What is a Brand? Many refer to a brand as the logo (that includes the brand name), or the basic “look” of the collateral material or website. Many think that luxury real estate brands should have script fonts, gold-metallic embossed lettering, on business cards or presentation folders for example, or use the colors black, gold, burgundy, or dark green. While these elements may be used to help express the essence of a brand they are just superficial aspects of personal and company branding. A brand is not a look!
A luxury real estate marketing brand is the inimitable “soul” of the professional or company expressed via their exceptional manner of interaction with their target market. It is their distinctive way of doing business based on their priority values and their unique personality. The logo, the name and the look must symbolize this entire package and communicate the essence of the brand.
Nordstrom as a brand is known for wonderful customer service. That is what their brand stands for. One of Nordstrom’s signature ways of interacting with a customer is for the salesperson to come out from behind the counter and hand the customer the bag. It is a subtle way of saying, “I am accessible to you and I don’t hide behind the counter.”
A look can be easily imitated. How many auto makers copy the styles of the world’s most expensive cars? What cannot be imitated is the soul of a brand. What are you doing to consistently express the soul of your brand?
Credit for this post goes to Ron and Alexandra Seigel
Friday 26 April 2013
Thursday 4 April 2013
How to Create “Buzz” About You
Do you want to stand out from your competition and become the breakaway luxury real estate marketing brand in your area? The most effective real estate personal and company branding involves identifying an uncontested or under served market niche that you can dominate. But, to become the breakaway brand you must offer a remarkable value proposition that catches the attention of the media and sparks word-of-mouth advertising or “buzz” among your fans.
With the Internet making real estate market information ubiquitous most luxury real estate marketing professionals find it very difficult to differentiate themselves from their competition. They are usually hard-pressed if asked to articulate how they are different or better, how they stand out. If you are having this challenge, you are not alone!
Another word for market niche is market “category”. Categories are easy to understand in the restaurant business: fast food, Mexican, Chinese, steak house, etc. You can imagine how difficult it is to find an uncontested restaurant category if you just think about the usual suspects. Most restaurant categories are usually over-crowded in larger towns. But, here is a example of how a new restaurant can position itself to become the breakaway brand in an uncontested new category.
Imagine this, an informal restaurant that looks like a fast food restaurant where you order from a posted menu and they bring your order to the table. You can sit indoors or on a patio with picnic tables and umbrellas. The quality of fresh ingredients, and the caliber of menu items, including home-baked breads, which is what you would expect at a full service restaurant for double the price but you pay far less.
This identifies a much-under served market: Foodies who want the quality of “slow food, fast”! This would strike the right chord with persons needing a good meal but not having a lot of time. People need a lunch place that has great food with an original, varied menu that is inexpensive enough to visit often.
Did you pick up on how the suggested restaurant is able to articulate, in just three words, a new brand category as well as their extraordinary promise of value: SLOW FOOD, FAST? Not only does it meet a lot of needs, it also it easy for fans to spread the word. It facilitates word-of-mouth advertising, which is one of the most important reasons to get your personal or company branding spot on in your luxury real estate marketplace.
With the Internet making real estate market information ubiquitous most luxury real estate marketing professionals find it very difficult to differentiate themselves from their competition. They are usually hard-pressed if asked to articulate how they are different or better, how they stand out. If you are having this challenge, you are not alone!
Another word for market niche is market “category”. Categories are easy to understand in the restaurant business: fast food, Mexican, Chinese, steak house, etc. You can imagine how difficult it is to find an uncontested restaurant category if you just think about the usual suspects. Most restaurant categories are usually over-crowded in larger towns. But, here is a example of how a new restaurant can position itself to become the breakaway brand in an uncontested new category.
Imagine this, an informal restaurant that looks like a fast food restaurant where you order from a posted menu and they bring your order to the table. You can sit indoors or on a patio with picnic tables and umbrellas. The quality of fresh ingredients, and the caliber of menu items, including home-baked breads, which is what you would expect at a full service restaurant for double the price but you pay far less.
This identifies a much-under served market: Foodies who want the quality of “slow food, fast”! This would strike the right chord with persons needing a good meal but not having a lot of time. People need a lunch place that has great food with an original, varied menu that is inexpensive enough to visit often.
Did you pick up on how the suggested restaurant is able to articulate, in just three words, a new brand category as well as their extraordinary promise of value: SLOW FOOD, FAST? Not only does it meet a lot of needs, it also it easy for fans to spread the word. It facilitates word-of-mouth advertising, which is one of the most important reasons to get your personal or company branding spot on in your luxury real estate marketplace.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)