Today Robert Frank posted Remembering a Modest Billionaire, a thoughtful tribute to William Cook the billionaire founder of Cook Medical who died last month.
By all accounts, William Cook was a modest, hard-working man who built his own fortune through hard work and lived extremely modestly in a small 3-bedroom house. In his business he created the tools to save lives, and in his personal life pursued a passion for local historic preservation--giving millions to help preserve the spirit and historic architecture of his community. As Frank notes:
Today, so much wealth (is) created through financial engineering, trading and investments that fail to add concrete value. The Cooks of the world are slowing being displaced on the Forbes list and the ranks of the rich by hedge-funders, private-equity chiefs, commodity traders, and passive tech investors.
Maybe Americans wouldn’t resent the rich so much if more of them were like Mr. Cook.
Contrast this with his post from Monday: Young, Rich and Shopping for a Mansion which highlights a new reality show in the UK on BBC3. As Frank describes it:
...a new British reality-TV show starting today offers the ultimate in wealth escapism: following around rich kids as they shop for a starter mansion. It’s like “Gossip Girl” meets “House Hunters,” with a dash of Kardashians.
Here's the first episode on YouTube:
Some of the other online reviews have been a bit less forgiving of the show and it's cast.
Criticisms and value judgements aside, what's really striking is the huge difference in the lifestyles--and presumably also the beliefs and values--of these young househunters and William Cook.
Successful luxury businesses recognize these differences, have a meaningful model for grouping or segmenting their customers based on these attributes, and deliver a service or offering tailored to fit.
It's no different in real estate. How you write copy, stage homes, show properties, even design listing presentations to better attract, communicate with, and satisfy affluent clients and customers should be informed by an understanding of their values and lifestyles.
You certainly couldn't successfully market a home to Mr. Cook and these young househunters in the same way, could you?
