Realtors use creative ways to lure clients

With the real estate market facing a bit of a crunch lately, marketers are using creative ways to sell properties. Michael Shvo of SHVO Marketing, a real estate marketing company says that he sells lifestyles rather than houses. Agenda writes about real estate developers are relying increasingly on marketing their services and creating "identities" for their properties, with glossy brochures, parties and gifts. Nowadays, realtors are not bothering with newspaper ads or floor plans, they are instead tying up with celebrities to promote their properties and their brand. Other ways that realtors using is Internet video tours, and online advertising which is expected to grew from $2 billion or 17.7% of total advertising in 2006 to $3 billion, accounting for 32.1% of total advertising in 2010.

One way to draw attention to a property is to brand it with a celebrity name. Donald Trump has been doing this for years, but now other bold-faced names not traditionally associated with real estate are tacking their names onto buildings. One of the prime examples—and a Shvo client—is the Jade, which takes its name from project designer Jade Jagger, daughter of Rolling Stones singer Mick. The Jade targets the young, hip, and prosperous in New York's funky Chelsea neighborhood. In the building's glossy and colorful brochure, Jagger calls the Jade a "fusion" of her love for "the rural beauty of Ibiza, the glamour of London, and the nonstop energy of New York." The brokers assigned to the Jade were cast and groomed to be as sexy and dynamic as Jade herself—right down to their outfits.