When you have the word “global” in your name, expectations are understandably high. The Coldwell Banker Global Luxury® program exceeded expectations and simultaneously raised the bar for global luxury real estate marketing at the annual Blue Spirit conference in Lisbon, Portugal. As the European counterpart to the Coldwell Banker brand’s Generation Blue Experience®, Blue Spirit welcomed over 300 participants, including affiliates and agents of Coldwell Banker Spain, France, Turkey, Cyprus, Portugal and Italy. Craig Hogan, Vice President of Marketing for Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC, attended along with Jade Mills, a Global Luxury Ambassador and the No. 2 real estate agent in the nation for the Coldwell Banker brand and for all brokerages nationwide. All of the U.S.-based executives were also later treated to a memorable tour through the charming Portuguese city and attended the opening of the brand-new Coldwell Banker Global Luxury offices.
“Blue Spirit in Lisbon was a very important event for us,” said David Riker, Vice President of Global Operations. “We gathered with attending countries to not only share in their success for awards but hear directly from them on the current climate in their markets and to hear how the Coldwell Banker brand is supporting and helping them to succeed. The U.S. leadership team simply can’t be everywhere, so events like Blue Spirit are essential.”
Added Hogan: “We view the face-to-face connections facilitated by events like Blue Spirit as absolutely invaluable to what we do as luxury real estate professionals. Our clients should be able to sense the difference when they work with one of our Global Property Specialists from the very first moment.”
Frederico Abecassis, CEO of Coldwell Banker Portugal and event host had this to say about the momentous gathering in his home city: “Blue Spirit 2019 was a tremendous success and Lisbon was painted in blue! We’ve hosted the most successful brokers and agents from all of Europe and it was an honor for us to show them a live experience of Portugal, the world’s newest wealthy destination. After this event, we truly believe that the Coldwell Banker brand will be empowered across Europe. Luxury is all about this: Luxury is global.”
Mills herself delivered one of the most memorable moments of the Blue Spirit conference. Interviewed by Laurent Demeure, CEO of Coldwell Banker France, Mills shared her secrets for success and best luxury real estate practices. She also later joined Coldwell Banker international all-stars Vanda Demeure, Aylin Pelin Onar and Paolo Costi on stage for a “Top Agent Panel” moderated by Hogan.
Other noteworthy moments included a panel led by Luca Gramaccioni, director of Coldwell Banker University, who interviewed the European Top Brokers with skill and irony. Among them, Costi and Italy’s Valentina Bodini, shared their best practices and experiences in the management field. Daniel Pereira, an expert in digital marketing, also explained the innovations in the “lead generation” sector and segued into the cutting-edge tools made possible by the Coldwell Banker brand.
To cap off a memorable Blue Spirit conference, the Coldwell Banker European Awards were handed down to the best agents and best agencies of the European network. The convention ended at the evocative restaurant KAIS. The “Grande Gatsby” theme party, complete with flapper and bow tie dresses, made networking all the more fun for the international group.
Those Coldwell Banker professionals who had the opportunity to attend the Blue Spirit Awards returned home with slightly fuller suitcases filled with new business cards, but also fuller hearts and minds, thanks to new friendships formed and all of the information shared. The lively Lisbon celebration was a reminder that with the expansive Coldwell Banker network — with 92,000 agents in 3,100 offices in 44 countries, there really are no geographical boundaries.
As Roberto Gigio, President of Coldwell Banker Italy, observed during the event: “Ten years ago, I realized that the time had come to change, to make the leap in quality. At the time, I was working in another important company that, until that moment, had taught me a lot but the market was changing, it was evolving and I wanted to evolve too. I wanted that something extra and I found it in Coldwell Banker. I’m excited because I work with passion. I put my heart into everything I do and I am very ambitious. I hope to be able to pass on this enthusiasm to the whole network but also to the new generation because young people are the future and I focus so much on them.”
“Passion is contagious,” said Hogan. “Passion is what drives the best of the best in luxury real estate. Passion can make the difference between good, great and absolute excellence. This is the value we try to instill in all of our Global Luxury professionals at events like Blue Spirit.”
Global. It’s all in the name.
