1. Launches fail. The era of the sales launch weekend was not only short lived but it is effectively over. The over-used strategy was to create hype and a false sense of urgency around buying up front. And while the strategy may have driven initial sales when cheap money was available, that is certainly not the case today. Luring buyers with hyped up launches and attempting to create a false sense of urgency in this market can have the opposite effect. Not only will it fail to lure buyers but it has the potential to create a brand image of conveying misleading information. In other words, the entire market knows that real estate development is at a very low point, using misleading statements about the market that are easily verifiable on Google will only damage the marketing efforts. The developer and brand will not be trusted and sales risk rises in a negative correlation to brand trust.


2. Investor speculators are out of the market – focus on the user. The marketing strategy of a development should be based on the eventual residents. Who are they? What do they want in a development? What elements of their particular lifestyle can you satisfy to the degree that they will buy? The marketing then focuses on those lifestyle elements as the core-messaging strategy. Defining a marketing strategy based on investment potential or speculative buyers, as in the case of vacation or second home property, is a very low return, highly risky strategy. Instead valid marketing strategies focus on the lifestyle interests of buyers. If you find the sweet spot between your brand and their personal passions and needs, the demand curve shifts upward.


3. Digital rules. Every one of your potential buyers will research the development online. They will search competitor properties, evaluate your lifestyle amenities and validate or disprove any claims you make. Consequently digital marketing must be the core around which all of your marketing is based. Chris Anderson, Author of The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is selling less of more said, “Your brand is what Google says your brand is, not what you say your brand is.” While this generalization highlights the extraordinary influence that search and other digital media have on a brand, I believe that the relevance to real estate developers is to understand the dialogue and the nature of information, then build a strategy to optimize the multitude of touch points across digital networks.


4. Customization and niche marketing. Ask any development marketer about tactics and undoubtedly you’ll hear direct mail. Of course it will be qualified that the response rates are typically 1 – 3%. BS. Response rates on direct mail (printed) are probably closer to 0 than 3% and the response rates on digital (email) are why spammer’s exist, i.e. the response rate is a fraction of a percent. Both tactics can work, if you are prepared to undertake a massive and sustained effort. For example a .01% response rate yields 10 leads from 100,000 people. An alternative strategy is based on highly customized or niche direct marketing tactics that leverage the enormous potential of database technology with variable data publishing (both print and digital). The example I typically use is imagining a typical direct mail campaign of 5000 pieces. Each person gets the same piece except for the mailing label; now imagine 5000 different pieces going to 5000 different people. Each recipient’s piece was made specifically for them based on their preferences, likes and needs embedded in the database. This hybrid can easily yield double-digit response rates. Reliance on “spray and pray” marketing tactics are not only ill-advised in today’s market but can add significant risk to developer absorption assumptions. Variable data with it’s highly customized and niche targeting can reduce risk in absorption and decrease costs over the long run as ROI increases.


These are just four of the laundry list of common mistakes that are at the core of failed marketing strategies. I’ve highlighted just a few of the emerging trends that are powering successful marketing strategies in many diverse sectors. If you are a developer, marketer or funding source the entire list of common mistakes and emerging trends should be at the top of your marketing meeting agenda.


FORMO not only prepares some of the most innovative marketing strategies in the industry today but we also consult to groups looking for expert eyes to ad value to their own strategy.

An excellent review of the Nike/Adidas strategy battle during the World Cup. Without a doubt, I believe the key stratagem in the article is,

“…consumers had come to expect a much more active role in the content they engage with”

For years now, we have been driving strategies about true engagement for our client brands. So many ineffective strategies are still built around the conventional or broadcast theory of advertising to drive sales. In the market niche where we thrive, that old strategy is a formula for flat sales, declining revenues and poor lead generation. This Nike case study is not just relevant for the retail or athletic footwear industry, it is true for any brand.

Fantastic article by Susan Kime, read on

Ok, it’s big headline and I don’t expect a waiting list for seats. I had breakfast a few weeks ago with Greg Furhman, Founder and Chairman of the Luxury Marketing Council. Greg and I were discussing some applications of positioning with luxury products and services when he suggested that I participate as a speaker for an upcoming event they were planning on the Aesthetics of Luxury through Design & Print. I was honored by Greg’s invitation and humbled by the opportunity to speak to such a prestigious group. Nonetheless, I have a very relevant and fascinating case study to share with them. I’m going to talk about the positioning process and application that we implemented for the DPS Sporting Clubs. This is a fascinating and highly relevant case study not only for the real estate development industry but also any product or service that requires a very precise marketing model.


The event is May 20 at Madam Tussauds in Manhattan. For more information click here.

From real estate developer perspective, marketing resources must produce directly measurable ROI.

We understand that as we are an in-house marketing company for a successful development company that remains highly active: DPS SPORTING CLUB DEVELOPMENT COMPANY.


In the current economic times, the conversation with potential prospects will simply not happen if you follow the same old agency strategies of big advertising, production marketing and template communications. The conversation with potential prospects is one to one and it initially takes place online where the prospect controls the space with the close button on their browser. The content therefore must engage the prospect and hold their attention. To do that it must be authentic and real. Its too easy for any of us to Google your project and find out “everything” about it from other sources. And we are all immune to advertising tag lines, manufactured copy and clearly staged photos in over-sized, expensive brochures. We simply ignore them. Think about how many ad messages you experienced last night watching television from your home. Do you recall any? Chances are that you don’t. You’re immune to them. In order for that strategy to work the Developer must devote massive resources, which is a viable strategy if you sell consumer products in a global marketplace but not for a struggling developer selling a niche product. The ROI is just not there anymore.


Still, I continue to be amazed at how many development firms remain trapped in their own marketing/advertising paradigm yet exhibit a very different behavior as individuals. When asked how they obtain information…the web. When asked how they research a product or service…the web. When asked the last time they called for information from an ad they saw in a magazine…they can’t recall.


The danger however is the “I’m an expert” reaction. “We need a new website.” Unfortunately that’s not necessarily the answer. If their “expert” opinion views the web as an electronic brochure or a digital means to shove ad copy down the prospect’s throat then the ROI will be low.


The web is not the alternate path for the same old marketing strategy.

I shot this in one continuous take at a recent art show at Redux in Charleston SC. I was really intrigued how I was able to literally walk in a circle for 3 minutes without anyone looking directly at me or asking me what I was doing. None of this was planned, I just started shooting.


Music: Amplive – Rainydays Remixes
onesevensevensix.com/amplive/

Seth Godin raises some interesting points in his blog post Poisoning the Well.


The solution however is simple. Honesty and Transparency. It’s too easy for customer, a guest, a buyer or a browser to Google your product or service and dig up their own information, i.e. the truth. Hence, marketing strategies that focus on attempts to persuade us without having a basis in fact are destined to fail. Instead be honest and transparent, and seek out dialogue with your customers.

Saks Fifth Avenue uses Soviet-inspired art in its spring marketing campaign, inspired by the bold graphic designs and propaganda spirit of Constructivist art.
via New York Times


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