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10 | Homes & Estates
His belief was reinforced by a consumer study
the brand conducted in June 2014. Surveying 665
high-net-worth consumers, the study found that they
identified Coldwell Banker by name as a top luxury
real estate brand.
“We weren’t surprised,” says Blankenship.
“The question was, how do we build on the intrinsic
strengths of our brand — which have already sus-
tained us for over a century — and create a modern
expression of luxury real estate?”
Journey to a 360° Marketing Approach
The answer would take Blankenship and his
marketing team on an ambitious two-year journey to
reinvent the Previews platform. They commissioned
a San Francisco-based branding agency to begin
developing concepts. They created four focus groups,
made up of over 20 key stakeholders around the world.
For nearly eight months, they tested logos and names
with these groups, working backwards from the
brand’s core values — trust, innovation, collaboration,
consumer focus and business acumen. Finally, in July
2016, they settled on a new identity —Coldwell Banker
Global Luxury — and proudly presented it to over 50
top brokers at the annual Chairman’s Circle event in
Park City, Utah.
“The name is simple, memorable and tells
affluent consumers everything they need to know
about our brand,” says Hogan. “It communicates
the power and strength of the Coldwell Banker
V
ersace. Aston Martin. Tiffany. The com-
mon thread between all of these brands?
Staying power. They have all dared to
adapt, to refine the picture of who they
are and to lead by continually raising the
bar for future generations.
Leadership in luxury real estate does not
come easy. Globalization and new technologies have
continued to challenge the status quo at the highest
price points, while competition has grown even fiercer
as the luxury residential sector led the recovery from
the Great Recession. In the battle for market share,
where new players are entering the picture and existing
competitors are continually jockeying for position, a
leader always has the most to lose.
The
Coldwell Banker
®
brand legacy in luxury
has followed a long path of evolution. What began
as a real estate startup in San Francisco’s Financial
District in 1906 has become a globally recognized
brand, with over 3,000 offices in 49 countries and
territories. Leadership in the high-end sector led to
the 1980 acquisition of the
Previews
®
program — a
prestigious luxury real estate marketing platform with
a tradition dating back to 1933. The program evolved
once again this month, becoming known as the
Coldwell Banker Global Luxury
sm
program.
“The bottom line is, our network is a leader in
luxury real estate sales,” says Charlie Young, president
and CEO of Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC. “The
reason we have stayed at the top of our game for so
long is because we have agility. We are constantly
observing and anticipating the changing desires of the
modern-day affluent client — so we can respond and
adapt quickly.”
Searching for the Future
In 2014, the Coldwell Banker brand reached a
pivotal point with the Previews program. Designated
to represent the top 10 percent of every market, the
elite program had a unique pedigree and an 80-year
tradition of catering to a high-net-worth audience,
thanks to an entrepreneur who revolutionized real
estate marketing to capture prized estates on film. The
program’s success was well documented, associated
with the marketing and sale of history’s most iconic
homes, including Ronald Reagan’s estate, Versace
Manor, Spelling Manor, the Playboy Mansion and
Aspen’s Jigsaw Ranch — but consumers were not
connecting the program with the Coldwell Banker
name. The brand’s leadership — which included
Sean Blankenship, chief marketing officer of Coldwell
Banker Real Estate LLC, and Craig Hogan, vice
president of luxury — viewed all of these dynamics
as an opportunity to evolve and stay true to the brand’s
pioneering spirit.
“We needed to unite under one name and tell
one story with one image, all rooted in the brand’s
history of looking toward the future,” explains
Blankenship. “We also wanted to make a powerful
global statement that people understood.”
BY ALYSON PITARRE
WITH AN EYE TOWARD THE FUTURE, ONE OF REAL ESTATE’S
MOST ICONIC BRANDS BOLDLY REMAKES ITS LUXURY
MARKETING PROGRAM AND UNVEILS A BRAND-NEW IDENTITY.
A MODERN
EXPRESSION
OF LUXURY