Branding Moments: A Brilliant Logo/Brand Design!

If you followed our blog posts, you are no doubt aware that we are constantly noticing logos that tell the brand's story.  Pictured above is a great example.  This morning we were looking for the perfect pot for our new plant.  As we meandered through the nursery's selection, we noticed the sign indicating a grouping of plants that are been friendly.

The circle has a watermark of the inside of a beehive pattern.  The bee's body is is a stylized letter "B"!  The color within the circle is a gradient of orange to a warm yellow giving it depth and dimension.

This illustrates our favorite quote:  "Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication"--Leonardo da Vinci

Branding Moments: The Curse Of The Cursive Font Illustrated!

Script or Cursive fonts are often thought to be fonts that express luxury.  However, less that 20%  of the premier luxury brands logos have cursive fonts.  If they do, they are usually simple, easy to read on a business card, a billboard, or in mobile form.

Recently when we drove by a shopping center monument sign depicted below,  both Ron and I read it as "Swille", and we wondered at the choice of the name.  The definition of "swill" is a large mouthful of a drink, or kitchen refuse and scraps of waste food mixed with water for feeding pigs.

The next day on our lunch break, we pulled in and parked so we could take a closer look.  The "ev" of the sign transformed into a "w" in certain light!  No doubt this font was chosen with luxury in mind, as there are several high end retailers in this shopping center.
 
When choosing a font, we pay close attention to every letter of the alphabet (caps and lower case) to make sure it can easily be read on a sign, card, letterhead and all the brand iterations,  It also has to be aesthetically pleasing and in harmony with the brand.  Character spacing can make or break a brand name in a logo. In this case the spacing was too close between the "e" and the "v".

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.

How to Avoid 2 Major “Client Traps” and Stop Teaching Pigs to Sing!

If your self-esteem is consistently high, as a luxury real estate marketing professional, and you are diligent about accepting only those clients who are a match to you in self-esteem, you will thrive.  To help you keep your self-esteem intact, here is a warning about two major “client traps” to avoid at all costs. 

Client Trap #1:

There are some clients for whom it is more important that you fail in trying to help them, than it is to receive the tremendous benefit of the service that you offer with the best of intentions. They give you ample clues from the outset that they are going to be a pain to deal with like ragging on previous agents or brokers who failed them in the past.  But, you ignore the clues and think you will be the exception, the one who will be able to out-smart their attempts to ensnare you.  

Even after equitably extricating yourself from this type of toxic client relationship you may find that they insist on nattering about you as well. To avoid falling into this trap again you must immediately replenish your self-esteem. By doing so you will no longer be susceptible to such insidious ploys, and you will no longer attract this type of client in the first place.

Client Trap #2: 

A second client trap is working with clients who think they know better than you, while you keep trying to convince them otherwise.  This is the FISBO seller who thinks he or she does not need an agent’s help, or the seller who insists on an unrealistic listing price, or the seller who does not believe that staging the home will make it easier to sell.  This is the buyer who insists on making low ball offers against your warnings that such actions will be futile.

We follow Robert Heinlien’s advice to avoid falling into these client traps: “Never try to teach a pig to sing. It is a waste of your time and it annoys the pig”. 

Maintaining your self-esteem not only feels better than the alternative, but your life depends on it.  Pay attention to the clues.  Stay clear of these types of clients. 

Written by Ron & Alexandra Seigel-

ABOUT:  Napa Consultants, International is the leader in brand strategy for the luxury real estate industry.  They work exclusively with professionals who are passionate about gaining or sustaining market leadership. With an expertise in personal branding, company branding, luxury real estate website design and social media marketing they help their clients become the breakaway brand in their marketplace.

Is Your Blog Grammatically Attractive to Your Target Market?

Luxury real estate marketing is like matchmaking. If you are going to write a blog as part of your strategy to attract clients, make sure that your posts are grammatically correct. Studies have shown that grammar is very important if you want to have a large following.

A recent lifestyle article in the Wall Street Journal titled, “What’s Really Hot on Dating Sites? Proper Grammar”, inspired this post. It cited an example of a gentleman leery of meeting his date for drinks, because her reply read”  “I will see you their” instead of “there.”  He was right: the date did not go well. 

Match.com surveyed over 5000 of their members asking for the most important criteria for assessing a potential mate.  The results revealed that 88% of women, and 75% of men judged a date based on the person’s grammar.  One the respondents commented, “When you get a message that is grammatically correct, it is very attractive”.

If grammar is your weakness, there is an app for you called The Grade that rates messages for typos and grammar errors.  And, it assigns the message a letter grade from A+ to F.  There is also a site called Grammarly that claims to “find and correct up to 10 times more mistakes than your word processor”.

A well-written post reflects the amount of care and effort extended in your writing.  It may well be the deciding point when it comes to hiring you to list a luxury home, or represent a luxury buyer.

Written by Ron & Alexandra Seigel-

ABOUT:  Napa Consultants, International is the leader in brand strategy for the luxury real estate industry.  They work exclusively with professionals who are passionate about gaining or sustaining market leadership. With an expertise in personal branding, company branding, luxury real estate website design and social media marketing they help their clients become the breakaway brand in their marketplace.

Are Your Marketing Campaigns Originals or Copycats?

There are definite guidelines in marketing a luxury real estate home such as postcards, print ads (newspaper and magazines), on-line distribution, social media, events, public relations, and word of mouth.  Just because your competition is doing it one way, does not mean you should copy their way of marketing because of their success.

It is of paramount importance to do an in depth market research to understand your target audience of buyers.   Luxury homes and estates are usually unique and distinct properties, and each home deserves it own custom marketing. 

Not long ago, we interviewed an agent who told us, that he did minimal online marketing. Early one morning as he was jogging through his target neighborhood, he noticed the local newspaper on every doorstep.  At that point, he shifted a larger percentage of his marketing dollars to print ads, which yielded a significant return.
Sometimes to attract the right buyer to the property, a public relations campaign may be the right place to spend marketing dollars.  At the end of May, Michael Jackson’s, Neverland Ranch in Los Olivos, (Santa Barbara’s wine country) came on the market for 100 million dollars. 

The property is co-listed with two different real estate firms one in Los Angeles and the other in Santa Barbara County to reach a wider audience of buyers.  Given Michael Jackson’s fame, this listing became national and international news both on line and in print.   Postcard marketing makes no sense in this instance.
Don’t fall into the trap of just copying, think it through for yourself and be an original.  Original marketing gets noticed copycat marketing gets dismissed.

Written by Ron & Alexandra Seigel- 

ABOUT:  Napa Consultants, International is the leader in brand strategy for the luxury real estate industry.  They work exclusively with professionals who are passionate about gaining or sustaining market leadership. With an expertise in personal branding, company branding, luxury real estate website design and social media marketing they help their clients become the breakaway brand in their marketplace.