Sell The Truth and Be The Media

David AllisonBraun/Allison Inc.

PLEASED TO MEET YOU

• 25 years in consumer behaviour/ ad agencies big and small

• Taught marketing at university to MBA and undergraduate classes

• Managed advertising for General Motors, Telus, Toyota, Westin Hotels

• Mars Bars made me do it

OUR COMPANY

• Braun/Allison Inc. started in December 2005

• We are a marketing campaign company for residential and recreational real estate developers

• We work with developer in-house sales and marketing teams, or with sales and marketing companies hired by developers

OUR COMPANY

• Also in 2005 - VP Sotheby’s International Realty Canada and Blueprint Global Marketing

• Gave our little company a lot of global experience – Costa Rica – Mongolia – Grenada – USA - Texas, Atlanta, San Diego – Across Canada

• We grew to 26 people

OCTOBER 2008

• The sky fell, on us and on the industry we serve

• Projects cancelled or postponed• Media was full of bad news stories, fuelling

the fire• Looked around and did a lot of thinking and

reading

NOTICED 5 KEY TRENDS MERGING

• These trends were catalyzed by the economic collapse.

• Even with recovery, we believe the consumer has fundamentally changed

1. People want more info. About everything. Antidote to Fear.2. Consumers expect dialogue3. Consumers are searching for authenticity4. Traditional advertising is working less effectively5. Social media is becoming mainstream

ALSO NOTICED SOME THINGS WERE THE SAME

• Real estate marketing is still about branding• Branding is what people say about you when

you leave the room• Frederick the Great of Prussia got it right

SO, I WROTE SELL THE TRUTH

• Now with thousands of readers globally

• Response to the recession • The old ways wont work

anymore• Old ways were based on

speculative or investor buyers

• We didn’t have to work hard• Buyers today are end-users

– different mindset

WHAT’S CHANGED? • Real estate offerings

today need to brand with layers of truth, not fantasy

• The only antidote to fear and uncertainty is information

• Marketing Journalism not hype-and-jive

• We call ourselves a Marketing Newsroom

WHAT’S CHANGED? • All facets must be based on

truth – not just marketing

– Land– Architecture– Pricing– Spec– Can’t pull a fast one anymore. – No more A pricing for B

buildings on C sites with Boffi kitchens

• Our job today is to help buyers

win the dinner party argument

WHERE’S THE TRUTH?

1. Find out what’s out there2. Creative Direction Session: three outcomes

– Who are we talking to– Rank order our stories

• Physical truths – bricks and mortal• Mental truths – location and amenities• Emotional truths – how do I feel • Spiritual truths – is this right for me

– Establish the brand personality

We have seven steps. Please steal these. We like to share.

HOW DO WE FIND IT?

3. The Agreement4. The Scrum5. Story/Strategy development6. Creative Capsule7. Publishing and Feedback

We have seven steps. Please steal these. We like to share.

CHANNEL CHANGES

• Websites are centre of the universe: always knew this

• New kind of website: an information hub: CNN

• Traditional mediums are now support mediums– An ad is not a salesperson– The law of singular focus– Ads and all else are directional signage

• Need blended media – with content aligned to each kind of “cocktail party” – Twitter is a bar– Facebook is a house party – LinkedIn is a boardroom

MARKETING IS ALWAYS ABOUT SALES

• Timing stories to support sales milestones• Pulse the information• Presidential Campaign – Alignment of stories in all channels

• Engage the sales team– Social Media Content– Daily Stories– Feedback loop from the front lines– They are an audience

THE CAMPAIGN MATRIX IS ESSENTIAL TO PLAN WHAT STORIES, WHEN, WHERE AND WHY

BE THE MEDIA• 18 million Canadian are on

Facebook: compare CBC • YouTube has one billion views

a day; second to Google• Cuts across all ages and

incomes• One third of the wealthy 44-65

visit networking sites• 95% of those with HH incomes

over 100k spend 13+ hours a week online

• 52% of the High Net Worth interviewed read blogs consistently

BE THE MEDIA

• For us to not embrace these new channels is negligent

• Think of yourself, buying a car• Must act in concert with the old

ways, aligned and properly deployed• This is as big as the industrial

revolution• Will change the power structure of

information forever• Used to be, PR and Ad space were

your only options• Now you can be the media, and tell

your own stories

IF YOU SELL THE TRUTH, YOU CAN BE THE MEDIA.

YOU WILL HAVE NOTHING TO FEAR.

CONCLUSION

• If we can behave more like journalists objectively reporting the truth

• And less like marketers with catchy slogans and pretty pictures

• If we provide the information a prospect needs to win the dinner party argument

• We have a chance to earn back the respect of our audience

IF WE CAN SELL THE TRUTH, WE CAN ALL

BE PROUD OF WHAT WE DOAND THAT IS WORTH CELEBRATING!