“Marketing is a battle of perceptions, not products.” That was a line from last night’s episode of Mad Men. The show’s sub-plot was how a dog food company was losing market share because it was learned that its product was made out of horse meat. In testing, the dog owners were pleased with how much their pets enjoyed the product. But upon learning it was made out of horse meat, they wanted nothing more to do with it. The solution was to change the name and then the product will sell.
How does the above story relate to Boston real estate? Well, I noticed on page 14 of Boston Homes newspaper an open house yesterday for 6 Arlington Street. Thinking this might be a new listing, an agent in my office went to the open house. Apparently, this is an old listing with a new name. When listed with one real estate agent, it was advertised as Zero Marlborough Street. The new listing agent now advertises the same property as 6 Arlington Street.
The TV show Mad Men had another line that I liked: “It’s much easier to get into the mind first than to convince someone you have a better product than the one that did get there first.”
File Under: It’s not always about location, location, location. It’s also about … perceptions, perceptions, perceptions.
