MARKETING IS EVERYTHING

Marketing, in both luxury real estate and luxury vacation rentals, is THE most important driver for creating value, at every stage of the investment cycle.

It’s even more important for managers than it is for brokers, because we don’t have the luxury of getting people to experience the product in a controlled environment before they buy. 

No, we have to sell the entire experience virtually, before the transaction, and then ensure that guests are gratified enough by the home-lifestyle experience to write a five star review and maybe refer a friend.

Given, the transactions are not as big, but transacting multi-million dollar real estate at the international level is a 24/7 affair. It’s not months, or weeks, it’s multiple times per day, all day, every day. 

And the competition can be fierce. At any moment, competitors can offer a short-term 30% discount on nightly rates, destabilizing perceived value in the online marketplace.

This is why the in-market brokers we work with will typically use our marketing collateral for their listings, on the rare occasion one of our owner partners wants to liquidate. 

Fundamentally, the luxury segment plays by a completely different set of rules. 

Its rules are counterintuitive, and are notoriously misunderstood.

For us (VRP), marketing a luxury vacation rental means designing a sense of social elevation for guests that carries throughout the entire booking journey.

It is holistic, all-pervasive, and ingrained in every aspect of the operation, even the bones of the asset itself. 

It is an accentuation of uniqueness, rarity, and super important; scarcity. 

From the design and decor (the home-lifestyle experience), to photography and film, advertising, graphic and web design, online distribution, market positioning and yield management, to the booking, post-sale and post-check-out…

It’s all marketing. And there are only pluses and minuses. Everything either adds value, or deteriorates it. There’s nothing in between.

And nothing will deteriorate an asset’s perceived value more than an open calendar. Except for maybe a manager’s poorly executed brand at the forefront… Or over-distribution… Or a wide range of properties and price points in the same vicinity and under the same banner.