Applied Creativity 2008

This past Sunday the The New York Times ran an article that was about how brokers now had to get creative to “seduce buyers”.

DUH! – talk about being masters of the obvious!

Of course things need to be done differently we are only in the worst financial crisis of our era.

Some of the tactics sounded interesting and fun and like they achieved their preliminary objective which is to create more awareness.

What wasn’t directly stated was the fact that we are now are competing for fewer buyers than what previously existed and the first thing that needs to be done is catch their attention.Some brokers are hustling for their clients and going above and beyond.For those who are going the extra mile and trying something new and something that you haven’t done before then I applaud you.

A condo or a project needs to stand out from the pack, the more people know about your project the better.

Events, tours are great and necessary but where the game really needs to change is online – and that is where most agents are operating like its 2004 - time to retool, re skill and compete in a new arena.

Do what you’ve always done and today you won’t get what you use to get!

Blood in the Water

Lehman, Merrill, AIG - Wow! What a week!

I remember thinking just a few weeks ago how tough the economic climate was AND was even quoted in the NY Sun about my perception of where the real estate market was going and how tough it was.

BUT if you were to tell me that those 3 financial giants would be "hammered" so hard that they would either "dead" or unrecognizable then I would've thought you were high.

But the unthinkable happened, the market is fundamentally worse now so where does that leave you, your project and your strategy?

What's Plan B look like or is is C or D?

Where is the smart money going to go?

There is blood in the water and the sharks are circling - what are you going to do now?

Marketing Synergy 2.0

How should Websites, Advertising, Blogs and P.R. work together in this connected world?

How do you connect all of the pieces?

Quick Story

I saw this huge development the other day.
Impressive product, priced right, great amenities – the full page ad with a great headline which had an offer which made me want to go online and find out more.
Sounds great huh?

And when I did get online to see it, guess what I found?
Just their same old website/online brochure.
There was NOTHING in relation to their new advertising promotion.
NOTHING, NADA, ZIP, ZERO!

The Ad did its job – everything else was a failure.
The Website should have had at the very least a new page detailing the offer OR an ad to click through on the landing page OR even better a banner on all of their pages.

How about linking their existing site to their own blog?
A blog that is updated regularly and has video?
A blog which has all of the key team members contributing and shares with us why they are doing what they doing and what they love about it and the lifestyle that the new owners are going to have there.

They should be sharing the cool stories which are taking place now as it is going up.
People want more info not less and they are taking more time and becoming more informed.

And where was the P.R?
They had a full page ad in one of the major daily papers and there was no other “pick up” of the project! AND there are a lot of angles on that project that they could promote which leads me to believe that their P.R is either non-existent or lazy.

Outstanding!

The goal of advertising in 2008 is to drive them online!
Sales is a multiple contact sport – the more you “touch” the higher probability that they will remember you and take action AND once they do take action then your components/team better compliment and enhance each other.

Once you get their attention you better know what you are doing – producing a site then thinking your job done is a blue print for failure in sales.

Your project’s online life and strategy needs to be constantly reviewed and updated if you don’t do that then you are your own worst enemy and the architect for marketing and sales mediocrity.

Superior 2.0 strategy is straight forward IF you now how to play this new digital game.