By: Pranay Vakil, Chairman, Praron Consultancy
Track2Realty Exclusive: In realty business, brand is an additional value the consumer is prepared to pay compared with an ordinary product yet fulfilling the same purpose. If a brand is not able to offer the consumer better advantage that the competitors, it will turn into a commodity.
Case studies suggest that brand not only helps the established developers to increase their sales but also commands a premium of 25-30 per cent over the new developers who make every effort to create the product in to the market. Branding facilitates companies to maintain their working capital capacity apart from sales generation. This indicates that realty branding is sales driven for new comers in the market whereas brand driven for conventional players.
There are different methodologies and campaigns to create a brand apart from advertisements. The developers can exploit and instigate new innovative marketing gimmick, participate in a property show & exhibitions, use of tech savvy gadgets to channelize their resources in developing niche brand for the customers.
Social media gives marketers a voice and a way to communicate with peers, customers and potential consumers. It personalizes the brand and helps to spread message in a conversational way. Showcasing sample flats on timely base is distinctive way of developing brand.
With next generation of young professional coming on the board with innovative ideas to explore, new branding methodologies have come up with ever changing taste of the potential consumers. Young professionals are giving facelift to the real estate branding with social and technology tools with focus on right messaging to the right audience at the right time through right channels. Sales orientation plus premium is the new mantra for upcoming breed of realty professionals.
Various components like amenities offered, location, engineering skills, mode of payments, smooth legal formalities & quick governance also helps in developing a brand recall value. Example to this is the Unitech in North India who has a philosophy of developing the projects at the periphery of the city and not within the city. The aim of this branding policy was that it wanted to develop brand on their engineering competence and not the land competence.
Branding can also be done directly through brokers who are realistic, undergone training with company for their product understanding, knowledgeable about the market scenario, safe to deal with and not over promising or misguiding.
Developers should spend their marketing funds towards building their own brand and reputation locally. Branding is also created by word of mouth appreciation. Public perception has vital role to play in judging brand value. Actual buyers get influenced by others’ perception like friends, relatives, media research report etc.
…to be continued
