Each Friday, Russ Anderson, the president and CEO of Briggs Freeman Sotheby’s International Realty, writes about luxury, trends, business and more in the advertising pages of the Mansion section of The Wall Street Journal. Below is his letter of September 13, 2024.
FROM THE PRESIDENT'S P.O.V.
Well, they’re probably still talking about us in Nashville.
I and several of our brokerage’s real estate advisors and executives are just back from Music City, where Reese Witherspoon, thought leaders and 2,500 of the finest real estate advisors in the world converged for the Sotheby’s International Realty Global Networking Event. There, too, were Philip White, the president and CEO of Sotheby’s International Realty; Charles F. Stewart, the CEO of the Sotheby’s auction house; Sol Rashidi, a leading expert on data, analytics and AI; and A. Bradley Nelson, the chief marketing officer of Sotheby’s International Realty, who had a thought-provoking onstage chat with Nashville native Witherspoon about entrepreneurship, life and the city’s famous peppery, spicy chicken. Country singer Dustin Lynch gave us a rollicking private concert on the very first night.
The whole thing percolated with that unique Tennessee twist. For three days, we boot-scooted, glad-handed and story-traded, all in the name of staying ahead of every trend and challenge in real estate, where we always aim to be.
Tech is a big part of that. Others boast about it. We quietly innovate on it. Even at the GNE, the special app developed for the event allowed us to immediately share our takeaways from every seminar, and to see the thoughts of others. In that spirit, here are two of my takeaways from the entire event:
1) The emerging affluent consumers are most definitely the millennials. If you are in the luxury realm and not strategizing to attract them, you are leaving money on the table. We and the auction house are acutely adapting to this largest generation in history, who are entering their prime income-earning years and stand to inherit an estimated $30 trillion to $68 trillion from baby boomers and Gen X. That is the largest wealth transfer in history.
2) The reveal of the exquisite new Sotheby’s International Realty ad campaign, “1 of 1,” speaks to our deep understanding that the properties we represent are one-offs — utterly unique. Our advisors are one-offs, too, with keen instincts for beauty and value. They know what is exceptional, and they tailor what they do for every listing, but always with that legendary, world-class service.
It's a virtuous circle: Each of our homes is one of a kind because each of our advisors is one of a kind because each of our clients is one of a kind.
If you’ll allow me one moment of bragging, only one network can truly claim that.
Russ Anderson
President and CEO
Briggs Freeman Sotheby’s International Realty
Footer Social Links