Vancouver condo marketing is in “prorogue” mode. Developers are holding on to ad dollars like banks holding on to bailout money. But much to my reading pleasure, the Sun has yet to retire Westcoast Homes. In fact, the latest installment takes a look at Brooklyn Abbotsford, a condo with a most unlikely name that we laughed about last month.
A question about the Abbotsford condo’s association to New York City leads the Sun’s coverage. Those looking for proof of creative bankruptcy in condo marketing should look no further than the “strategy” for this brand:
Sales representative Donna Lou Gilbert says she (sic) the marketing team came up with the name Brooklyn primarily because the interior of the main lobby “with all the granite and tile reminded us of a New York hotel lobby.”
“I just love the name. It just sounds funky. I thought it was very contemporary,” she says.
["An offer of 'affordable elegance'", The Vancouver Sun, December 13 2008]
Stuff like this makes me embarrassed about the marketing industry. When people say marketing is full of hacks and point to something like this, it’s hard to prove them wrong. And I want to prove them wrong, because lots of smart people work in marketing. Where’s the strategy here? How does this even make sense? Come on, my peers, you can do better than this.
