By: Ravi Sinha
Track2Realty Exclusive
Would you like to have the luxury of global landmark Al Burj of Dubai in India only? Do you find it fancy to live in the tallest of towers that promises to take you near to the moon? Ever wondered if a morning-to-evening business travel could give you all the facility of checking into a hotel without paying the premium? Well, all this is today being promised by the real estate developers. You pay a premium and there is an offer which only existed in the poetic parlance till a few years ago. It seems the developers have suddenly woken up to the reality that while their mantra of living in turbulent times through affordable housing has not really worked; there exists a comfort seeking class with disposable money and sky high expectations.
The innovation in the realty market per se is not new and has been an evolutionary process. It has been happening in various asset class and there has been tremendous emphasis on innovation in design, construction and use of technology, retrofitting and even designing green compliant buildings. In fact developers have been continuously tying up with international design firms and drawing from knowledge pool from the world over, including the knowledge from the Indian architecture as well. However, of late the conventional innovation pattern has gone for a toss and there has been slew of launches with out-of-the-box thinking. If design-to-suit has been the first milestone in innovation of realty projects, some of the recent launches promise to take the customers’ experience to a new level altogether.
Rohan Lifescapes has tied-up with legendary Donald Trump for 65 storey sky-high tower that promises to redefine the urban skyscraper. Kalpesh Mehta, Director, Rohan Lifescapes believes real estate as a product in India has been lagging in the innovation and has a lot of catching up to do. A home is the most important and the most expensive purchase that most consumers will make in their lifetimes. However, there is less product research that goes into designing a home then there is going into a car, for example. That is changing now.
“Gone are the ‘build it and they will buy’ days. With growing wealth, comes growing demand. Well traveled consumers are expecting a better real estate product and are willing to pay for it. Sure, some of the innovations are gimmicks, as with any sector, but eventually consumers see through gimmicks and reward the companies that deliver innovative, high quality products on an innovative basis. For any company to thrive in the long-term, innovation cannot be a one-off exercise. It has to become a way of life,” says Mehta.
But such innovations were few and far between when the market was at its peak. Has low sales forced the realtors to innovate? Kohinoor Group has launched Kohinoor Elite-a hotel targeted at business travelers who doesn’t want to check-in to a hotel room for the day’s business. The project has been packaged to suit the young business travelers with a 1 Bill Concept for all the meals, laundry and internet services. Mukund Kamat, Vice President of Kohinoor Hotels disagrees with the theory of innovation being borne out of low sales. According to him innovation is an ongoing process in realty and hospitality as buyers always look for novelty as existing products in the same form lead to product fatigue. Innovation is primarily product/service related phenomenon and not just marketing tool. It, of course, enables marketers in selling their product easily die to the novelty factor it creates in the market.
“Being in the business for more than two decades now we have rich experience and thorough market research and we have understood the needs of the new age business traveler as well. We have identified that business travelers give high importance to the convenience factor and at the same time are value conscious. They do not require additional frills like swimming pool but are time and service conscious. Thus looking into all these factors we devised an innovative 1 Bill concept wherein the guests have to sign just 1 Bill on check-in and would include accommodation, all meals, laundry and internet facilities. From the operations point of view it helps us in being lean and efficient as well,” says kamat.
Paramount Group has launched remote controlled e-homes called Paramount Floraville in Noida. It is energy efficient project where controlling almost every electronic appliance of the home from faraway place is possible. The features of the project are the Solar Based Street Lighting- which will make it an energy efficient project, security and surveillance in the entire society, Wi-Fi connectivity, fire alarm system, intercom, boom barriers and digital locking system for doors. Paramount Group’s Executive Director Ashwani Prakash asserts the innovation which has taken place in realty sector so far is not the marketing gimmick but is the reflection of how this sector is evolving.
“Innovation is a buzz word in today’s time. In any field of life, innovation is playing its own role and has a definite place in influencing the life style of people. With new technologies being introduced internationally in real estate sector and global exposure of people making them aware of the new trends in real estate have prompted them to look for the new innovations in this sector. To meet such demand of the market the developers have started roping in the technologies which would save time and make the life style comfortable,” says Ashwani Prakash.
Nitesh Estate which has launched many innovative projects in Bangalore and Goa also believes true innovation cannot be a marketing gimmick. True innovation is based on actionable consumer insights which are derived through solid marketing strategy. Ashwini Kumar, Chief Operating officer, Nitesh Estates says role of marketing is to communicate to the internal and external customer the innovation based culture and the innovation launched by the company. True innovation can be experienced by the Customer. Creating a “WOW” factor which translates into a great word-of-mouth and creating our fan based communities.
“The fountainhead of conceptualization is the developer’s own aesthetic sense and commitment to the customers to offer only the best. Our company has always been walking that extra mile to create projects that are aesthetically pleasing- sublime piece of art, that offer its occupant a sense of living in their own private paradise. They should be proud owners of their residences. That is why we have employed the best of firms in the world for our projects such as, WATG, Super Potato, Callison, HOK and Belt Collins for conceptualizing and designing of our projects,” says Ashwini Kumar.
Well, while the newspaper advertisements calling privileged few to have a home near moon may not actually land you up there on moon, it definitely adds to the aura of living up above the normal skyscraper. After all, the realtors have realized that those who are paying extra are there to demand something extra. Innovation in realty also entices the customers to go for that extra, who otherwise may not necessarily change their home. And that is what promises creating a new market for the realtors.
