[Note: To follow is an excerpt of an interview with Lori Snider of Creativity for Rent, a professional speaker, author and marketing strategist. To listen to, or download the show archive MP3, go to www.IncomePropertyInvestmentTalk.com/102208.]

Mosca: Ralph Waldo Emerson, an American essayist, philosopher, poet, and leader of the transcendentalist movement in the early 19th Century once said, "build a better mouse trap and the world will beat a path to your door." How can a property owner differentiate visually from the competition through creative marketing strategies enhanced by smart design?

Snider: Over the last 30 years, we have seen design explode in this country. Smart design has become an affordable commodity. Take a look at Target for example. Target sells smart design at a cheap cost and that's been one of the greatest measures of their success over the years. The consumer today expects you to be different and to be smart in your design. They do value smart design and they will pay more for a well-designed and well thought out product.

Mosca: What should you ask yourself about smart design?

Snider: The first question to ask is, "what am I designing?" From your website design to your architectural impact to the merchandising product you're selling, how is the design of affect the value perception? If I go to an outdoor barbecue and I have a selection of a paper cup or a plastic cup that I could drink wine out of or someone offers me a beautiful crystal goblet, which one am I going to choose?

Mosca: The goblet?

Snider: That's right. It's visually appealing and is the better designed product. We are talking about, "how does it look, how does it feel, and how does it smell;" therefore what is the overall impact on that consumer. You have to differentiate today or die. Appeal to the masses and you basically dilute your product so much it loses its uniqueness.

Mosca: It used to be in media relations that you would put together a news release and send it out to the masses of outlets. Today, that does not work. You need a more targeted approach, to basically understand what the media does, how they go about doing that, and then match your story to the individual needs at each media outlet. Is that similar to what you are saying?

Snider: The consumer has the remote control, and decides when they want to talk to you. They are in control of the experience. On the Web, they can click away from you or to you to find out more. They can find out an awful lot of information out about you. It's interesting in 1995 it took the airing of a TV commercial three times to reach 80% of 18 to 49-year-old ladies in this country. Five years later, by 2000, reaching the same demographic requires airing that commercial 97 times. We've become so compartmentalized in a demographic sense that it doesn't work anymore to throw it out there, build a product, and throw it out to the masses. We have to be special to somebody. When I was in journalism school years ago, I was always taught not to lose your lead in the telling of the story. In trying to tell everybody, everything, we lose what's really important.

Mosca: What are some of the older methods of design that used to work that no longer apply to today?

Snider: Somewhere around 2003, every Web site involved dancing marionettes and people singing or music. Everything about it was all in flash and it was all about this giant commercial before you even got to the Web site. Remember that? Everybody thought that was so cool. Today, you will be clicked off. They want information, they want it quickly, they want it concisely, and they want it simplistically. Look at apartment models, too, for example.

It used to be all about opulence and how much could you make it look grand. Really what it comes down to today is showing a total lifestyle. Traditionally clubhouse and common areas were built with the giant, open living room and fitness center equipment, but it was really built to attract. What they found is that nobody was using these giant rooms and that people said I don't really have anything to do there.

So, we started creating pods and an environment for people to communicate, to interact, or just to be in a common area without having to interact and feeling comfortable about it. The hotels have gone to the same kind of practice. It used to be that you walked into the hotel and there was the giant common area and then the big lobby bar and that was it. Now, hotels focus on creating pod areas where people can do business or converse or seek privacy.

Mosca: Is it better to design for a broad range of clients or to target a specific demographic?

Snider: Generally speaking in today's climate it is better to target a specific demographic while being opened to others. Do your research. If you know a certain demographic can fill 200 apartments or 200 condominiums in that particular market then go for it. Remember, different things attract people at different times in their lives.

We are seeing that more now than ever. For example, Generation Y is into being able to do it themselves, so if you are going to work to attract them it would be very important to have a well thought out, intuitive Web site. That way, they can do the work for you because they want to and they're use to doing it. The computer has been part of their lives as long as they can remember. They are used to renting an apartment online, and procuring all the information they need.

Mosca: Should you stop marketing then and let the Internet do all the work?

Snider: I'd rather see you hang a sign around your neck and stand out in the middle of the street than to stop. The worst thing you can do is stop promoting. When somebody says 'cut the fat,' we stop promoting and training. It's easy because you don't see the immediate impact. What happens is you slowly lose momentum to the guy that continued promoting. Once you're gone, the consumer doesn't know you're there because there is so much product.

There's always somebody that succeeds in an economy like this and it is always the company that doesn't stop promoting, that doesn't stop training, that looks at this as an opportunity to fine tune to make sure that what they're doing is working, to get rid of anything that isn't working and to make sure that their sales force or their leasing professionals are the very best the industry offers.

Mosca: Are consumer expectations in line with what the industry has to offer or is there more of a give-and-take necessary to bring both sides together?

Snider: It is difficult because the consumer wants exactly what they want and so the more you can customize the experience for the consumer, the better. For example, do not make somebody live in a little white box. Let them paint. Give them a palette of colors to customize that experience. It helps create a sense of permanence. For example, if I had Chef Mike I would be doing kids programs, healthy type food programs, and gourmet cooking programs. You can provide a number of different alternatives based on the demographics that you have residing at your community.

Mosca: What are some of the more prominent areas, if any, that can be enhanced through smart design practices?

Snider: There are an awful lot depending on the size and age of the community. One area to look at is the common area. Generally speaking people are looking at a variety of product in your area and if you don't have anything memorable, if you don't stand out in any way, they will not remember you. You will become part of the blur that was their experience. If that is the case, chances are good they're not going to buy from you.

Mosca: On your blog you write about your love of the smell of fresh Play-Doh and Crayola crayons. And a book called, "Whif," by C. Russell Brumfield. In that book the author states, "each of us has stored a vast catalog of imprints and feelings and responses to specific aromas. What we smell we automatically feel so we absently acknowledge that feeling and move on often without ever naming it." Can you comment on that?

Snider: Major companies in the country now are working with smell and with sound in particular and really evaluating how those two senses -- the ears and the nose -- really do affect a decision-making process. I read the other day that McDonald's is now evaluating how to use sound to create different moods in its restaurants, and Virgin logo actually has a sound logo. Did you know that positive sounds have a 65% chance of changing a listener's mood? A value perception. The worst thing that can happen from a value perception standpoint is providing a service and then taking it away.

People hate it. Let me give you an example. I had a community that I was working with that was providing a 500-apartment high-rise free coffee. The residents loved the coffee. As you can imagine, when you're providing free coffee all day and all night, particularly a gourmet blend, you can go through a lot of money in coffee any given month. Rather than just saying maybe we'll start charging something for it, they said we're cutting out the coffee. At nine o'clock in the morning we're locking down the coffee and if you want it, you pay a buck for coffee.

The resistance was ridiculous. It's a pure lesson in once you provide it to take it away is a very calculated decision that needs to be thought out as far as what will this do to the value perception. Sometimes the little things that you do the people will value the most. When it comes time for renewal they will remember the fact that you took away the coffee.

Mosca: What is your golden nugget?

Snider: Today it is more important than ever to be able to differentiate yourself and be different. Whether you have one unit or you have 500 units, the most important thing you can do right now is go actually experience what the resident is experiencing. Stand in the middle of it and say where is my impact? Why is this special? Why is it different? Why would someone want to choose me?

Published: November 6, 2008

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Peter L. Mosca is president and founder of BAK Communications, Inc. He has over 22 years of communications and media consulting experience, serving a variety of nonprofit organizations, including the CCIM Institute and the REALTOR Association on all three levels – national, state and local. He is the Spokesperson Trainer for the CCIM's Jay Levine Academy and trains hundreds of residential REALTORS nationwide to be effective industry spokespeople. He is consistently ranked as "excellent" by about 90% of those who attend his presentations. While his principal consulting focuses are public speaking and media relations development and content delivery and management, Peter is also the host of the Voice America Network's weekly radio program, "Income Property Investment Talk," a one-hour program that brings the powerhouses of commercial and residential real estate to property investors every Wednesday at 11 a.m. EST. Peter is married 17 years to his wife Barbara. They have two children: Ashley, 15 and Kelli, 12. Hence, the name BAK Communications, Inc.