One of the first rules in luxury real estate marketing and branding strategy is to identify your market, and to thoroughly research and know without the shadow of a doubt if that market will generate the income to support your lifestyle. This is the first priority. Selecting a name and creating a brand will naturally follow from this exhaustive search and discovery.
Today in the wee hours of the morning, we were touring Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills' prime retail street. Among all the established brands, we found this new one called Billionaire.
Our first question in a luxury real estate marketing and branding project would be: Who is your target buyer? California is home to 92 billionaires, and the majority live in Northern California. The US has a total of 540 billionaires, and the world has 2,208 billionaires according to Forbes Magazine, May 2018 issue. Is that a high enough pool of customers to meet their rent, their cost of goods, and their employees salaries?
We have met and spent time with a handful of billionaires (US), and our impression is that they would not be attracted to this store. Other than a prestigious yacht club crest on a polo shirt, we have not observed any with a "billionaire crest" blazer, nor "billionaire" brand crests on their casual shoes. The majority are humble and do not brag or advertise their wealth. The use of a lion headed mannequin is implying that billionaires are "kings of the jungle." Is that attractive, or is it an overused and trite symbol of wealth?
We would guess that their prices are on par with the neighboring stores on either side of the street. We ask our readers: "Who will buy this Billionaire Label?, Who will this label attract?" We look forward to hearing your answers.