For a limited time, you can purchase one Apple USB power adapter at a special price — $10 USD or approximate equivalent in local currency. To qualify, you must turn in at least one USB power adapter and bring your iPhone, iPad, or iPod to an Apple Retail Store or participating Apple Authorized Service Provider for serial number validation. The special pricing on Apple USB power adapters is limited to one adapter for each iPhone, iPad, and iPod you own and is valid until October 18, 2013.”

They know that moaning and groaning about these counterfeiters will accomplish nothing.  Instead they understood that the reputation of the brand is at risk.  With this brilliant move, they have proven that Apple products are the gold standard and have insured customer loyalty.

Crises do happen!  Manage the risk of a tarnished brand by demonstrating the best of your company values, thus creating a public relations opportunity.

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Luxury Real Estate Marketing Tip: Safeguarding your Client’s Privacy

No matter what price range of real estate you are selling, it is very important to safeguard your client’s privacy.  As a broker or agent, you have a fiduciary responsibility.  The dictionary defines it as “An individual in whom another has placed the utmost trust and confidence to manage and protect property or money.”

In our practice of commercial real estate, there were many times when were asked by building owners and developers to sign a “non-disclosure” agreement.  They did not want any deal points or numbers to be disclosed to anyone.   Similarly, when a high-end property is sold, the buyers have asked some of our clients to also sign an agreement to not release the final sales price.  Some buyers maintain anonymity by having the title held by a corporation or trust.

It is tempting when one has closed a transaction with a high profile individual or company to tell all, and show off one’s feathers in the process. We would often get calls from newspapers asking us for details.  However, even the slightest whispers or insinuations have a way of getting back to those involved, and your reputation can instantly be damaged. And, that can have a significant impact on future business.

As a luxury real estate marketing profession gaining a reputation for discretion can pay hefty dividends. It can also give you a competitive advantage.

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Luxury Brand Strategy: How to Stop Companies from Tracking You Online

Courtesy of Firefox

Privacy is a luxury, especially when dealing with luxury real estate buyers and sellers.  Here are some ways that you can insure it, at least for yourself.

According to a CNN article, we discovered that Internet “BIG” Data Mining & Brokering companies now represents “a $300 billion-a-year business that employs 3 million people in the United States alone” according to McKinsey Global Institute.  Focusing more on big data is most likely an important reason for merger talks between the 2nd and 3rd largest global advertising firms, so they can better compete with the likes of Google and Facebook—the biggest aggregators of personal information on earth. 

The largest company, Acxiom, provides “analytical services” on 144 million households.  They are aware of your name, your phone number, where you live, your buying habits and much more. You may wish to have Internet sites know your personal preferences, with your deliberate permission.  That way they can recommend products and services to you.  But, there are now hundreds if not thousands of sites that are potentially tracking or even stalking Internet users (and their kids), sites that they may not know about.

Do Not Track

To get a better idea of how this phenomenon has grown exponentially in recent years please watch this brief TED Talk video, by Firefox CEO Gary Kovacs. Prepare to be amazed! Fortunately, there is something you can do about this on Firefox (click here).

 

Delete Me / Mask Me

The CNN report also pointed us to Abine.com that has tools to delete your personal information on the Internet. According to Abine, “Nearly everything you do leaves a trace, and data brokers collect this information to create and sell public profiles about you”.  Their subscription based service, DeleteMe,  removes:

  • Your public profile from leading data sites
  • Contact, personal, and social information
  • Photos of you, your family, and your home

You can also stop giving out your personal information online altogether, with their other service MaskMe. Says Abine, “No company can guarantee that they will keep your data private. If you give out your email, phone, or credit card number, you now have to assume it's recorded and potentially shared, lost, or stolen. Now you can simply stop giving it out with MaskMe”.

Beware of companies that pretend to offer a “do not track” service.  Some are actually tracking companies in disguise.  Privacy is definitely a luxury.  But, it is up to you, individually, to protect your own.

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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 4th amendment).

Here is the excerpt from the Bill of Rights, and is known as the 4th 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?

Written by Ron & Alexandra Seigel-

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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?

Written by Ron & Alexandra Seigel-

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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.

Written by Ron & Alexandra Seigel-

 About Language of Luxury 

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