Have you ever considered Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs?

Likely not. But your customers are when they make their purchasing decisions.

In 1954 Abraham Maslow first published his theory on how humans make choices. He established a hierarchy that stated that once our physiological needs were met – the absolute basics: breathing, food, water, sex, sleep, homeostasis, excretion; that we then moved up the pyramid and wanted make sure our safety was taken care of, then we could move to love and belonging, finally esteem and then self-actualization. (more…)

There has been a lot in the news recently about housing starts, house prices and what is happening in the Okanagan and Kelowna real estate market. Being so intimately involved with so many clients in the development industry, we’re seeing what’s happening from the inside.

As so many new developments are coming on stream, and there are more on the horizon, consumers are being given greater choice and they are quick to recognize this as an opportunity to better pricing on an overabundance of product.

Is your product aimed at the right market?
The real estate offering has to be properly differentiated and targeted to the right market. We’ve seen many examples of a great product aimed at the wrong market. Often with repositioning, the appropriate consumer can be attracted and the development will start moving - but there are a lot of costs associated with this error. As well as increased marketing costs, additional time for the sales process means capital and finance costs are incurred and loss of opportunity within the marketplace. The audience doesn’t take well to this type of confused messaging.

Build on a solid foundation.
It is becoming increasingly important that developers build on their reputation and illustrate a proven history. Consumers are more sophisticated, and more leery. They’ve also heard the media reports about projects that didn’t get built. Make sure you can prove to them that you will be there to actually build the project and are around for the long term.

Is everyone singing the same song?
If the brand is the personality – then make sure your project doesn’t have a personality disorder. The brand should be consistently presented throughout all consumer touch points so that the consumer can easily understand the product offering from many perspectives. This means that the brand styling has to be consistently applied. Whether it is the visuals that are in the ads and the discovery centre, or the style of radio commercials and the sales person. Make sure it all works together and reflects the message you want to be conveying.

As consumers become more sophisticated and product choices mount, appropriate marketing for recreational and residential properties will become increasingly important to the success of the projects. Madhouse Creative has worked on the marketing for over $1.25 billion worth of real estate projects throughout the Okanagan and Washington state, our experience has enabled us to build strategies that will reach the consumer, to craft the right message that will resonate with consumers and to create collateral that will support the brand.

Marketing is much bigger. A good way to think about marketing is to envision a pyramid. Marketing is at the top clearly defining the direction of a business or organization while advertising and public relations are at the base supporting the marketing function.

Think of it this way. Marketing is everything you do to make your product or service more visible, more desirable and more profitable. Your marketing plan will clearly define the big picture and provide focus and direction based on the 4 Ps of Marketing: Product, Price, Placement, and Promotion.

Whether it’s sending an invoice, handling a complaint call, running a radio ad or sending an e-mail, you’re marketing your business if you’re touching a customer or a potential customer.

That said, let’s talk about ways to use marketing to increase business and get new customers. While there are many tactics available, there are 5 categories that will simplify your efforts and help you get better results. Develop a plan that includes five key components: Advertising; Public Relations; Special Promotions; Community Relations; and Customer Relations (more…)