New, custom FlexTeam to brand and market luxury vacation condos in NY

In June, Randy Strothman partnered in a FlexTeam with New Perspective and Brian James to work with a luxury vacation condo real estate developer in western New York.  This new marketing contract resulted from a blog posted here last summer about a similar real estate marketing project for a client in Deep Creek, MD… and discovered by the client’s a Google Alert.

The developers moth-balled the multi-unit project in 2008, when the real estate market collapsed quickly, including for luxury resort vacation homes.  In late 2009 the development team began planning a relaunch of the project with new vision and optimism and a search for marketing expertise.

The setting for this 50-unit luxury vacation condo development is a four season resort community, with skiing in the winter and golf, festivals and more in the summer.  The local town is charming and was described by the New York Times as “ the town that Aspen used to be.” It attracts 100s of thousands of visitors throughout the year from Canada, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

THE QUESTION. How to market this vacation home real estate development, newly positioned as a Residence Club in the marketplace, given the state of the economy and the current consumer mindset?

PHASE 1:

First, ask a lot of questions… then plan strategically.

Our marketing FlexTeam is following a 4-step process for developing the brand and the plan:

• Situation Analysis (market research)— What do we know about the current state of the vacation real estate market, the local perception of the project, the target prospect, brand attributes of the product, the mindset of potential buyers, the competition and more.
  

  a presentation board for research

• Brand Positioning— Based on the analysis, what are the Brand Value and Brand Benefits to the purchaser and what will be the Brand Personality? A creative brief defines these clearly and drives all future marketing work.
• Naming and Logo Development— What name and logo will concisely represent the brand in the marketplace?  Several name options have been provided. Three to five logo concepts will be offered.
• Communication Plan Development— What marketing strategies and tactics will reach the target audience with what messages? The plan will include a variety of tactics, from website and SEO to media relations, from social media to advertising, from selection of a real estate agent to a festival and trade show marketing booth.

This process is a is an expanded version of the unique and cost effective Marketing Snapshot offered exclusively by Randy Strothman & Associates.

What initial MARKET RESEARCH revealed…

LOCAL SURVEYS… The market research/situation analysis included interviews and surveys in the local town and visits to local competitor properties and websites. The local interviews revealed much dissatisfaction with the look of the initial phase of the project and the moth-balling since 2008. So the developers launched an immediate improvement in the landscaping and the condition of the site, which has created a positive buzz in town and even an interested buyer.

NATIONAL RESEARCH… Internet research clearly revealed that even upscale consumers are worried in mid-2010, although generally not quite as much as in 2009.  Very revealing was the Spring 2010 survey of the wealthiest 10% of U.S. households by the American Affluence Research Center.

Among many informative statistics in the 42 page survey report is that, among “major expenditures” planned by the wealthiest U.S. households, “purchase of an existing home as a vacation residence” is rising to a point near where it was in the winter of 2008.  But, in the same time frame, “preservation of capital” as a primary investment objective took the lead over other investment objectives.

THE NEW CONSUMER?… One article, based on interviews with high level marketing strategists and on a new “How America Shops 2010 Megastudy,” was revealing about the current mindset of consumers.  Read the article titled “How the ‘new’ consumer is changing the game” to find out how the state of the economy is affecting buying consumer decisions:

“They have a whole new sense of value and new habits formed during the recession. Quantifying value is key at all price levels now including luxury.”

Some bullet points from the article:

• there definitely is a new consumer
• the new consumer is still uncertain
• quantifying and demonstrating value is paramount today
• the importance of brand has changed
• social media and online presence count more than ever

Wordle word cloud example

The marketing team used a free, online tool for the first time for part of the marketing analysis:  Wordle.  It produces the “word clouds” that you see on some websites, telling people what’s most popular there.  This tool gave the client a user friendly way to analyze and visualize the content on 17 national websites for Residence Clubs to easily identify key words and themes.

And specialized MARKETING EXPERTISE

The marketing team will also include experts from a renowned company that specializes in marketing and managing Residence Clubs nationally and internationally.

This multi-faceted team, armed with research-based strategies, multiple talents and perspectives and a fresh, clear brand will launch a dynamic luxury vacation condo marketing campaign in the Fall of 2010.

Lets talk about how we can deliver creative & strategic marketing solutions for you.  Call 412-322-9720 or email today.