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 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 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.

Something similar happened with a simple, low cost promotion Strothman Associates did for a great client in Pittsburgh—The Park House tavern.  Customers stole it… and we called it a nice compliment!  Find out more about this amusing, insightful story… plus the power of Google Calendar.

Backstory

Last winter a small team of Associates completed a pretty cool website for The Park House—a site that has great hidden features to save the owner time with 3 kinds of online promotions. (find out what in this blog) This new low cost, 24/7 small business marketing strategy has paid off well, especially for the big nights when bands are playing. With this new tool in his marketing toolkit, the owner asked what else we could do to boost business.

New ‘marketing lite’ efforts

A simple idea that came out of brainstorming was to create “mini billboards” for in the tavern.  No customer should leave there without knowing about the great, free, live band music he books for weekends—when profits jump.  So Randy drafted a simple concept for a small table top display and a poster… and then turned it over to the amazingly creative illustrator, Dan Wintermantel.

Dan came back with 3 designs that were great! Tough choice.  In an email the owner said: “Houston we have problem. They’re all freaking awesome!”

So Randy suggested surveying his customers in the pub… and one design clearly stood out from the rest.  Time to go into production…

Success = they steal it!

Posters went up in the bathrooms and at the bar.  Thirteen two-sided, laminated table top cards went into stands and onto the tables on Tuesday. We joked that fans might like them so much that they’d steal them… and help spread the word virally among friends.  Like Virgin Atlantic.

The next morning the owner called to say that 3 of the 10 table tops were missing. At least one woman asked “Could I take this for a bookmark?”  That day we produced 6 more… and the next day 2 more were missing.

Our take on this is that:  1) customers like the promo enough to steal it and carry it out into their world for us and 2) this simple traditional strategy has taken on viral quality, much like social media can.  And 3) we’re flattered that people are taking them!

Drive them to social media too

An important part of the strategy here was to build additional fans on The Park House Facebook page and get more people signed up on the website for the weekly e-newsletter—i.e. traditional media supporting the growth of new and social media.

Google Calendar:  another value-added strategy

At the same time that the designer was working on the table tops, associate Don Orkoskey was installing a Google Calendar on the website. This would complement the weekly blog and emails the owner sends out announcing his weekend bands, new beers and new menu items.  (Note: every time he sends these out his website traffic spikes up immediately).

The Google Calendar is up and running and is providing The Park House three valuable marketing services 24/7… 

Calendar also provides map

First, people can now see out into the future what bands are coming and plan for it, even 3 months out.  Second, with one click the Calendar can add dates and events to people’s desktop or mobile electronic calendars. Third, the Calendar also provides Google Map directions to the tavern by simply clicking on “map” in each of the event descriptions. Cool.

This simple web marketing tool gives The Park House a marketing reach long into the future with very little cost or investment of time.

Importantly all of these have installed analytics to reveal traffic patterns and all have some form of Search Engine Optimization, because it isn’t necessarily true that “if you build it they will come.” Copy writing for the web requires a strong awareness of what keyword phrases will attract the best search results.

Costs for these new builds or refinements ranged from $1,000 to $12,000, depending on the degree of complexity. On the biggest of the projects, four bids came in with a wide range of costs—from a $3,700 to a $15,000 for the programming only—for the same website specifications.  Shopping and researching pays off in this marketplace, not only for price but also for reputation, reliability and experience.

MASTER REMODELERS

In 2008 RS&A rebranded this upscale contractor in ads and with a new identity package, including to place him in the elite group of contractors with tomorrow’s solutions for home energy efficiency. In November 2009, Master Remodelers’ 9 year old website was replaced with a new one featuring a Joomla content management system that allows his staff to update the site on their own. It also features an interactive portfolio of project photos and an innovative interactive quiz for visitors.

Since the launch of the site, Randy has done a lot of tweaking to improve performance with search engines and to increase visual appeal.  And this April a new WordPress blog was integrated into the site, featuring events, updates and special topics. Like green home remodeling.  A special challenge was working over distance with a developer in Atlanta. (more)

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PARK HOUSE

We completed this simple, fun and colorful site in early January.  Built on a simple WordPress content management system, the owner learned the system in two lessons and is now in full control.  It also features Google Analytics and lots of enticing photos.  Check it out at ParkHousePgh.com.

BONUS:  The site has a strong tie in to Social Media, particularly to announce musical events.  Facebook and email are integrated with a simple Events blog.  In one step the owner:  1) creates a blog announcement, 2) posts on his Facebook page and 3) sends an email to his list.  A real time saver.

DEUTSCHTOWN

For several months a committee of volunteers working with a paid web developer and funded by Pennsylvania Elm Streets honed this new web site to promote the community. Randy developed the web architecture, tone and much of the writing and imagery. More about the committee process in an earlier blog, plus insights on branding and marketing communities.

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FIRE RELIEF FUNDRAISING

While the new Deutschtown site was being built, tragedy struck the neighborhood in early January:   a fire destroyed an apartment building leaving nearly 20 people homeless. Many of the volunteers who were building the Deutschtown site rallied to create a multifaceted fundraising campaign, including a temporary website with PayPal contribution options. More than $5,000 came in to help the homeless neighbors. More about this effort in an earlier blog.

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PITTSBURGH WATER LIMO

In a quick turn around before the Pittsburgh Pirate season opened in April, the owners wanted new branding and a revamped website to better market their various river shuttle services. In a matter of a few weeks the revamped website more clearly spelled out the offerings, although it still needs some additional work. New Google analytics now tell the client what promotions are working best. (blog post)

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RANDY STROTHMAN & ASSOCIATES

Our website had become outdated after two years and it was time to put a fresh face on it, sharpen the messaging, and streamline the content with some major editing. The result is a cleaner and more contemporary home page, simpler menus, improved search function, links to social media and two blogs.

From the beginning in 2007 it has been housed on a WordPress content management system, allowing us at no cost to quickly and easily make additions or changes. But we still keep a WordPress guru or two a phone call away.

Randy Strothman wrote all of the website copy for this site, as well as for Master Remodelers’ and Park House’s, plus much of the writing for Deutschtown and Pittsburgh Water Limo.

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Phase 1 of the site will be streamlined for budgetary reasons. It will feature About Us, a portfolio of projects, as well as 4 key components of his service: Design, Construction, Craftsmanship and Sustainability.  It will also feature a blog about new products, energy audits, sustainability and homeowner tips.

Randy is developing the content and design with art director Robert Sands, who created an innovative icon system for the four Key Messages of the client. Site construction is being subcontracted to a developer in Atlanta, GA.   In addition, the SBDC at Pitt’s Katz School of Business is providing SEO support to the project.

Part of a campaign to launch in October

Synchronized with the launch of the website will be several new efforts, all including the new branding and icon system with a modern, clean look:

• A new rebranded ad in three magazines

• A postcard mailing to their warm market

• New signage for their vehicles ———>

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Won three awards in 2008 and went Green

In the summer of 2008, Regis McQuaide earned his Certified Building Analyst credential and the company is now “certified to deliver whole-house energy savings to improve comfort while reducing home energy use.”  [press release PDF] Even before that McQuaide has begun to apply his “home performance” knowledge to projects.  [read  PopCity article]

This includes one that won two awards in 2008:  from the Post-Gazette and Master Builders Association.   It’s also featured in a story in the Post-Gazette, a result of persistent media relations efforts.

This repurposing of a century-old church for 80+ year old Mrs. Hulley has made her senior years more comfortable… and brought mother and daughter together again on adjacent properties.  It is a major transformation of the structure to a cozy, affordable home for an adventuresome senior citizen.

Much of it an open space design plan, this renovation features:

• all living on a single floor
• a new picture window in the living room
• a wheel chair accessible entry and deck
• many accessibility features in kitchen and bath
• breakfast table next to island for eating/additional counter space
• inexpensive, durable white appliances
• colors reflecting her previous Victorian-style home

This renovation blends modern with traditional and “aging in place” accessibility features.  The result is a warm, open and imaginative new home for a senior citizen, showcasing her numerous antiques and spotlighting her art collection (with recessed lighting).

Plus a “lite green” treatment for energy efficiency

• high efficiency furnace/AC
• ceiling fans to reduce heating and cooling costs
• high performance low-e glazing
• ceilings lowered to 12’ for insulation (and scale).

In early March Randy had completed a Marketing Snapshot for Pittsburgh Water Limo. This new promotional effort is a direct result of the planning and recommendations included in the Snapshot.

The new season opened with a bang! As a result of media relations efforts, two stories appeared for the opening of the season: in PopCityMedia and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. This drove traffic to the improved and rebranded website (interim site) and resulted in numerous new bookings. A second effort in early July, increased website visitors by 600%!

This low cost and concise analysis-with-recommendations has been very well received by the 19 businesses that have participated. (customer reviews PDF)

In 2009 the Strip District will provide 4 Snapshots to its businesses; the first two were Pittsburgh Water Limo and the Right By Nature natural foods grocery.

initial website rebranding

With his 20-year old, award-winning Master Remodelers moving in new directions—including Green ones— president Regis McQuaide sought fresh marketing expertise for his vision.

First, RS&A provided Master Remodelers some important marketing and rebranding foundations: a Marketing Snapshot, a brand audit, a search engine audit and a geo-coded map of customers [PDF]. The team then moved on to produce:

• • A fresh identity and logo (compare old and new) [PDF ]
  • Advertising featuring the new look and “Green” capabilities [PDF ]
  • New collateral with new branding
  • A new trade show booth with large screen PowerPoint [PDFs ]
  • Press release to announce the “new directions” [PDF ]
  • Press release to announce winning 3 awards in late 2008 [PDF ]

The new trade show booth, with a Register-to-Win contest [PDF ] generated 49 new leads at the Pittsburgh Design Fair. Media relations produced an online green story in February and significantly increased website traffic.

In 2005 he had assembled a team to conduct a feasibility study for the project. Finally, in 2010, after years of negotiations, the Pittsburgh Public Market is scheduled to open in June, including the possibility that a portion will open in the Fall.

The efforts generated $5,000 for the victims, 500% more than originally predicted. While hundreds of individuals contributed, large gifts from a local church and another nonprofit made up more than half the total. The funds were delivered directly to the families affected. This campaign is about neighbors helping neighbors, a strong virtue of this Pittsburgh community.

• • a 2008 marketing plan and budget
  • a 3-part direct mail series for Q1 & Q2
  • a multi-piece new sales kit

Three direct mail pieces went to the wealthiest Top 5% of households in Baltimore, Washington DC and Pittsburgh.

In August 2008, the team launched a media relations effort in Pittsburgh, Baltimore and DC. Using a custom media list of 75 contacts including Real Estate, Homes, Lifestyle and Vacation writers and editors, press releases [PDF] and kits were customized for each market.

In the 3rd quarter of 2008, five fractional interests in the vacation homes sold, doubling the sales from the previous two years.