Luxury Real Estate Marketing – Jumping Off the Internet and Jumping on Your High Horse

The mantra these days for luxury real estate marketing and real estate marketing in general is: focus your marketing on the internet. However, luxury real estate marketing professional should think about other venues of marketing. Your target market is not on the internet 24/7, and they do participate in all kinds of activities besides surfing the net. How about sponsoring a luxury event, in your marketplace? Here are two examples of event marketing. One is famous luxury brand that is thinking strategically in a time when retailers and luxury brands are cutting back their budgets. The other is a market leading luxury real estate professional who followed a hunch with event marketing that paid off very well, indeed.

The Luxury Brand

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.

Recently they announced their return to their equestrian beginnings by sponsoring an equestrian event and competition. This is a revival of the first jumping event that was originally held in the Grand Palais in 1901. The event drew the fashionable crowds of Paris and its environs. By 1957, interest waned and the event was discontinued. Now, by sponsoring Saut Hermès (saut means jump) they are strategically placing themselves in plain view of their target market. No doubt, they will issue a limited scarf edition that will honor the event. This will help to reacquaint existing customers with Hermes’ equestrian roots and reaffirm their loyalty to the Hermès brand. Additionally, Hermès has become involved with a horse race held every summer in Deauville, as well as with an international dressage competition Equita’Lyon, held in Lyon, France.

The Luxury Real Estate Agent

One of our clients listed a home owned by a car collector. Based on the design of the home, the ideal buyer would also a collector. As a strategic move, she rented a billboard that showcased the home at the prestigious Concours D’Elegance car event in Pebble Beach, California, where her target market would be a captive audience. She not only sold the home to an attendee of the event but she also attracted several leads for other sales.

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Luxury Real Estate Marketing Essentials – Is Luxury Out of Style?

Luxury real estate marketing professionals need to stay abreast of current etiquette when conversing with high net worth clients. Economic conditions tend to affect the degree of conspicuous or inconspicuous consumption. But, is flaunting one’s wealth ever in style?

To quote 12/25/08, Minneapolis-Saint Paul, Star Tribune article titled New Recessionary Etiquette: Luxury Shame?

“Across office suites, dinner parties and foundation boardrooms, inconspicuous consumption is the new recessionary etiquette. To do otherwise at a time when neighbors and family members are getting pink-slipped is considered simply poor taste. The tokens of success — a Cartier timepiece, Christian Louboutin shoes — are being worn more discreetly, or not at all.”

Given the current economic conditions and the propensity of the media and talking heads to point out the downfall of the luxury retail market this holiday season, the following question comes to mind: Is luxury itself out of style?

The answer is NO. The essence of luxury is an object or a service that is well made/well done. Again the governing concept of an item is that is of exceptional craftsmanship which implies its long lasting value. A great service implies that you will return for that great service over and over again because it is worth it. The very well to do populace is not the only ones who buy luxury. There are quite a few people who may buy an item because of its “superior quality or performance.” They understand that because it is a superior product, its longevity will make the purchase an economically sound decision.

There are people who will drive their Mercedes for 20-30 years. Divide the original purchase price by the number of years, and you will discover that given the performance and the lasting quality with which the vehicle is built, it is a bargain. In addition the resale value is higher, and if the model is sought after by collectors, it resale can be astronomically more than its original purchase price. A well made piece of furniture last lifetimes and is often passed from generation to generation. An authentic Chippendale is worth a fortune on today’s market. With falling prices on many durable luxury items, those in the know are purchasing them.

The same could not be said about some luxury purchases. If one were to purchase a pair of satin Christian Louboutin shoes for $1500, the chances of those shoes surviving into the next century are not so great, even though they are well made and well crafted. The intention here is not to condemn the purchase but to illustrate the concept of long term luxury. It is possible that the wearer may be so careful as to avoid every possible scuff and not damage them at all and hand them off to a granddaughter with the same exact shoe size at some point in time!

What is out of style and what has always been out of style is in your face luxury i.e. bragging about and flaunting recent purchases. Etiquette is a lifelong pursuit and is not dependent on economic conditions to practice it. It depends on one’s understanding and appreciation of all the conditions that life has to offer and reacting to them in a gracious manner.

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Is Innovative Interactivity the Wave of the Future For Luxury Real Estate Marketing?

Recently, a 3D floor plan company was called to our attention that takes virtual tours to a new level. As former commercial real estate brokers we appreciate the need to help clients visualize how their office space will lay out. Space planners offer renderings with elevations to accompany floor plans that help the visualization process, marginally. For major tenants they build 3D models which work much better. However, they are expensive to produce. So, 3D web graphics may be just the ticket. But, will this work when marketing luxury real estate?

Perhaps, if a buyer of a luxury condo needs to compare floor plans this would be helpful. Or, possibly a second home buyer from outside of the market place could save a trip by being able to better visualize the views from certain rooms. Or, maybe it would helpful to see the potential of remodeling, and the advantages of removing certain walls to rework the flow of rooms. 

The old bottom line questions that luxury real estate professionals need to ask about the new wave of innovative interactivity still apply: 

  • Will this new technology help me get more listings and sell more homes?
  • Will investing in this technology give me a genuine competitive advantage?
  • Is this the next fad, or is 3D here to stay?

To help answer these questions,  take a look at The Watch Avenue which is supposedly an answer to the glut of luxury watch brands and their ubiquitous imitators that sell for pennies on the dollars. It is intended to be a 3D interactive shopping experience set in Paris. 

In addition to entering and stopping in boutiques such as Hublot, Corum, Vacheron Constantin, Chanel, here are some of the other features of The Watch Avenue:

  1.  An attractive woman appears as your shopping guide who talks to you and follows you as you explore the watch boutiques and  ”stroll” down First and Second Avenue.
  2. You can stop into the theatre and watch a movie about a watch
  3. You can go to the bookstore and read books about watches
  4. You can go to the kiosk and see recent magazines about watches.
  5. You can go to a museum hosted by TAG Heuer
  6. You can visit a general information center
  7. There is even a watch making school to appreciate the art of making fine timepieces

In your estimation is this the future of shopping? Is this the future of luxury real estate marketing?

Ironically, there is a billboard on The Watch Avenue that states, “Fake watches are for fake people-buy real”. Isn’t this entire site virtual reality?

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