Branding Moment: Three Choices, Which One Would You Choose?

Many events happen in Santa Barbara County. Recently as we are driving on errands and appointements, we have been noticing different vendors on the freeways. Pictured above is the first one, Town & Country we noticed.

The next one pictured above is Theoni. They serve Napa, Beverly Hills & "Beyond".

The third one is a local brand called Bright Event Rental.  their trucks come in various rainbow colors.  The event rental part in bright yellow on the door, and this is the best angle of the photo I could get while Ron was driving.  The link goes to the company video. 

All three are candidates for a big event rental.  On first impression, which one would you choose?  I have included their websites, if you care to delve further.   

I will share my impressions, after I read yours and the reasons behind them, in my next post.

Brilliant Branding Moment: A Perfect Christmas Interpretation in Beverly Hills!

As is our habit, we always take a look at some of our favorite brands window dressing,  when we are in Beverly Hills in the wee hours of the morning.  We were both  drawn to this creative branded tree!  What a clever way to keep Christmas secular and commercial at the same time!

Louis Vuitton was found in 1854 in Paris by its namesake.  It's LV monogram appears on  most of its products ranging from suitcases, leather goods, jewelry, clothing, shoes, etc.  Louis Vuitton is one of the leading fashion international fashion houses.   This monogram is a sign of prestige and luxury for many consumers world wide, who wear those initials with great pride.  

Branding Moment: The 16 Billion Dollar Color Package Sale!

We have always insisted when developing a brand for a luxury real estate marketing profession or a  luxury company being consistently remarkable should be reflected in all the presentation materials. Whether in print or on the web, one has to stand out and communicate their identity and its congruency with the target market.

In our numerous posts on the subject, we have often analyzed the Tiffany Brand.  In our live presentations, we often brought a Tiffany jewelry box with white ribbon, and another brand's jewelry box.  When asking participants which one they preferred Tiffany won the majority every time.  

The quintessential American jewelry brand was recently acquired by LVMH (Louis Vuitton, Moet Hennesey) for the sum of $16.2 billion.  Here is more of the story from Reuters:

The Reuters article stated the due diligence that LVMH did on the subject of color,

“Bernard Arnault spent lots of time checking all the IPs and protections on the blue box. The most famous Tiffany product is actually its packaging, the color, the form, the white satin ribbon, all of this is protected,” said one of the sources close to LVMH.  LVMH's billionaire boss, 70 year old Bernard Arnault stated in an interview with Reuters: "We're the owner of a color, it's a pretty rare thing!"

Next time you entertain the thought of that a vanilla presentation or a vanilla website is good enough, think again.  It may cost you the listing!  The same exact diamond ring signed Tiffany will cost more in a Tiffany box and will be treasured even more, than the one in the plainer branded box!

Would someone buy your package?

Is Your Real Estate Practice a Work of Art?

The late great Steve Jobs believed that, like works of art, Apple computer chips should be signed by those who created them. While few customers ever saw the signed chips, the creators had a tremendous sense of pride about their work. If your real estate practice was a product would you sign it? Is it a work of art?

Recently, we enjoyed a pizza at one of our favorite restaurants, Industrial Eats, which is located about one hour up the coast from Santa Barbara, in the wine country.  It is worth the trip because the pizza there is the closest we have found to the best pizza in Italy. 

Before heading home, we each ordered espressos. After one sip we looked at each other with the exact same thought in mind: this was the best espresso we had tasted in he USA!  We looked for the server to ask if we could purchase some coffee to take home. She was at the massive espresso machine that looked like it was custom designed, imported from Italy and signed by the manufacturer, Salvatore.

Once we got her attention she told us that Salvatore is a local Italian craftsman who both restores and creates custom-built espresso machines for restaurants and home use by coffee connoisseurs. He also sources the coffee, composed of three kinds of beans, that he has roasted per his exacting standards.  It is called Tri Colore (like the three colors of the Italian flag-green white and red). 

The next week we drove up the coast again just to meet Salvatore and his lovely wife Wendy who welcomed us with open arms, literally! They enchanted us with stories about Italy. And they showed us around their showroom/workshop while we sipped on espressos that Wendy artfully made for us.  We learned that they lived in our favorite Italian town of Florence where Salvatore made buckles and other metal elements for handbags and shoes for luxury goods companies like Ferragamo.

We wondered, in our age of automation and Artificial Intelligence, if Salvatore is the last of a dying breed of fine craftsmen who see their work as art, worthy of their personal signature. Or, were we witnessing the beginning of a new trend, spurred on by people seeking refuge from too much time in front of digital screens? 

Salvatore informed us that many of his customers are creating “coffee rooms” vs. “media rooms” that are more conducive to the art of conversation. Salvatore’s spectacular custom-designed espresso machines and delicious coffee are certainly conversation pieces. They tell a great story that resonates with those of us who truly appreciate, signature-worthy fine craftsmanship.

Is your real estate practice a signature-worthy work of art? 

Branding Moments: The Importance of Heritage vs High Tech Auto Pilot!

In branding a company or an individual in luxury real estate or in any other real estate field, the concept of heritage is an asset and a  great differentiator. Brand heritage (something handed from the past: experience or a way of doing business). There is plenty of merit is high touch (incorporating the old fashioned) versus high tech (auto pilot) real estate.  

This can inspire confidence when a consumer is making a choice of which agency or agent to pick when buying or selling a home.  It can also imply great service or what is often referred to as high human touch or white glove service. Here is an example of a trend we have noticed in wine-making that is applicable in real estate.

In the world of wine production, which is even more competitive that the world of real estate, we are noticing heritage as a differentiator. Pictured above in the window of a wine store in Paris is the lePuywine brand.  They have been in existence since 1610.  Their slogan "authenticity reflected in their terroir, (terroir is the composition of the soil that gives the wine its unique flavor)."  

The authenticity is the illustration of the horse and the plow, which means that their wines are produced bio dynamically. They are still using horses to plow the soil around the vines, because horses are lighter than tractors and do not damage the vine roots.  They also use natural fertilizers, as they did in the old days of wine making, which contributes to the health of the vineyard.

More wine producers are reverting to bio-dynamics.  "In a blind tasting of 10 pairs of bio-dynamic and conventionally made wines, conducted by Fortune Magazine and judged by seven wine experts including a Master of Wine and head sommeliers (wine stewards), nine of the bio-dynamic wines were judged superior to their conventional counterpart. The bio-dynamic wines "were found to have better expressions of terroir, the way in which a wine can represent its specific place of origin in its aroma, flavor, and texture."(Wikipedia)

We have often preached the importance of high touch in all real estate whether it is luxury or industrial real estate.  Not a day goes by when a new technology is offered to bypass the human touch, essentially being on auto pilot as the end all be all.  The clients and companies we work with are known  and praised for their impeccable customer service which software will never replace.  

Branding & Marketing Moments: Do You Have A Nose For SPIN ?

A good-looking brand identity supported with a brand story that does not ring true is not a guaranty for successfully marketing luxury real estate or any other real estate niche. A brand story needs to be congruent with the product, the marketplace, and the psychographics of the buyers and sellers.  Taking control of how you want to be perceived as a real estate marketing professional is known as SPIN in marketing.  Otherwise, it is what we would refer to as Swiss Cheese Marketing! You can see smell it and see through it!

SPIN is an acronym for the following words: Sstands for situation (collect facts: noisy street, freeway nearby), P,stands for problem (identifying the problem-old home, desire for smaller home),I, stands for implication (higher costs of maintenance in an old home), and N,stands for need payoff/buying motive (value, importance or usefulness).  These are considered the 4 top sales/marketing questions that need to be answered to entice a prospect into buying a home.  These answers differ in each marketplace and solely depends on the psychographics of that marketplace—the attitude, aspirations and interests of those who live there. 

SPIN has a negative association also.  It is often used as a cover up for mistakes made by public figures and celebrities. An unflattering synonym for SPIN is propaganda, or what some would call a creative or deceptive use of facts in order to reflect favorably in a new venture or on a negative situation.  It can also imply that the person doing the spinning has not done their research in order to contain the effect.  

In a recent discussion (re: California problems) one of the attorneys in the group blamed the agricultural states for the problems we are having today.  It was obvious that this person (although a California native) did not know that California is largest producers of food in the United States, and the 5thlargest producer in the world.  It is also the number one dairy state, the first largest producer of wine in the US, and the fourth largest wine producer in the world.

Pictured above is wine brand, which we both liked in terms of color and graphics.  We thought that it was very creative in its choice of color and presentation. Our wine expert friend called it a mistake! He cautioned us not to buy it, and not even to use as a marinade.  And that explains the bargain price from $14.99 to $2.99.  

In 2015, Motto Wine launched its brand of wine.   They hired winemaker, Reid Klei, who was the winemaker for Ste Michelle Wines Estates in Washington State for 10 years.  Here is his spin:

"We wanted to put a Washington spin on California wines, so we implemented the same approach we use for our Washington wines, but with California grapes," said Motto winemaker Reid Klei.  Our Story:  Our winemakers didn’t set out to push boundaries.  But they did.  They didn’t mean to ruffle any feathers.  But they did. So, they decided to embrace it and make it their motto, learn the rules so you can break them with style.  The result? Rich dark wine like none you have had before.”

Here is their introductory video that reinforces their brand story! 

Make sure that you are presenting yourself with a genuine SPIN, and not one that someone can smell or can see through, like a piece of Swiss cheese.!

Are You Being Blurred By Your Competition?

Those who are looking to compete with successful real estate professionals will often imitate the leaders in every way, shape and form.  It is visibly prevalent in every industry, especially in real estate. The competition will study what the competitor is doing, with the intent to blur the differences. Blurring is a method of nullifying your competitor’s strategic differentiators, and saying “we are just as good, if not better!”

This explains why we often see the exact same website, and even the same messaging on these sites, and why logos often resemble each other so that they are a blur in the eyes of sellers and buyers.

Photo by Silviya Avsova

Here is a clear-cut example: Coach (a maker of handbags and accessories) since 1941, was the first to notice the under served market of luxury handbags at affordable prices. In 1981, Michael Kors also went into the same space. The new company copied the Coach store designs and even used the same manufacturers to produce their bags. 

When Coach woke up, two years ago, they asked their employees to look at a slide show of storefronts and bags asking them to identify the brand.  Like the majority of consumers, they could not differentiate Coach from Kors. 

Photo by Rajan Singh

Coach’s chief operating officer, Victor Luis, stated, “We were slow to evolve, “We did not innovate quickly enough, did not invest enough in differentiating ourselves from the new competition that was in some ways taking our playbook.”

Blurring is a valid method of creating a level playing field with your competition.  However, if you do not amplify your own inimitable strategic differentiator you will face the same consequences.

Are you being blurred by Your Competition?

Written by Ron & Alexandra Seigel-

ABOUT:  Napa Consultants, International specializes in the art of local niche marketing in affluent communities and they are the leader in brand strategy for the luxury real estate industry.  Working exclusively with entrepreneurs and professionals who are passionate about gaining or sustaining market leadership, they help their clients become the breakaway brand in their marketplace.

The 2010 Imperative: Differentiate with Personal/Company Branding!

In 2010 you have a choice as a luxury real estate marketing professional:  Stand Out or Bow Out! Consumers now have a plethora of choices and a scarcity of time.  Your competition is just one click away.  It is now an imperative to DIFFERENTIATE YOURSELF and instantly communicate your unique promise of value with laser sharpness, in a nano-second.  Check out these personal and company branding videos:   

The Power of Personal Branding for

Luxury Real Estate Agents

Strategic Branding for Companies

 Check Out More Case Studies!

Personal Branding Case Studies and Company Branding Case Studies

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