by Erik Weinbrecht
Originally published on June 4, 2019 | Extraordinary Living Blog
Inspired by the pages of RESIDE® Magazine, RESIDE by Sotheby’s International Realty® explores the incredible people, places, and brands featured in the magazine, bringing their stories to life. From the nightlife of one of the world’s favorite cities, to art and beyond, RESIDE by Sotheby’s International Realty explores the best of luxury living.
On this special Global Networking Event edition of the RESIDE® by Sotheby’s International Realty Podcast, we hear from Sotheby’s International Realty’s Chief Marketing Officer, Kevin Thompson on the brand’s new “Only” marketing campaign and dive into the waters off Maui with local diver, and real estate agent with Island Sotheby’s International Realty, Philip Chiesa.
Only Sotheby’s International Realty
https://sothebysrealty.com/exceptional-marketing
RESIDE | Diving the Eco-Friendly Way
Episode 3 Transcript:
Hello and welcome to RESIDE® by Sotheby’s International Realty. I’m Erik Weinbrecht your host and guide as we dive into the pages of RESIDE magazine to discover more about the incredible people, places, and brands featured within. Please be sure to like, follow, and subscribe to @sothebysrealty on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube to experience incredible homes and stories from around the world. Without further delay, let’s get started.
Erik Weinbrecht (EW)
Fresh off the Global Networking stage in Vancouver I’d like to welcome Sotheby’s International Realty’s Chief Marketing Officer and our special guest Kevin Thompson to take us through the brand’s latest marketing campaign and talk a little bit about the event. Hi Kevin!
Kevin Thompson (KT)
Hi Erik.
EW
Thank you so much for joining me that was an incredible speech that you gave today at a GNE.
KT
Thank you thank you it’s great to be here.
EW
So, before we get started about all of the great things that you talked about, tell us a little bit about why we’re in Vancouver this year?
KT
So, when we were looking at locations to take our global networking event a little over a year ago Vancouver popped up on our radar as one of the unique places that we could bring our global audience. I think it represents what is exciting and new and fresh not just in the real estate market but in a in a vibrant urban setting. Vancouver is itself a very modern city it’s a young city and I felt like that was the right vibe for our global networking event. It really fit with the theme of what we’re going to talk about there.
EW
So, it seems like it to an interesting contrast coming off of having two events in Las Vegas and then going to Vancouver. So, the atmosphere here is obviously completely different between the two and it seems to be a really effective choice
KT
Yeah so Vancouver is a world apart from Las Vegas, both are great cities both super dynamic both attract a global audience. I think what it was again really interesting about Vancouver was the idea that we could host the event in a phenomenal venue that was just built it was designed for the Olympics that were recently held in Vancouver. It’s an extraordinary place to be. It feels very fresh very new very modern and I think it aligns with the voice of the brand right now.
EW
So, speaking of things that are new and fresh and modern, let’s talk a little bit about what you talked about today. Tell us about the exciting news.
KT
So, one of the big announcements that we have, probably the biggest announcement for GNE from a marketing standpoint is the rollout of a new campaign. So the idea that we get to present a new global campaign to the audience is you know we don’t we only get a chance to do that at GNE so we have to wait a year and a half sometimes two years to have these conversations and really get to talk to agents and our owners about what the voice of the brand should be going forward. So, to announce the Only campaign you know not just was the setting perfect to do that the timing was right. We had just come off of the success of the LIVE Sotheby’s International Realty campaign which was the first truly customizable global campaign that we had launched as a brand, we launched it with a cloud-based building tool that allowed all of our affiliates to customize the brand for their local market. The LIVE campaign really, I think help to set the framework for our new only campaign. It spoke to our agents networking consumers buyers and sellers about the idea of living that Sotheby’s international Realty lifestyle. I think the only campaign lets us really kind of own that voice. We are the only luxury real estate brands that operates on a global scale we are the only luxury real estate brand that has a network as powerful as ours is today. So, it just made sense from sort of a logical standpoint, but I think it is that also the creative evolution of the live campaign it makes sense to move into a bolder bigger statement for the brand.
EW
So why do you think it’s important for brands like the Sotheby’s International Realty brand to have these kinds of campaigns? What do they do for a brand?
KT
So, I think when a brand like Sotheby’s International Realty plays in the public sphere we get to say and do things that other real estate brands can’t do. In part that’s because of our shared history with the auction house – so we just celebrated the Sotheby’s brand’s two hundred and seventy fifth anniversary which is an extraordinary milestone. Sotheby’s is a brand that the consumers aspire to they have a sense of what it means to live a somebody’s life style and that is part of who we are. As Sotheby’s International Realty as well so we get to talk about the idea of living a certain way and tapping into your dreams and really it this is all about Sotheby’s International Realty not just as the voice of authority in the luxury space but the access point for consumers to achieve their dreams, and I think that’s a remarkable thing. I don’t think that’s something that other real estate brands can do; you can try to do I don’t think you know it is it something that we own and is beyond compare really in the real estate industry.
EW
Now I imagine going back to the new campaign there had to be some sort of impetus or some sort of inspiration for this campaign – you know what are some of the other big brand campaigns that inspired this?
KT
It’s like this well we worked with a company called Blu Blanc Rouge they’re based in Toronto and Montreal and they have historically they’ve worked with Nike and Mercedes Benz they worked with live nation and we did an exercise with them that was all about brand world building and this is a fairly new concept I think for global brands. I think the most forward thinking brands in in all categories are having these conversations about what the world of their brand looks and feels like we have not had that conversation before at Sotheby’s international realty, and that is I think both the surprising thing for a brand that’s been around for two hundred seventy five years but also an incredible opportunity when you consider our share of the market at the in the luxury segment. For us to have this conversation now sort of represents a you know the opportunity going forward. It is important for us to think about what it means to represent the brand and what the world of Sotheby’s International Realty feels like, and that’s what drove the new campaign. So, this exercise with Blu Blanc Rouge and sort of understanding the psychology of how our brand lives in the real estate space really let us to land on only as the campaign tagline.
EW
I know from my perspective I can’t wait to see what some of our affiliates to do with this campaign. I know that the live campaign was super customizable, and you know we saw them do some incredible things with this. I’m hoping for the same if not more for the only campaign.
KT
Yeah, the so the challenge for the live campaign when we first designed that and we knew we wanted to talk about what it means to live a Sotheby’s International Realty lifestyle we had to consider that that means something very different to people all around the world. I mean something different to buyers and sellers a different price points and emerging affluent millennials and established luxury consumer so we had to create in in sort of partnership with the campaign we had to create a tool that allowed for the campaign to be customized so that it worked at any price point in any market in the seventy two countries that we are in and close to twenty three thousand agents implementing this campaign or have the opportunity to employ this campaign so we had to create the tool that allowed for the customization. The only campaign, you know it through all of the learnings in creating the live campaign, in in launching the live campaign, and understanding where it worked where it didn’t work and why not, we were able to launch the only campaign today with a sort of bigger bang. There are more pieces of collateral, more assets, more tools, more designs, more templates; everything about the only campaign is more robust than the live campaign. It’s certainly it was effective you know when we launched, and we launched the Design Vault we had ninety seven percent of our companies go in and build and create some sort of collateral. Inside the templates that were there you know that represents thirty plus ads a day being created using that tool I think the only campaign will far outpace that.
EW
Yeah, I’m like I said I’m, I’m super excited to see what people do with it. What’s one thing you’re really looking forward to with the only campaign – what are you looking to see from it?
KT
I you know what inspires me most is when I see the campaign customized for a local markets and individual agents working effectively, so when you know our agents know their markets better than we do – better than we ever possibly could they have the information they have the understanding about what consumers in their market want and so when they when they go into the design vault tool and they customize the assets that we create, we’ve created and they design these beautiful ads that we just help them to create, we didn’t design it we’re not dictating what it what it should look like, and the end product you know we want to manage the voice of the brand, but how that gets interpreted in the local market is entirely up to our agents. I think that you know that’s what excites me most when I see them grab on to what we’ve created and make it their own and really run with it – and we see those times pop up on social media channels and we see local advertising local print media that’s the most exciting part for me. When we know it’s working for that and helping drive their business and their success.
EW
Well thank you very much for taking the time today to be with us on the podcast I know you are very busy here in in Vancouver and there are many people looking forward to talking with you, so I don’t want to take up any more of your time. Make sure to check out the only campaign across all of our social media platforms and on sothebysrealty.com.
KT
Thanks so much it was great to be here.
EW
Hawaii is the premier destination for diving in the United States with the island offering so many locales to explore the depths we could have dedicated an entire episode to the topic – instead we’re focusing on Maui, home to some particularly special Pacific waters. My guest today is Philip Chiesa, a real estate agent with Island Sotheby’s International Realty and longtime free diver. Hi Phillip.
Philip Chiesa (PC)
Hi how you doing?
EW
I’m well I’m well thank you so much for joining me today. I appreciate it.
PC
Yeah, I’m happy to be here excited to talk about diving on Maui.
EW
So, before we hop into the water, I just give me the low down on what’s going on in Maui – what’s trending there?
PC
Well I’m a little bit of a foodie so I’m very excited for the upcoming opening of a new restaurant on the north shore of Maui called bop. It’s a Korean barbecue slash sushi restaurant opening up and I think it’s going to be a pretty big success.
EW
I mean I think it goes without saying that that any time we talk about a location one of the first things that comes up is food so I always love to hear about you know the culinary trends and the things that are that are going on and that’s awesome. So, I am there anything in particular there that you’re looking forward to?
PC
Definitely all of the sashimi. The people opening this restaurant used to have a different sushi restaurant located up country Maui and they are changing locations and changing up their menu a little bit and they always were known for having really high quality fish in the restaurant so I’m looking forward to seeing what they create now.
EW
Now speaking of high–quality fish let’s talk about what they look like but before we we get them on the dinner plate. So, as I mentioned you know whole why he is known as the US’ premier diving destination, what makes diving in Maui particularly special?
PC
What Maui has going on more than all the other islands is the number of whales. When it’s whale season, which is from about December to April, they like to be in our waters most as we have these protected channels between Maui and Lanai that serves as a great area for them to birth their baby whales and so you can just see them all over the place either from land or while diving and you can hear them under water. That’s a pretty surreal experience.
EW
Wow that sounds incredible I mean I am a very novice swimmer – my wife is a is a former lifeguard and she makes fun of me all the time, but you know in in terms of diving and being there for something like a, you know a whale pod, you know what level of diver do you have to be to experience something like that?
PC
It’s all sort of luck of the draw – you could be an advanced diver and be out really far and it will increase your chances of seeing them, but you can also be a relative beginner and go out for a snorkel trip and happen to see a whale right off the boat, so really all levels of people can get to experience that which I think is fun.
EW
Now that you mention too that there’s a specific season for experiencing you know a whale encounter like that but are there any other particular seasons where diving is best in Maui or different or something special?
PC
You know kind of the best thing about Maui is you can dive here all year round. The water temperature only changes about five degrees from winter to summer, it’s about seventy-five Fahrenheit in winter and got up to about eighty in summer so all year long you can dive. The visibility is great, the currents are never too bad as long as you’re driving a good part of the island and it’s just awesome. There’s no down season.
EW
Now you’ve lived in in Maui for the better part of your life is that is that right?
PC
Yes, I moved here when I was seven years old.
EW
And when did you start diving?
PC
Sort of recently within the last four to five years. I didn’t actually grow up doing it but when I moved home after college I really got into the community and it’s really an up and coming community, freediving in particular and so it’s going to be a part of that as it grows and gets into the mainstream.
EW
So, what’s the difference between free diving and you know just kind of the typical diving we think of? I know many of us out here aren’t experts on the topic so, if you give us a definition that would be great.
PC
Absolutely. Typically, when people hear the word diving they’re going to think of scuba diving which is having a breathing apparatus – typically one of those big metal tanks on your back and you are diving for the better part of an hour using that breathing apparatus staying under the whole time. Freediving is diving as deep as you want or as shallow as you want simply by holding your breath and there’s a lot of different disciplines within this for a free diving but in its simplest sense it’s diving unaided by a tank.
EW
Wow, now I heard that you can hold your breath for three minutes is that correct?
PC
I am actually up to four minutes now.
EW
Wow that is insane – that that is a long time. Is there like a limit where if you’re not breathing for certain amount of time like there’s like an oxygen cut off thing to your brain – is that at all a worry of yours when you’re down there?
PC
Well there’s a lot that goes into it and without boring you too much with the physiology, four minutes is a relatively short breath in the free diving world; the world official world record is just under twelve minutes right now and a lot of my regular dive partners have much longer breath hold times, so I’m not too worried about reaching my limit.
EW
Wow so I mean whether you’re under the water with a tank strapped to you or under the water holding your breath for an extended period of time when you come up to the surface and you want to decompress, what’s something that you that you do after a full day of diving?
PC
My personal favorite thing is to sit on the beach and drink a beer, it’s a good way to relax and hang out because diving is pretty exhausting. Even though you’re in the water the whole time it just hits you in a different way than you think. There’s also a lot of really fun hikes out on the east side of the island with waterfalls and jungles and it’s like being in a whole different world, I really like going to do that. I already touched on the food, but we have some world class restaurants out here and access to amazing fish and not just fish but vegetables and fruits – we just have this insane mixture of fresh produce that we can have your round out here.
EW
Thank you so much for taking the time to briefly take us into the water with you and kind of give us a glimpse of what life is like on Maui.
PC
Yeah absolutely I was happy to talk; it’s fun to talk about your passions.
EW
Thanks again to Philip and Kevin for joining me on this special edition of the RESIDE podcast. Thanks also to Stephen Connelly behind the board and all of you for listening. Don’t forget to subscribe to the RESIDE by Sotheby’s International Realty podcast on Apple podcasts, Spotify, Google Play, or wherever you listen. For more from RESIDE magazine, see the show notes for links or visit sothebysrealty.com/reside for stories from the magazine. Until next time…
