Ultimate Branding

I am in San Diego today.

It seems for the better part of the last six months, there has been a great deal of information on the slowing housing market throughout much of the United States. No surprise really, the housing boom carried a somewhat weak economy for the last three years fueled by low interest rates, new housing developments, and Americans worried that if they didn't buy now they'd be priced out of their respective market.

Almost all would say that we are now in a housing bust (not a total bust - but at the very least a mild bust which has lead to very noticeable slowing). Hardest hit have been the markets who were on fire just 12 months ago -- like Las Vegas, Sacramento and San Diego.....

Especially, Downtown San Diego where there is a new high rise condo project on every corner. The market is flush with pricey loft units overlooking the Gaslamp or Pacific Ocean; but fewer and fewer buyers are feeling the pressing desire to pay $600 a square foot for a peice of property which may loose value six months from now.

So, with all this negative press in the air -- imagine my shock when I saw "300 suites sold in 9 hours." At first, I was sure it was a joke. But sure enough, after I checked with the sales staff, yes they had really sold 300 suites in just under 9 hours. Amazing.

Were the suites/units the best available on the market? Did the building have an amenity that no other building had? Were there some other major perks that were encompassed in the purchase? No, no, and no way.

What was the story? This is an example of ultimate branding 101.

With each and every corner being developed by big, faceless developer types all of the new high-rise condo units had become ubecquitous. Every unit was the same. Every unit was overpriced.

Wnter The Hard Rock Hotel-Condo project.

How they sold 300 suites in one day in a down market in not a story of construction or design, or even location (where real estate reigns king). No, this was a story of branding. The Hard-Rock created an ethos about their hotel-condo project made people from all over feel that this was the only place to buy. It was so fundamentally "cool" that there was really no other choice. There was this creation of a vegas-like casino slash San Diego beach-club that would attract all the pretty people. For many, this sealed the deal right away. Its no surprise that the units themselves are nothing to write home about. In fact, just down the street their are two much nicer condo projects with better design and functionality that aren't selling as quickly. But atlas, sometimes branding your concept is more profound than the product itself.

The Consumer Experience

It seems like everywhere I go I am bombarded with ideas on how to
help grow our business. The notions come from unlikely people and unlikely places.

Take for instances a recent trip to Orange County. In between meetings, I had a chance to browse the Apple store at Fashion Island Shopping Mall. If you have never been to Fashion Island than you are seriously missing a parade of what I call “$30,000 Millionaires.” There is a display of money, cars, plastic surgery, and brand overload that I don’t see often.

I am a huge Mac fan. I have two Apple computers, use iMovie constantly, and even use my mac for spreadsheets. Whenever I am in a new town I like to check out the Apple store and see how each store differs. Apple retail stores are simply brilliant. Steve Jobs and his international branding team have developed the ultimate consumer experience. The Apple lesson can be summed up briefly: I decided I wanted to purchase an item from the store. There was a long line (Holiday Shoppers!) and an Apple associate saw that I was looking for a quick purchase. With a hand-held register, the associate took my credit card, swiped it, emailed me a receipt and gave me a bag to boot. The process took maybe 45 seconds. Apple made a sale because they were flexible and recognized the need of the consumer. Not only did they make a sale, but they landed a client for life; and in addition, they furthered emboldened their brand image as being on the cutting edge of technology and innovation.

American Youth Sports Leadership Group

Today we announced that we were underwriting a program that is going to help make wide-spread changes to the current plight of youth sports in America.

The program dubbed, The American Youth Sports Leadership Group, is aimed at creating a culture that embraces sport, and helps youth achieve great things on and off the field.

There will be more detailed info coming the next few days, and there will be a website situtated shortly. We are hoping to officially launch the program in Jan 2007. The short-term goal will be to host a Youth Sports Summit in Sacramento, CA during the month of October 2007. Speakers, events, and sponsors to follow soon......

Please let us know your comments and feedback.

Book Update

I have received a lot of emails lately asking what was the status of my book, The Sociology of Youth Sports: The Demise of American Amateurism. Well, the long and the short of it is simple: its almost done!

I have been working on the book for the better part of the last two years, and I still have little more to flesh out. All in all, I can honestly say that writing this book has been the most profound experience in my life. It has helped me to focus on what my passion is, and how best to reach those goals.

With a little bit of luck, I hope to have the book available by August of 2007.

If you are curious about the book, please feel free to send an email to me: bdowning@esmgroup.org

Thanks to all for your support.